Looking things up now makes up about as large a share of consumer ChatGPT messages as writing, though the increase is smaller than earlier data.
Information seeking accounted for 20.7% of messages on consumer ChatGPT plans in August, nearly matching writing at 20.6%, according to OpenAI Signals data released Oct. 26. It was the first month in the series, which starts in July 2024, when the reported share for seeking information was higher. Writing moved back in front in September, at 21.4% versus 20.2%.
In addition to publishing the new version of their signals (Signals V3.0), OpenAI posted a blog post about how users are bringing work to ChatGPT. Their data is based on a monthly sample of 1M messages from account holders with a declared age of 18+ on Free, Go, Plus, or Pro plans. They exclude Enterprise and Codex. In addition, they have created an automated system that classifies each sampled message by subject area.
Over the months both cover, Signals also shows a smaller rise in seeking information than a 2025 paper by OpenAI and Harvard researchers, which put the category at 24% of ChatGPT usage by mid-2025.
Writing fell from 34.1% of messages in July 2024 to 21.4% in September 2026. Seeking information rose from 16.7% to 20.2% over the same months.
Practical guidance, which includes how-to advice and tutoring, has been the largest topic every month since March 2025 and was 28.1% in September.
According to the release’s data dictionary , seeking information covers requests for facts, questions about products and services for sale, and recipe or cooking help.
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