OpenAI says ChatGPT search volume is about a fifth of Google's

It is late, the month was slow, and you just read that OpenAI puts ChatGPT search volume at about a fifth of Google's. Now you are wondering whether the customers who used to find you are being handed a competitor's name instead.

The figure is real news, and it is OpenAI's own number about its own product. Your own customers may look in either place, and Google still handles far more searches. The Google work you already do still counts.

What helps tonight is a ten-minute check of what ChatGPT says about your business, followed by two quick fixes if the check turns something up. The steps below run in the order an owner would do them.

OpenAI's fifth is a figure for search-like queries, and Google is still far larger

Adam Fry, ChatGPT's consumer product lead at OpenAI, spoke at a fireside chat at an OpenAI-hosted dinner in New York on Monday, November 2, 2026, and Big Technology published the interview on November 3. As the outlet reports it, Fry said: "ChatGPT's volume of search-like queries is now roughly one-fifth the volume of queries of Google." The figure covers search-like queries only, so prompts, users, visits, clicks and leads sit outside it. OpenAI has published no baseline, time period, geography or calculation behind it.

Google is still the larger of the two by OpenAI's own math: a fifth means Google handles about five times as many. On its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call in February 2026, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Search saw more usage in that quarter than ever before.

Those statements are not a like-for-like comparison. Alphabet describes growth in its own usage, and OpenAI gave a ratio without the numbers behind it. Read the fifth as OpenAI's description of its own product, and read Google as still the bigger place your customers search.

Alphabet's third-quarter 2025 call also reported that Google's own AI Mode queries doubled during that quarter.

A fifth of Google's query volume could mean a great deal or very little for your phone. A query is one question typed or spoken. A lead is a person who calls, fills out your form or walks in. The only way to learn how the two connect for your business is to look at what ChatGPT shows your customers.

ChatGPT can pull a local business from web results, maps and partner providers

OpenAI's help page on searching the web with ChatGPT says search can draw on current web results, maps, approximate location and third-party providers for local information. A customer may get nearby business listings, a map and links to the pages the answer came from.

Location comes from the customer's IP address, or from device location when they allow it. Two people in two towns can therefore see two different answers to the same question. OpenAI also says ChatGPT may send rewritten versions of a question to search partners, and its privacy information names Microsoft and Shopify among them.

For you, that means ChatGPT reads the same public places a customer reads: your website, your Google Business Profile and the listings that repeat your name and address. OpenAI says inclusion and placement are not guaranteed, and that citations can be incomplete or out of date. A business can be accurate on its own site and still be described wrongly somewhere else.

Ask ChatGPT for your service and town, then run the same search on Google

This is the first check, and it takes about ten minutes. Open ChatGPT with search turned on and ask: "Which [your service] businesses serve [your town]?" Then ask the narrower question a customer would ask: "Which [your service] business would you recommend for [the specific job] in [your town]?" Write down every business it names and every page it links as a source.

Then run the same two searches on Google. Note the local map results, the regular results and what your Business Profile shows. Put the two lists side by side and ask four things:

• Is your business named at all?
• Is it described correctly, with the right services, hours and area?
• Are the pages cited as sources current and accurate?
• Do you show up for the exact job a customer would describe?

Ask the same questions again next month from a different browser or device. Answers shift with the wording, the location and the day, so one result tells you very little and three results in a row tell you something.

Let OAI-SearchBot in, and treat GPTBot as a separate decision

The second check is technical and short. OpenAI's crawler documentation says OAI-SearchBot is the crawler that surfaces websites in ChatGPT search, and it recommends allowing it in your robots.txt file and allowing requests from its published IP ranges. A site that opts out is not shown in ChatGPT search answers, though it can still appear as a navigational link.

GPTBot is a different crawler, tied to possible training use. You can make one decision for search visibility and another for training.

Look for blocks in four places: robots.txt, your firewall, your CDN and your hosting settings. A security plugin or a bot-protection setting can block a crawler without anyone on your team knowing. Allowing the crawler makes your pages eligible, and OpenAI makes no promise that any page will be cited. If you want to go further into how AI tools read a site, our post on whether ChatGPT and Google AI can read your website covers it.

Make your name, address, phone and hours match everywhere AI tools read

The third check is the one that most often turns something up. Compare the business name, address, phone number, hours and service area on your website, your Google Business Profile and the main listings that repeat them. Any mismatch gives an answer engine two versions to choose between, and a customer can end up calling a number you retired last year.

