The search landscape is going through another turning point. For years, Google and Bing defined how people found information. Now, ChatGPT Search, OpenAI’s real-time search feature inside ChatGPT, is becoming a serious player.
Over the last year, usage of ChatGPT Search has grown rapidly. This growth is already reshaping long-standing SEO playbooks. Search is not “dead,” but it is no longer only about ranking for blue links.
Businesses must think in terms of both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and what we at FoxAdvert call Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). The fundamentals still matter, where Google rankings remain central to visibility and revenue, but the way information is delivered is changing.
At FoxAdvert, we help businesses adapt to major changes in digital visibility. Let's take a look at the statistics behind ChatGPT Search adoption, explain how the system finds and ranks content, and outline the practical steps businesses should take to protect and grow their organic presence in 2025.
Evidence from recent months shows that ChatGPT Search is not a niche experiment. It is becoming part of mainstream online behavior.
OpenAI made the tool available to all users in supported regions by the end of 2024, and by February 2025, it no longer required signup. That change alone gave ChatGPT Search a much wider reach. When access is easy, user behavior shifts more quickly.
Estimates now suggest that ChatGPT has around 400 million active users worldwide. This is still far smaller than Google’s global reach, but it is large enough to influence how people research, learn, and shop. When almost half a billion people are using a new platform to find information, businesses cannot afford to ignore it.
Industry research also shows that AI-generated answers reduce the number of clicks to websites. Google’s AI Overviews, Bing’s chat results, Perplexity, and ChatGPT Search all provide detailed summaries that satisfy many queries without requiring the user to leave the platform. For marketers, this means part of the audience is being served within the AI system itself.
Google, however, remains the dominant force. Some reports show slight dips in global traffic since ChatGPT’s growth, while others show stability or even growth, depending on the timeframe and measurement. The picture is complex, but one truth stands out: people are experimenting more with AI-driven search, dividing their attention between engines and assistants.
Continue reading: Navigating SEO’s AI Revolution: How Google’s 2025 Dominance Is Changing Search
Another important detail is that the top Google results heavily influence AI answers. A study of 25,000 queries confirmed that ChatGPT and similar engines rely strongly on pages already ranking highly in Google. This is positive news: it means that investment in traditional SEO continues to pay off by not only driving direct traffic but also improving the chances of being cited in ChatGPT responses.
Taken together, these signals tell us that while traditional SEO remains the main driver of business visibility, AI-powered discovery has become a meaningful layer that companies must optimize for.
ChatGPT Search uses its crawler, OAI-SearchBot, to find and index content. If businesses block or throttle this crawler through their robots.txt file or firewall rules, their content will not appear in ChatGPT Search results. It is therefore essential to ensure that technical access is open.
Once content is discovered, ChatGPT Search usually generates a consolidated answer. It pulls together information from multiple sources into a single, conversational response. In some cases, it includes citations. When a website is cited, it appears as a clickable reference (the new version of Google’s “position zero”).
Attribution is not always consistent. Sometimes, content influences an answer without being directly credited. As a result, companies should not measure success only by traffic. Instead, they should view visibility inside AI answers as an outcome in itself, alongside clicks and conversions.
From our perspective at FoxAdvert, ChatGPT Search brings both continuity and change.
Google remains the center of search demand. People still use it for commercial queries, product research, and transactions. Businesses that neglect technical SEO, site architecture, and link-building risk losing their most important revenue engine.
The value of expertise, experience, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T) also remains. Because AI models rely on strong, credible sources, websites with clear authorship, references, and consistent entity signals are more likely to be cited in ChatGPT answers.
The biggest shift is from focusing on the best page to the best answer. AI engines do not always reference full articles. They extract short sections, definitions, or tables. That means question-driven content structures such as FAQs, comparisons, and summaries, are more important than ever.
Another change is the move from optimizing for keywords to optimizing for tasks. Users often ask follow-up questions. AI tools try to anticipate these. Content that fully covers a topic, including related questions, is more valuable to the system than content narrowly targeted at one phrase.
Finally, the measurement of success changes. Being cited by ChatGPT builds visibility and brand recognition, even when traffic is lower. Companies must start treating citations and mentions as a key performance indicator in addition to clicks.
FoxAdvert recommends that businesses treat ChatGPT optimization as a natural extension of SEO.
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AI-generated answers indeed reduce some traffic. Informational queries are often satisfied without a click. Publishers, especially those relying on advertising revenue, are concerned about the shrinking “click economy.”
But the impact is uneven. Transactional and local searches still drive users to websites for booking, purchasing, or verifying details. Topics involving health, finance, or other sensitive areas still rely on trusted publishers. And deep, niche content continues to stand out because it goes beyond the general knowledge AI can provide.
For businesses, this means opportunity as well as risk. While some informational traffic will decline, visibility through citations and mentions creates new ways to build trust and brand awareness. In this environment, quality and authority matter more than ever.
The short answer is no. Even with fast growth, ChatGPT’s usage remains a fraction of Google’s. What is changing is how people split their attention. Many users now start their search in ChatGPT for research, then turn to Google for deeper exploration or to complete an action.
The important insight is that success in AI search is linked to success in Google. Because AI engines lean heavily on Google’s top results, websites that rank well are also more likely to appear in ChatGPT answers. For businesses, this is good news. Investment in technical SEO, authority building, and helpful content continues to compound across both environments.
FoxAdvert recommends a clear 90-day plan for businesses preparing for ChatGPT Search.
Traditional SEO is not going away. But the definition of visibility is expanding. ChatGPT Search is now part of the ecosystem, and businesses must adapt.
At FoxAdvert, we believe the path forward is not abandoning what works in Google, but layering new strategies for AI-driven discovery on top of existing SEO practices. The same principles that make a website strong in search are also what make it attractive to ChatGPT.
The statistics are clear. User behavior is shifting, AI answers are growing, and competition for visibility is changing. Businesses that move early will not only protect their traffic but also gain brand presence in the answers users increasingly rely on.
The future of search will not be either Google or ChatGPT. It will be both, working side by side. Companies prepared for this integrated environment will capture the greatest share of visibility, trust, and revenue.
For businesses seeking to navigate these rapid changes without losing search visibility, partnering with experienced SEO solution providers can make all the difference. FoxAdvert helps brands stay ahead in the AI-driven search era, turning potential algorithm disruptions into opportunities for growth.
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Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of optimizing content so it can appear in AI-generated answers, such as ChatGPT Search. Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on ranking in Google results, AEO ensures your content is structured, quotable, and machine-readable so AI systems can reference it directly.
Yes, to some extent. AI answers often satisfy users without a click, which may lower informational traffic. However, being cited in ChatGPT responses still boosts brand visibility and trust. Transactional and local queries still drive strong website traffic, making SEO and AEO complementary rather than competitive.
To increase your chances of being cited, allow OAI-SearchBot to crawl your site, use structured data (schema), and create content that answers questions clearly. FAQs, definitions, comparisons, and unique research are particularly effective for AI-driven visibility.
ChatGPT Search favors clear, concise, and authoritative content. Short summaries, question-and-answer sections, pros and cons lists, and original data are more likely to be quoted than long, unstructured articles. Content that demonstrates expertise and credibility is especially valuable.
No. Google remains the primary driver of traffic and revenue. However, ChatGPT relies heavily on top Google results to build its answers. That means strong SEO performance increases the likelihood of being cited in ChatGPT. The winning strategy is to invest in both SEO and AEO together.
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