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OpenAI executive Adam Fry said ChatGPT handles search-like queries at about one-fifth Google’s volume, but did not identify the Google baseline or share underlying data. Independent models estimate lower shares, while traffic panels show ChatGPT sends far fewer visits to websites than Google.
OpenAI consumer product lead Adam Fry said on Nov. 2 that ChatGPT handles search-like queries at roughly one-fifth Google’s volume, a comparison that suggests the chatbot is becoming a significant way to find information. OpenAI has not disclosed the Google figure, time period or underlying data used, and independent estimates and website traffic panels produce lower numbers on different measures.
Fry made the statement during a conversation with journalist Alex Kantrowitz at an OpenAI-hosted dinner in New York. Big Technology published the conversation the following day. The Verge described the gathering as a press event. Fry defined a search as each time someone asks a question and ChatGPT goes to search the web; the Verge reported that simple definitions and how-to explanations do not count under that description.
Fry also said ChatGPT had grown from one billion to 1.2 billion weekly users in two months. The source material does not identify the user measure behind those figures or provide supporting data. Google did not comment on the one-fifth comparison in the reports cited in the source material. The statement is confirmed as Fry’s claim, but the ratio itself cannot be independently checked from the information released.
Two outside estimates put ChatGPT’s share lower, though both use models rather than direct counts. Ahrefs estimated about 12 percent of Google’s volume in February 2026. SeoClarity estimated about 7.5 percent on Oct. 28, using a combination of information-seeking and practical-guidance prompts. Their methods and definitions differ from Fry’s, so the figures are not direct measurements of the same activity.
OpenAI’s One-in-Five Search Claim How ChatGPT Compares with Google
Adam Fry said ChatGPT handles search-like queries at roughly one-fifth of Google’s volume. OpenAI has not shared the baseline or data needed to verify the comparison.
Search Reach and Website Visits
The comparison matters to publishers, businesses and users because search queries and website visits measure different things. ChatGPT may answer a question without sending the user to a site, while a Google search often presents links a user can open. A high count of search-like prompts would not by itself show that ChatGPT is replacing Google as a source of referral traffic.
In Ahrefs’ panel of 118,671 websites in October 2026, Google sent about 69 times as much traffic as ChatGPT. That panel reflects visits to the sites it tracks, not every website or every search. StatCounter’s network showed ChatGPT accounting for between 0.08 and 0.41 percent of clicks to sites across the monthly range from October 2025 to October 2026. Those click figures cannot establish the share of questions asked in either service.
For companies, the findings suggest that appearing in AI-generated answers may be worth monitoring alongside search rankings, but the cited traffic figures do not show AI referrals replacing Google traffic. For readers, a sourced answer is still worth checking at its origin when accuracy matters. The source of an answer and the method used to count it affect what the numbers can establish.
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Different Ways to Count Search
OpenAI’s comparison uses search-like queries that trigger a web lookup. The source material does not say which Google query total it used, which countries were included or what period the comparison covers. Without those details, outside researchers cannot reproduce Fry’s calculation or tell exactly how its definition aligns with Google’s.
Ahrefs and seoClarity estimate the number of ChatGPT prompts that resemble tasks people might once have taken to a search engine. These are modeled estimates, not observed totals. Website panels answer another question: how much traffic each service sends to a limited group of sites. A chatbot response that ends the interaction may count as a query but produce no click.
Google remains a large and growing service in the figures cited by the source. Alphabet said third-quarter query growth was its fastest in five years, and Google Search revenue rose 12 percent to $63.35 billion. Revenue and query growth do not settle how the services compare under Fry’s definition, but they provide current company-reported context on Google’s business.
The Missing Google Baseline
OpenAI has not specified which Google query total it used, the countries or period covered, or how it counted ChatGPT searches. The company has not supplied underlying data in the material cited here. Those omissions leave the one-fifth figure unverified outside OpenAI.
The independent estimates also have limits: they model prompt categories and use different methods. Traffic panels track only their own sites and clicks, not all questions or answers. The available evidence therefore does not settle how many searches the services handle on a like-for-like basis, how often ChatGPT citations lead to visits, or whether the reported weekly-user growth used the same measure over both periods.
More Data Needed to Compare
A clearer comparison would require OpenAI to publish the Google baseline, time window, geographic scope and counting method behind Fry’s statement. Google’s response, if it provides one, could add context, but neither the dinner remarks nor the outside estimates establish a common measurement standard.
Until comparable data is available, publishers and businesses can track referrals from ChatGPT and Google separately and review whether AI citations bring visitors to their sites. Further estimates may refine the picture, but their results will remain difficult to compare unless they state how they define a search and what data they cover.
Key Questions
What did OpenAI say about ChatGPT and Google?
OpenAI consumer product lead Adam Fry said ChatGPT’s search-like query volume was roughly one-fifth Google’s. OpenAI has not released the data needed to independently verify the ratio.
How did Fry define a ChatGPT search?
Fry said each question that leads ChatGPT to search the web counts as a search. The Verge reported that simple definitions and how-to explanations do not count under that description.
Do independent estimates support the one-fifth figure?
Two estimates cited in the source material are lower: Ahrefs put the share at about 12 percent in February 2026, and seoClarity estimated about 7.5 percent on Oct. 28. Both are models, and their methods differ from OpenAI’s.
Does the claim mean ChatGPT sends one-fifth as much traffic as Google?
No. The claim concerns search-like queries, while traffic panels count visits to tracked websites. Ahrefs reported Google sent about 69 times as much traffic as ChatGPT to its panel of 118,671 sites in October 2026.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
