ChatGPT now processes search queries equal to 20 percent of Google's volume, OpenAI disclosed at a press event on Monday1.
Adam Fry, OpenAI's consumer product lead for ChatGPT, shared the figure, defining a search as any user query that triggers a web search rather than tasks such as defining a term or providing a simple how-to explanation. Fry did not specify the source of the Google search volume number used for the comparison.
The 20 percent figure gains context against Bing's long struggle for share. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified during Google's 2023 antitrust trial that Bing held roughly 3 percent of the search engine market after more than a decade of effort.
ANALYSIS By OpenAI's own metric, ChatGPT's search throughput already dwarfs the share Bing achieved over a far longer period.
During the same trial, Google itself characterized AI as a potential disruptor and argued that ChatGPT was poised to compete seriously with its search business. OpenAI's latest disclosure aligns with that framing.
The comparison rests on query volume, not market share, revenue, or user count, and OpenAI has not disclosed how it obtained Google's figure.
ANALYSIS Without an independent baseline or methodology disclosure, the claim functions more as a competitive signal than a verifiable market-share measurement.
Google, separately, announced on November 3 that it will disable AI tools for K-12 student accounts by default, a move that has already drawn antitrust scrutiny from former U.S. enforcers over the bundling of Search with AI features in classrooms[3].