Also look at where your key facts live. A price list or service area that sits only inside an image or a PDF is harder for any tool to read than the same facts written as page text. If your hours or services change with the season, update every place on the same day.

Your Google work still counts, so keep it going

Google says its AI features in Search follow the same rules as the rest of Search. Its page on AI features and your website says existing Search requirements continue to apply, and it points to pages that are technically accessible and helpful to people. Its Search Essentials lay out the same basics.

That is a reason to keep your Business Profile current, keep earning and answering reviews, and keep the website clear about what you do and where. Local SEO and search engine optimization are the work that supports those basics, and a customer who finds you on ChatGPT still lands on the same site and the same profile.

If you want to see whether ChatGPT sends visitors your way at all, our post on ChatGPT referral traffic from BrightEdge covers the visits side. For the practical steps on getting named in an answer, how to get cited by ChatGPT goes deeper than a single check can.

A GEO project may not be your first spend

Say the check shows ChatGPT naming your business correctly, and Google already brings you leads. Then the next dollar is better spent on the path a visitor takes once they arrive: a clear next step on every page, a form that sends, a number that dials, reviews that say what you did. That work pays off whether the customer started in ChatGPT or on Google.

Specialist help earns its place when the check points to something technical, spread across several platforms, or hard to measure. A crawler blocked by a firewall setting is one example. Conflicting facts across a dozen listings is another. Testing many services and towns every month is a third. Our generative engine optimization work covers that kind of problem, and no fix from us or anyone else guarantees a mention.

Skip hidden text, fake reviews, mass-produced town pages and placement guarantees

Some offers will arrive this week with the fifth in the pitch. Hidden text written for AI tools, bought or invented reviews, dozens of near-identical town pages, and any promise of a guaranteed spot in ChatGPT are the four to refuse. Google's spam policies prohibit attempts to manipulate generative AI responses in Search, and OpenAI says placement is not guaranteed.

One missing mention in one ChatGPT answer does not show you have lost the market. Answers vary with the question, the location, how fresh the page is and whether the customer has search switched on. Run the check on a schedule, fix what it finds, and judge the result by calls, bookings and sales.

Frequently Asked Questions About ChatGPT Search Volume vs Google

Is ChatGPT replacing Google?

OpenAI says ChatGPT's search-like queries are roughly a fifth of Google's. By that same figure, Google still handles about five times as many, and Alphabet said Search usage hit a record at the end of 2025. Both are growing, and customers can use either one.

Does a fifth of Google's queries mean a fifth of my traffic?

No. A query is a question asked, and your traffic is visits to your site. OpenAI's figure says nothing about clicks or leads, so your own analytics and call log are the numbers to watch.

Who said ChatGPT search is a fifth of Google, and when?

Adam Fry, ChatGPT's consumer product lead at OpenAI, said it at an OpenAI-hosted dinner in New York on November 2, 2026. Big Technology published the interview on November 3, 2026.

Should I block GPTBot to show up in ChatGPT search?

GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot are separate crawlers. OAI-SearchBot controls whether your pages can appear in ChatGPT search answers, and GPTBot relates to training. Decide on each one separately.

Does allowing OAI-SearchBot guarantee a mention?

No. OpenAI says inclusion and placement are not guaranteed. Allowing the crawler makes your pages eligible.

How do I check whether ChatGPT knows my business?

Turn on search, ask which businesses offer your service in your town, then ask for a recommendation for a specific job. Write down each business named and each page linked, and run the same searches on Google.

What This Means for You

OpenAI's fifth is a claim about search-like queries from OpenAI's own product leader, and Google still handles far more searches by Alphabet's own figures. Your first step is the same ten-minute check: ask ChatGPT and Google the same question, open the door to OAI-SearchBot, and make your facts match everywhere. Keep Google Search, your Business Profile, your reviews and your measurement running alongside it.

The payoff is plain. You learn whether ChatGPT shows your customers the right name, hours and phone number, and you find out before a slow month turns into a slower one. A business with accurate listings and a clear site is ready for whichever engine a customer picks.

If the check turns up something technical or hard to measure, Web Leveling can look at it with you. Our generative engine optimization team tests crawler access, reconciles your listings and tracks whether visibility turns into calls. If the check says your money belongs in your conversion path or local SEO first, we will tell you that too. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas. Tell us what your ChatGPT and Google checks showed, and we will help you read the results.

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