ChatGPT receives roughly one-fifth as many search-like queries as does Google, according to ChatGPT consumer product lead Adam Fry.
The point he made about the volume of search-like queries was shared with Alex Kantrowitz in an open discussion during a Monday evening dinner in New York hosted by OpenAI. The transcript was later posted by Big Technology on Tuesday.
OpenAI counts a search each time a question sends ChatGPT to the web, Fry said. The visits ChatGPT sends to websites are a separate measure, and outside data on that traffic puts ChatGPT far behind Google.
How OpenAI Counts A Search
Alex Kantrowitz of Big Technology asked Fry whether a conversation that includes a search counts as one, or whether each question requiring a web search counts separately. Fry replied:
“Every time you ask a question and go search the web, that’s a search.”
He said people first came to ChatGPT mostly for writing and coding help, which they wouldn’t have searched for. Over the past year, he said, they’ve brought questions about people, places and things that need up-to-date information, plus finance and health questions, where ChatGPT does a web search. He described the category as anything users would have taken to a traditional search engine.
Fry, in the published interview, did not reveal which Google figure was referenced; for how long the comparison is based on; nor does he state which regions are covered. He has also been asked if one-fifth of Google’s size makes ChatGPT multiple times bigger than Bing. The report by Big Technology indicates that the number of weekly active users of ChatGPT grew by 20% (from 1 billion to 1.2 billion) over the last two months.
What Outside Data Shows
In February, Ahrefs had estimated the search volume of ChatGPT to be around 12 percent that of Google’s search volume using a definition of search that was different from that used by OpenAI. It began with 2.5 billion daily ChatGPT prompts in July 2025 (from a study by Harvard University and OpenAI) and determined that approximately 65 percent were the type of query users would have previously looked up on Google.
Using this data, it compared those numbers with the over 5 trillion searches per year Google announced in March 2025. The author said that 65% was higher than the share the researchers had classified as search. That method sorts prompts by the kind of request, while Fry’s figure counts web searches.
Ahrefs also tracks where traffic to websites comes from across sites that use its free Web Analytics tool. In October, across 118,671 sites, Google accounted for 24.74% of tracked traffic and ChatGPT for 0.36%, according to the tracker’s Nov. 3 update.
What Google Reports
Alphabet’s third-quarter release, which I covered on Oct. 28, gives Google’s search query growth as a rate rather than a count. In the release, CEO Sundar Pichai said AI investments are driving overall search query growth and that Google’s “year-over-year query growth rate is the highest it’s been in the last five years.”
Why This Matters
OpenAI’s data comparing search-like queries by users of ChatGPT versus those using Google indicates the approximate 1/5th ratio. Fry’s counting rule includes only the search requests made by ChatGPT users in order to send a question to the Web. Ahrefs’ referral tracker tracks the number of visitors that are directed to websites. In this data set, Google has an overwhelming amount of referrals compared to ChatGPT.
Neither Fry’s number nor Google’s year-over-year growth rate illustrates if ChatGPT searches are replacing searches on Google. If ChatGPT’s size is included in a channel plan, then when reporting search it should be accompanied by the definitions of query volume and referral traffic, which will provide two different metrics.
Looking Ahead
Ahrefs’ tracker reports referral shares month by month, giving you a regular outside perspective on the traffic ChatGPT sends. OpenAI’s roughly one-fifth ratio is difficult to compare with other estimates until the company clarifies which Google figure it used.
Featured Image: RixAiArt/Shutterstock
