Does ChatGPT Use Google?

Short answer: Not officially. OpenAI's help pages name Microsoft (Bing) and Shopify as search providers, and OpenAI runs its own crawler. Google is never named. But in 2025, SEO testers found pages that only Google knew about showing up in ChatGPT, and a news report said OpenAI used a service that scrapes Google results. So the honest answer is: ChatGPT mainly uses Bing, its own crawler and partners, and has used Google results at least some of the time.

Want to know if ChatGPT names you today? MadeTheAnswer's free check asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude 5 buyer-style questions, one run each, and shows whether your product comes up. We work out your category and suggest likely competitors. Your score shows on screen right away, and the full report comes by email. No card. It's a quick snapshot, not a verdict.

First: ChatGPT doesn't always search

ChatGPT answers in two ways:

• From memory. The model learned from a huge amount of text during training. For many questions, it answers from that, with no search at all.
• With search. OpenAI says ChatGPT "may search the web automatically when your question would benefit from current information." You can also turn search on yourself. Answers that use search usually show links to sources.

So "does ChatGPT use Google?" really only applies to the second case. When ChatGPT answers from memory, no search engine is used in that moment.

What OpenAI says

OpenAI's help page on web search says ChatGPT "sometimes partners with other search providers." When it does, it rewrites your question into shorter search queries and sends those to the provider.

It gives an example. If you ask for "good restaurants near me" and ChatGPT guesses from your IP address that you're in San Francisco, it might search for "top restaurants San Francisco." OpenAI says it does not send your IP address or account details to those providers.

For details on how providers handle the queries, the page links to two privacy policies: Microsoft's and Shopify's. Google isn't listed.

For business accounts, OpenAI is more specific. Its page on ChatGPT search for Enterprise and Edu says ChatGPT "may share disassociated search queries with the Bing search engine to return web results."

OpenAI also runs its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI says it is used "to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features." Sites that block it "will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers," though they can still show up as plain navigation links.

What tests and reports found

In mid-2025, people in the SEO world started testing this.

• The "hidden page" test. Semrush wrote about a test by Abhishek Iyer, a former Google engineer. He made a page about a made-up term and let only Google find it. Then he asked ChatGPT about the term, and it cited his page. Leigh McKenzie of Backlinko repeated the test. Semrush reports his results "suggest that ChatGPT Plus uses Google, but the free version doesn't."
• The news report. In August 2025, Search Engine Land wrote about a report from The Information. It said OpenAI used SerpApi, a company that scrapes Google results, to power some ChatGPT answers on news, sports and finance. Search Engine Land noted that this "contrasts with OpenAI's public stance" that ChatGPT search relies on its own crawler, Bing and licensed publisher data.

Semrush also said we don't know "exactly how often or in what circumstances ChatGPT uses Google instead of Bing." That's still true from the public record. OpenAI hasn't said.

So, Google or Bing?

Here's a fair way to sum it up:

Things change fast here. Any of this could be different by the time you read it.

What this means for your business

You don't need to bet on one search engine. The safe moves work no matter where ChatGPT gets its results:

1. Don't block OAI-SearchBot. Check your robots.txt file and your firewall or CDN settings. OpenAI says robots.txt changes can take about 24 hours to apply.
2. Make sure Bing knows your site. Many sites only think about Google. Since Bing is the provider OpenAI names, check that your important pages show up in Bing too.
3. Keep doing solid Google SEO. If ChatGPT sometimes pulls from Google, pages that rank well in Google have a better shot.
4. Think in short search phrases. ChatGPT turns long questions into short searches, like "best CRM small business." Make sure your pages clearly match the short version of your buyers' questions.
5. Remember location. ChatGPT may use your rough location to shape searches. Local businesses should keep their city and service area clear on their site and listings.
6. Don't forget training data. For answers from memory, what matters is what was written about you across the web over time, such as reviews, lists and articles.

For a full plan, see How to get your product recommended by ChatGPT. To check what ChatGPT says about you right now, see Is my brand in ChatGPT?

Why your results may differ from a friend's

Even with the same question, two people can get different answers. The search provider might differ. So might the location, the plan (free or paid), saved memories, and plain chance. OpenAI says that if memory is on, ChatGPT may use saved memories when it rewrites a search.

That's why a single test tells you little. Ask the same question several times, and from more than one account if you can.

FAQ

Does ChatGPT use Google search? OpenAI doesn't say it does. Its help pages name Bing and Shopify. But 2025 tests and a news report say Google results were used at least some of the time.

Does ChatGPT use Bing? Yes. OpenAI names Microsoft as a search provider, and says Enterprise and Edu workspaces send search queries to Bing.

Does free ChatGPT use Google? One repeated test, reported by Semrush, suggested paid ChatGPT used Google and the free version didn't. That's one test from 2025, not an official answer.

Does ChatGPT have its own search engine? OpenAI has its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot, which it uses to find sites for ChatGPT search. It also uses partners.

If I rank #1 on Google, will ChatGPT recommend me? Not for sure. It may help, but ChatGPT also uses Bing, its own crawler and its training data. Ranking on Google is one input, not a promise.

Can I see which sources ChatGPT used? When ChatGPT searches, it usually shows citations and a Sources button. When it answers from memory, there may be no sources to see.

Related guides

• What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)? — How getting named by AI tools differs from ranking on Google.
• Is My Brand in ChatGPT? How to Check, and What to Do if You're Missing — Whatever search sits behind it, this is how to check if you're named.
• Does llms.txt Work? — Another common question about how AI tools find pages.
• How to Get Your Product Recommended by ChatGPT: A Step-by-Step Plan — What you can do so ChatGPT can find and understand your product.

Check what ChatGPT says about you

Whatever search engine sits behind it, the question that matters is whether ChatGPT names your product. MadeTheAnswer's free check asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude 5 buyer-style questions, one run each, and shows you what they say. We work out your category and suggest likely competitors. Your score shows on screen right away, and the full report comes by email. No card. One run is a snapshot. The report shows whether AI names you, which competitors get mentioned, and which sites it cites, and each assistant's score links to the actual AI answers behind it. Paid weekly reports start at $29/month. They cover all 4 assistants, ask each question 3 times, and include a weekly Fix plan. See plans and prices. See a sample report.

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Sources: OpenAI Help, "Searching the web with ChatGPT"; OpenAI Help, "ChatGPT search for Enterprise and Edu"; OpenAI, "Overview of OpenAI Crawlers"; Semrush, "ChatGPT Definitely Uses Google to Search the Web" (Aug 2025); Search Engine Land, "ChatGPT's answers came from Google Search after all: Report" (Aug 2025).