Since launching its search feature in October 2024, ChatGPT has increasingly gained ground from Google and other traditional search engines as the first stop for information
ChatGPT launched its search engine with a premise that was somewhat controversial: traditional search engines require too much effort. Having multiple web sources straight at your fingertips was deemed a hindrance rather than a help when looking for quality information. But perhaps the greatest fault of search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing: they aren’t very friendly.
ChatGPT’s popularity is only increasing in the UK for both personal and work-related purposes. Recently Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative party revealed ChatGPT is her “new search engine”.
In an interview with Robert Peston, she shared: “I stopped going to Google because I find that AI provides more context. So it stops me from follow-on searches. But you have to be careful, ’cause it’s not always accurate.”
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Like Badenoch, 77% of ChatGPT users employ it as a search engine, according to a 2025 Adobe Express survey of 1,000 US ChatGPT users. The study also revealed that users are employing the chatbot for answers over traditional search engines, with 3 out of 10 respondents saying they trust ChatGPT more than search engines.
How are most people using ChatGPT?
Last month, OpenAI released the largest study to date of how people are using ChatGPT. Drawing on 1.5 million user conversations, it is the most comprehensive study of consumer use of AI ever released.
The findings revealed that nearly half (49%) of messages were categorised as “Asking,” which, according to the company “shows people value ChatGPT most as an advisor rather than only for task completion. The study also revealed that 70% of ChatGPT use is for non-work-related purposes.
Who is using ChatGPT as a search engine?
According to the Adobe survey, usage of ChatGPT for search is high across all age groups. However younger ChatGPT users have been found to be leading the shift, with 28% of surveyed Gen Z users beginning their searches on the chatbot.
How does ChatGPT search work?
AI-powered search engines have driven the rise of conversational search, usurping keyword search. Essentially, instead of getting a wealth of information grounded in keywords in your prompt, conversational search enables you to ask natural questions – and follow-up questions – grounded in your personal context and information from the web.
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How good is ChatGPT as a search engine?
According to OpenAI, ChatGPT search provides: “fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources, which you would have previously needed to go to a search engine for”.
According to the Adobe survey, people most often search via ChatGPT because it can quickly summarise complex information. However, AI hallucinations have stifled trust in ChatGPT results. These hallucinations include incorrect or misleading results that AI models generate that can be caused by biases in their training data or just inaccurate assumptions in a bid to condense and neatly package information.
How does it compare to Google?
One notable finding from OpenAI’s data report is that ChatGPT users increasingly employ the chatbot for what is known as “decision support”. OpenAI says ChatGPT “helps improve judgment and productivity”.
ChatGPT is also in the process of integrating apps into its system to chat with and build with. OpenAI’s pilot partners include Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Figma, Expedia, Spotify and Zillow.
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