ChatGPT's search-like queries equal about a fifth of Google's volume, its maker says, counting each question that sends it to the web. Traffic data differs.

ChatGPT receives roughly one-fifth as many search-like queries as does Google, according to ChatGPT consumer product lead Adam Fry.

The point he made about the volume of search-like queries was shared with Alex Kantrowitz in an open discussion during a Monday evening dinner in New York hosted by OpenAI. The transcript was later posted by Big Technology on Tuesday.

OpenAI counts a search each time a question sends ChatGPT to the web, Fry said. The visits ChatGPT sends to websites are a separate measure, and outside data on that traffic puts ChatGPT far behind Google.

Alex Kantrowitz of Big Technology asked Fry whether a conversation that includes a search counts as one, or whether each question requiring a web search counts separately. Fry replied:

“Every time you ask a question and go search the web, that’s a search.”

He said people first came to ChatGPT mostly for writing and coding help, which they wouldn’t have searched for. Over the past year, he said, they’ve brought questions about people, places and things that need up-to-date information, plus finance and health questions, where ChatGPT does a web search. He described the category as anything users would have taken to a traditional search engine.

Fry, in the published interview, did not reveal which Google figure was referenced; for how long the comparison is based on; nor does he state which regions are covered.

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