ChatGPT vs Google: what AI changes in how people search for information

In September 2025, researchers from OpenAI and several universities published a study titled How People Use ChatGPT with the NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research). It is the first large-scale analysis of how ChatGPT is actually used, based on more than a million anonymised conversations. I read it here with an SEO practitioner's question in mind: what does this change for an SME's visibility?

Unprecedented adoption

In July 2025, ChatGPT was used by around 10% of the world's adult population, some 700 million people every week, who sent 18 billion messages. No digital tool had ever been adopted so quickly.

The study also notes that personal use has overtaken professional use: messages unrelated to work rose from 53% to more than 70% of the total. ChatGPT is therefore no longer an office tool; it is an everyday reflex, as the search engine once was.

What people really ask ChatGPT

Three broad topics account for nearly 80% of conversations:

• Practical Guidance: tutorials, explanations, recommendations tailored to a situation.
• Seeking Information: the direct equivalent of a Google query.
• Writing: drafting, rewording, translating, summarising.

Conversely, programming accounts for only 4.2% of messages, far less than is often assumed.

Asking, Doing, Expressing: three intents

The study also classifies messages by user intent:

Intent	Share of messages	Example
Asking	49%	"Which accounting software should an SME choose?"
Doing	40%	"Write a reminder email to this client."
Expressing	11%	Personal reflection, conversation

In a work context, 56% of messages are "Doing", with writing making up the largest share.

Key point: "Asking" messages are exactly the queries that, a few years ago, went through Google. That is where a business's visibility in AI is decided.

Is ChatGPT replacing Google?

No, but it is taking part of its role. Open questions, comparisons and requests for advice are partly moving to AI assistants, which deliver a synthesised answer instead of a list of links.

Google is adapting too: its AI Overviews, generated answers at the top of the page, reached more than 2 billion users a month in over 200 countries in 2025. Generative search is therefore not only happening in ChatGPT; it is happening in Google as well.

For an SME, the consequence is concrete. When a business owner asks "which provider can automate my invoicing in Geneva?", they increasingly get a written answer that cites two or three names, rather than a page of ten links. Not being one of those names means not existing for that search. AI assistants that rely on external sources work on the principle of RAG: they search first, then write.

How to get cited by AI: what I recommend

Nobody can guarantee a citation by an AI assistant: answers vary with the tool, the wording and the moment. There are, however, practices that clearly increase the likelihood of being picked up.

1. Answer clearly, right from the start

AI engines readily extract a summary placed at the top of a page, a crisp definition or a direct answer to a question. A text that circles the subject for three paragraphs has little chance of being cited.

2. Structure the content

Headings phrased as questions, lists, comparison tables and an FAQ make the page easier to read for a model as well as for a human. I also add structured data (Schema.org) describing the author, the business and the content of each page.

3. Demonstrate verifiable expertise

An identified author, a genuine last-updated date, cited sources, verifiable figures: these are the signals Google groups under the acronym E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness). Generative engines are just as sensitive to them.

4. Be consistent everywhere

Name, address, activity, description: the business must be described the same way on its website, its Google profile, LinkedIn and directories. An AI that finds contradictory information hesitates to cite you.

5. Stay visible in Google

Generative engines draw heavily on pages that already rank well. Classic SEO remains the foundation: a fast, well-structured website, with pages that precisely answer the right searches. You can check your titles with my SERP simulator (in French).

My view

I don't believe in the end of SEO; I believe in its expansion. The principles that make a good page for Google (answering precisely, proving expertise, being clearly identified) are exactly those that make a source citable by an AI.

What changes is the demand for clarity. A vague, generic or unsigned page loses on both fronts. A useful, structured and signed page wins on both. That is the approach I follow for my clients, working on SEO and GEO in Geneva together.

If you are looking for a provider for this work, here are the criteria for choosing an SEO agency in Geneva, including how to tell whether an independent consultant is enough for your needs.

Useful sources

• Chatterji, Cunningham, Deming, Hitzig, Ong, Shan and Wadman, How People Use ChatGPT, NBER Working Paper No. 34255, September 2025
• Google, Alphabet Q2 2025 earnings call: remarks by Sundar Pichai
• Google Search Central, AI features and your website
• Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content