ChatGPT Information-Seeking Rises to 20.2% of Messages
OpenAI's updated Signals report shows information requests grew from 16.7% in July 2024 to 20.2% in September 2026.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI reported that information-seeking accounted for 20.2% of sampled individual ChatGPT messages in September 2026, up from 16.7% in July 2024. The company updated its Signals report on October 26, 2026.
Why it matters
The figures offer a view of how people use the chatbot, with information requests now making up a growing share of individual messages. The classification measures a share of messages rather than account holders or search activity, so it does not directly compare to web search usage.
The Signals report classified information-seeking as 20.2% of sampled individual messages in September 2026, compared with 16.7% in July 2024. The classification does not indicate whether those requests used ChatGPT Search or led users to external websites.
The players
OpenAI
OpenAI is the artificial intelligence company that develops ChatGPT and published the Signals report on how people use the chatbot.
Google is the search engine company whose annual search volume is cited as a reference point for comparing ChatGPT's message activity.
The details
The Signals classification groups requests for specific information, purchasable products, and cooking and recipes under the information-seeking label. The sample covers individual use on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro accounts, while organizational use is tracked separately.
Timeline
July 2024: information-seeking share measured at 16.7% of sampled messages.
Early 2025: Google's annual search count exceeded 5 trillion.
July 2025: ChatGPT reported more than 2.5 billion daily messages globally.
September 2026: information-seeking share measured at 20.2% of sampled messages.
October 26, 2026: OpenAI updated the Signals report.
Roadmap
The update extends OpenAI's Signals series, which tracks how the share of informational requests has changed since July 2024. It places ChatGPT usage alongside Google's search volume, though the two measures are not directly comparable.
The data suggests that many people now turn to ChatGPT for specific facts, product choices, and recipes rather than only for other tasks. Readers who use the tool for research should note that a message classified as information-seeking does not mean a web search was performed.
The takeaway
The shift toward informational requests suggests ChatGPT is taking on a larger role in everyday lookups. Users who want to verify facts should still check primary sources, since the classification does not show how answers were produced.
Further reading
For broader coverage of how these tools are being adopted, see the Artificial Intelligence section.
