Key points
- OpenAI's Adam Fry said ChatGPT search volume is about one-fifth of Google's, counting any query that sends ChatGPT to the web.
- Fry did not say which Google figure, time period or regions the comparison uses, so the ratio can't be checked independently.
- Ahrefs data from October shows Google at 24.74% of tracked site traffic and ChatGPT at 0.36%, across 118,671 sites.
- Fry said ads haven't hurt ChatGPT usage; OpenAI recently began showing images of sponsored products and services.
Why it matters for marketers: Query volume and referral traffic are different metrics, so marketers should report both and not assume ChatGPT's search growth is yet sending visitors to their sites.
OpenAI says the number of search queries run through ChatGPT now equals about 20 percent of Google's. Adam Fry, who leads consumer product for ChatGPT, shared the figure at a Monday event, and a transcript of a related discussion was later published by Big Technology. OpenAI counts a search whenever a question sends ChatGPT to the web, and tasks like defining a term don't count.
Fry did not name the source of the Google number, the time frame or the regions covered. That makes the ratio hard to compare with other estimates. In February, Ahrefs put ChatGPT at around 12 percent of Google's volume, using a different method based on how prompts are classified.
For marketers, the key distinction is between queries and visits. Ahrefs' tracking shows Google driving far more traffic to sites than ChatGPT does. Neither Fry's figure nor Google's reported query growth shows whether ChatGPT searches are replacing Google ones.
Fry also said ads haven't negatively affected usage, and OpenAI recently started showing images of sponsored products and services in ChatGPT. He described OpenAI's direction as a visual, interactive interface inside chatbot answers, and said, "You're talking to a canvas."
If you report on ChatGPT as a channel, state which metric you are using and keep query volume separate from referral traffic. Monthly referral data from outside trackers offers a steadier check until OpenAI explains its comparison.
Sources
This brief is our own summary. Read the full reporting at the source.
