ChatGPT Search
ChatGPT Search is the search-augmented mode of ChatGPT, launched in late 2024, that retrieves and cites web sources alongside generated answers. It is OpenAI's direct competitor to Google search.
What it is
ChatGPT Search blends OpenAI's foundation models with real-time web retrieval. When a user asks a question, ChatGPT Search retrieves relevant sources, generates an answer, and cites the sources inline. As of 2026, ChatGPT processes more than 3 billion queries per week, with a meaningful and growing share routed through ChatGPT Search. The brands that get cited inside ChatGPT Search responses capture the trust and traffic that used to flow through Google.
Why it matters for GEO
ChatGPT is now a primary research surface for hundreds of millions of users. Citation share inside ChatGPT Search is increasingly a leading indicator of mindshare in B2B categories.
The CiterLabs perspective
ChatGPT Search is one of the four engines CiterLabs measures and optimizes for.
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of structuring a brand's content, entity footprint, and third-party signals so that AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews cite that brand inside their generated answers.
- Citation Share — Citation share is the percentage of relevant prompts in which an AI engine cites a specific brand or domain inside its generated answer.
- Perplexity AI — Perplexity AI is an AI answer engine that combines large language models with real-time web search and inline citations.
Want to be cited for terms like ChatGPT Search?
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