Google is still 210x bigger than ChatGPT in search

 

ChatGPT handles 66 million search-like prompts daily vs. 14 billion Google searches. AI is growing, but Google search still dominates.

ChatGPT now processes 66 million “search-like” prompts per day, while Google still processes about 14 billion searches daily – roughly 210 times more. That’s the latest AI search reality check, via Rand Fishkin, CEO and co-founder of SparkToro.

By the numbers. Google processes ~210x more searches than ChatGPT. Even DuckDuckGo outpaces ChatGPT in referrals, per estimates.

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said ChatGPT handled 1 billion prompts per day in December. By July, that number was 2.5 billion prompts.
• Much of that growth comes from API calls (businesses plugging GPT into products).
• A Harvard/OpenAI study found 21.3% of prompts are “search-like.”
  • That’s roughly 66 million search-intent prompts per day.
• Google handled 5 trillion searches in 2024, or about 14 billion per day.

Zoom out. This is a good reminder that AI hasn’t replaced search. In fact, AI search drives less than 1% of referrals, according to BrightEdge data.

• Fishkin estimated that Google Search was 373x bigger than ChatGPT in March.
• Also, when people adopt AI tools, their Google searches also rise, SparkToro/Datos found.

Why we care. Google still dominates discovery, even as AI Overviews are eroding clicks to many websites. Meanwhile, ChatGPT is tiny compared to Google – yet in certain niches, it may be more influential than DuckDuckGo. So beware of the AI search hype – focus on where your audience spends their time.

Fishkin’s video. You can watch it on LinkedIn.