The rise of generative AI has changed how many users look for information online, posing a challenge to traditional search engines. OpenAI has claimed that ChatGPT now accounts for about 20 percent of the traffic that used to go to Google — a figure reported with caution by Gizmodo, which notes the underlying measurements are open to interpretation.
What OpenAI reported
Adam Fry, head of consumer products for ChatGPT, told Gizmodo that the product is rapidly approaching Google in terms of traffic. Fry framed the measurement around so-called "search-like queries": interactions that users would previously have directed to a traditional search engine but now take to ChatGPT instead. He further explained that any time someone asks a question and looks online, that counts as a search.
It is relevant that OpenAI is preparing for an initial public offering, a context in which the company has an incentive to emphasize strong usage figures.
Questions about the methodology
The term "search-like queries" is inherently subjective, and Fry did not provide an independently verifiable breakdown showing how the 20 percent estimate was derived. Gizmodo and other observers recommend treating the figure with caution because it is unclear which user interactions were counted as searches.
For context, publicly available Google figures suggest roughly 16 billion searches occur daily; by OpenAI’s estimate, about 3.2 billion comparable interactions might be occurring on ChatGPT. The company has not disclosed how many ChatGPT commands or prompts it classifies as actual searches.
User and usage metrics cited
According to Fry, ChatGPT has about 1.2 billion weekly active users, of which roughly 200 million started using the service in the past two months. OpenAI’s models reportedly generate about 1.5 billion images per week for users, and roughly 250 million people use the ChatGPT Voice feature that enables spoken interaction.
Fry did not disclose how many users are paying customers.
Product developments and earlier attempts
OpenAI is rolling out an interface called Intelligent UI, which the company says will deliver fewer text-heavy replies and more visual and interactive responses, changing the chatbot’s reply style. This raises questions about which interactions should be classed as searches — image and video generation clearly differ, while other requests may involve internet lookups to substantiate claims.
OpenAI has previously tried to build Google-like products that did not become standalone successes. Examples include SearchGPT, which began as an independent search engine idea but was folded into ChatGPT, and ChatGPT Atlas, a browser-like project that OpenAI discontinued earlier this year.
Why this matters
If ChatGPT genuinely handles roughly 20 percent of traffic that would otherwise go to Google, it would indicate a meaningful shift in online information discovery. But because OpenAI has not published a detailed methodology and uses a subjective definition of "search-like" interactions, the claim requires independent verification. Transparent metrics and external measurement will be needed to assess the true market impact of ChatGPT.
