How frequently does ChatGPT initiate a Web Search?
The short answer: OpenAI has not shared that information.
ChatGPT Search is one of the most powerful features of ChatGPT. As marketers, we value it highly since it drives referral traffic to our websites. However, there is limited public data available about ChatGPT Search.
Naturally, this leads many marketing teams to ask: What exactly is ChatGPT Search? And how often does ChatGPT initiate a web search?
What is the ChatGPT (Web) Search?
ChatGPT Search / Web Search was introduced by OpenAI in 2023 in its current form and has been gradually rolled out earlier in 2024 to all users—both logged-in as well as logged-out users. Meaning: Anyone can go to ChatGPT.com—even without an account—to trigger a web search.
However, even before that, ChatGPT introduced browing via plugins. Here’s a timeline of events.
How often does ChatGPT initiate a web search?
The short answer: We don’t know for sure. OpenAI does not disclose any specific data regarding how frequently the web search feature is triggered or utilized. In general, OpenAI tends to withhold such statistics. Additionally, there is no available information on the daily usage numbers of logged-in paid users, logged-in free users, or logged-out users. This lack of detail is simply because OpenAI does not share this information.
When does ChatGPT trigger a web search?
ChatGPT triggers a web search when:
- You explicitly ask ChatGPT to look something up (“search”, “check online”, “latest news”, etc.).
- The question needs fresh or time-sensitive information (e.g. stock prices, sports results, event schedules).
- The topic is niche or highly specific where pretraining might not be enough (e.g. a small startup’s pricing, a restaurant menu, or local weather).
- Accuracy is critical and outdated info could be misleading (e.g. regulations, library versions, company policies).
ChatGPT avoids triggering a web search if:
- The answer is stable and unlikely to have changed (e.g. history, math, physics concepts).
- You seem to want a general explanation, not live data.
- ChatGPT can reasonably answer from memory.
How to check if ChatGPT triggers a web search with OtterlyAI?
While it’s unclear how frequently ChatGPT initiates a web search, you can easily discover whether your prompts are triggering web searches using OtterlyAI’s AI Search Monitoring Tool.
Simply log in to your OtterlyAI account, navigate to your brand report, and check out the All Prompts Report. For example, as shown in my screenshot, six of my prompts as of September 24 currently do not generate any website citations.
Disclaimer: OtterlyAI monitors and emulates the real-user view of ChatGPT.com by tracking the logged-out state of ChatGPT.
What does the external data and some patterns tell us?
- In the OpenAI “How people are using ChatGPT” / associated usage classification, one of the categories is “Seeking Information” — i.e. users asking informational questions. That gives a sense of the extent to which ChatGPT is used in a “search-style” role. (source) However, such “Seeking Information” usage (with nearly 80% of all ChatGPT usage) is not identical to “using the web search / SearchGPT feature.” Some of those informational queries may be answered from model knowledge (not via web retrieval).
- An article from SEOClarity reports that 77 % of U.S. ChatGPT users say they “use it as a search engine” at least occasionally. (source)
- Another source (Sixth City Marketing) claims that by end-2024, 46 % of users used the web search feature (versus 54 % using built-in knowledge). (source)
Let’s now create the following estimate:
OpenAI and media reports (e.g. The Verge, Backlinko, Visual Capitalist) cite that ChatGPT handles about 2.5 billion prompts per day globally (as of 2025). If 40%–70% of these prompts are search-like (modeling assumption), then:
- Low case (40%): 2.5B × 0.40 = 1.0 billion search-like queries per day
- Mid case (55%): 2.5B × 0.55 = 1.375 billion search-like queries per day
- High case (70%): 2.5B × 0.70 = 1.75 billion search-like queries per day
Patterns we’ve identified through OtterlyAI
- ChatGPT most often triggers a web search for real-time informational requests or similar prompts that ask for specific dates. Here are some examples:
- What’s the weather in NYC?
- Best running shoes for my NYC 2025 marathon?
- Best CRM system in 2025
- ChatGPT triggers a web search for long, conversation-based category queries such as:
- I’m a Startup SaaS CEO looking for the best CRM systems tailored for my business stage and industry. Please recommend the top 5 CRM platforms that support my needs clearly.
- We see a mix of web search versus no-web search for rather “easy” category-based queries:
- Best Running Shoes
- Best CRM System
- Best AI Search Monitoring Tool
- ChatGPT most often does not trigger a web search for How-to / informational / educational search queries, such as:
- how to see if AI mentions your brand
- How to boil an egg
- What is a dinosaur
- Explain the concept of time travel in science fiction
Summary: Estimated Web Retrieval Modelling
ChatGPT processes about 2.5 billion prompts every day worldwide. Many of these prompts are similar to how people use traditional search engines like Google. Based on surveys and industry data, it’s estimated that 40% to 70% of ChatGPT prompts involve search intent—questions where users are looking for information. This means that each day, ChatGPT handles about 1.0 to 1.75 billion prompts that are like search queries.
That said, not all of these search-like prompts result in real-time web searches. ChatGPT’s web retrieval feature (which pulls information directly from the internet) is used more often for certain types of questions. For example:
- Real-time factual questions (like asking about the weather, current news, or specific rankings for 2025) almost always require web searches
- More detailed, category-based requests (e.g., “As a SaaS CEO, recommend the top CRMs for my industry”)
- Shorter, simpler category questions (like “Best CRM system”) trigger web searches in some occasions
- Educational or “how-to” questions (like “What is a dinosaur?” or “How to boil an egg?”) usually don’t need web retrieval and are handled by ChatGPT’s built-in knowledge
Overall, when you apply these estimates to the mix of question types, about 500 million to 875 million ChatGPT queries per day use web retrieval. In other words, 20–35% of all ChatGPT prompts lead to live internet searches. For comparison, this means ChatGPT’s web searches equal about 6–10% of Google Search’s daily volume, which is estimated at 8.5–9 billion searches worldwide.