ChatGPT claims to capture 20% of Google's search volume

Defining search-like queries

OpenAI is positioning ChatGPT as a major competitor to Google's dominance in the search market. According to a report from Big Technology, the company estimates it now captures about 20% of the search volume that Google handles. This puts the AI tool in a position that many would consider the second-largest search engine globally.

Adam Fry, the consumer product lead for ChatGPT, describes these interactions as "search-like queries." He explains that these are tasks a user would have traditionally performed on a search engine but have instead chosen to do within the AI interface. This distinction is important because it separates general chatting from information seeking.

The definition of a search is somewhat flexible in this context. Fry noted that every time a user asks a question to find information on the web, it counts as a search. Because ChatGPT now frequently accesses external sources to provide up-to-date information, many of its daily interactions fall into this category.

Growth in user activity

The scale of ChatGPT's growth is reflected in its massive user base. The company reported having 1.2 billion weekly active users, which includes a surge of about 200 million new users over the last two months. These numbers suggest that the tool is becoming a daily utility for a significant portion of the internet population.

Beyond text-based searches, the platform is seeing high engagement with its multimodal features. OpenAI's models are reportedly generating about 1.5 billion images every week on behalf of its users. This demonstrates that the platform is serving as a hub for various types of creative and informational content generation.

Voice interaction is another growing pillar of the ecosystem. Approximately 250 million people are using ChatGPT Voice, a feature that allows for spoken communication with the AI. While some social media users have used the feature for entertainment, it represents a significant shift toward more natural, hands-free information retrieval.

The path to monetization

While the user growth is substantial, the company's path to profit remains a point of scrutiny. Fry did not provide a specific update on the current number of paying subscribers, offering only the most recent public figure of 50 million. This leaves a gap in understanding how many of the 1.2 billion weekly users are actually contributing to the bottom line.

Even with potential growth, the conversion rate to paid plans appears relatively low. If the company added another 10 million subscribers, the conversion rate would still sit at roughly 5%. This highlights the challenge of turning a massive, free-to-use user base into a stable, recurring revenue stream.

Most of these subscribers are on monthly plans, which means they can cancel or switch to a different service at any time. This volatility makes it difficult to predict long-term financial stability as the company prepares for a potential initial public offering. Investors will likely be watching these conversion metrics closely as the company matures.

Failed experiments and pivots

Interestingly, OpenAI has not succeeded in creating a standalone search product to compete directly with Google. The company previously attempted to launch SearchGPT, a dedicated search engine, but instead rolled those features into the main ChatGPT interface. This suggests a strategy of integration rather than creating separate destination sites.

The company also experimented with a browser called ChatGPT Atlas, which was intended to function similarly to Google Chrome. However, that project was quietly shelved earlier this year after it failed to generate significant interest from the public. This indicates that users may prefer the current conversational format over a dedicated browsing tool.

By focusing on the existing ChatGPT interface, OpenAI is doubling down on its current trajectory. The goal seems to be making the AI