Is ChatGPT the new Google? What the Business Hub launch means for enterprise search strategy
Not by volume. Google still handles the large majority of searches and its query growth hit a five-year high in Q3 2026, while ChatGPT has around 900 million weekly users and is where many B2B buyers now start a shortlist. Our view: treat ChatGPT as a second front door for vendor discovery, not a replacement for Google, and fund both from one search and AI visibility plan.
Key takeaways
- Google is not shrinking: Alphabet reported its fastest query growth in five years in Q3 2026, and Google held about 74% of US desktop search activity in Q4 2025 in the SparkToro and Datos study.
- ChatGPT is big and growing: OpenAI reported 900 million weekly active users in February 2026.
- For B2B buying, AI matters more than its search share suggests: Forrester says business buyers name generative AI as their most important information source twice as often as any other.
- Business Hub, launched November 10, 2026, gives companies a profile and first-party metrics inside ChatGPT, but OpenAI says claiming does not change visibility.
- Plan one program with two scorecards: Google rankings and AI Overviews on one side, share of answer and mentions across assistants on the other.
Why everyone is asking if ChatGPT is the new Google
On November 10, 2026, OpenAI opened the beta of businesses in ChatGPT, with a Business Hub where a company can claim its profile, correct its details and see how often ChatGPT mentions it. For marketers, it looked like the moment Google Business Profile and Search Console arrived for AI assistants. That is why the phrase “ChatGPT is the new Google” is everywhere this week.
If you have not claimed your profile yet, start with our launch guide to ChatGPT Business Hub, which covers what it is and how to claim it. This article answers the strategic question a CMO or VP Marketing has to answer next: how much of the search budget and team should move, and what changes in the plan for 2027.
What the usage data actually says
The honest answer starts with numbers, and the numbers point in two directions at once.
| Signal | What the source reports | What it means for B2B |
|---|---|---|
| Google search share | Google had about 73.7% of US desktop search activity across 41 major sites in Q4 2025; ChatGPT had under 3% (SparkToro and Datos, desktop only) | Google is still where most search volume is, including brand and navigational searches |
| Google query growth | Alphabet said Q3 2026 query growth was the fastest in five years, with AI Mode driving longer sessions (October 29, 2026) | AI is changing Google from inside; it is not emptying it |
| ChatGPT reach | OpenAI reported 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paying subscribers (February 27, 2026) | Your buyers are almost certainly using it, at work and at home |
| Audience overlap | Similarweb (vendor data) reports that 95% of ChatGPT users also used Google in May 2026 | People add ChatGPT to their habits; they rarely drop Google |
| B2B buyer behaviour | Forrester: 94% of business buyers use AI in their buying process, and generative AI is named most important source twice as often as any other (January 22, 2026) | For vendor research and shortlists, AI answers already carry outsized weight |
Read together, the data says Google is not being replaced; it is being joined. The volume sits with Google. The influence on who makes a B2B shortlist is moving toward AI answers, in ChatGPT and inside Google itself through AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Get an AI visibility read across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews.
Our view: ChatGPT is the new Google for one job, the shortlist
Our view is that the useful question is not which engine wins, but which job each one does in your buyer journey. Google still wins navigational searches, brand searches, documentation lookups and most high-intent queries with a clear product category. ChatGPT is winning the open questions a buying committee asks early: which vendors fit a company like ours, what does this usually cost, what are the alternatives to the tool we use.
That early job matters more than its traffic share. When an assistant names three vendors, the fourth rarely gets a visit, a form fill or a chance to correct the record. Forrester also found that buyers working through AI spend less time engaging directly with vendors, so the shortlist is often formed before your website or sales team is involved.
So for enterprise and mid-market B2B, we plan as if ChatGPT is the new Google for discovery and shortlisting, while Google remains the main source of measurable demand. The two are complementary, and the same assets feed both.
What Business Hub changes, and what it does not
Business Hub changes three things. You can now prove ownership of your company profile, correct the facts ChatGPT shows, and see first-party numbers: mentions, profile views, website clicks and discovery topics for the past 28 days.
It does not change the rules of who gets recommended. OpenAI states that claiming a profile does not change its visibility in ChatGPT, does not guarantee increased visibility and does not give you direct control over ChatGPT’s independent recommendations. It also says advertising does not influence those answers. Recommendations still depend on what the web says about you, which is the work of generative engine optimization.
- New: a verified profile, editable facts, a 28-day view of mentions and clicks, and (for eligible US online businesses) a business agent.
- Unchanged: content, reviews, comparisons and third-party coverage still decide whether you are named next to competitors.
- Limited: metrics cover ChatGPT only, show themes rather than prompts, and can be blank below a reporting threshold.
How to plan search and AI visibility together for 2027
We recommend one search and AI visibility program, owned by one leader, with two scorecards. Splitting SEO and AEO into separate teams with separate budgets tends to duplicate content work and leaves nobody accountable for the buyer questions that span both.
| Workstream | ChatGPT and other assistants | |
|---|---|---|
| Facts and profiles | Google Business Profile where relevant, Organization schema, Knowledge Panel | Claimed Business Hub profile, consistent facts across directories and review sites |
| Content | Pages that rank for category, comparison and pricing queries | The same pages, written answer-first so assistants can quote them |
| Authority | Links and coverage on relevant sites | Mentions and citations in the sources assistants read: trade press, reviews, lists, communities |
| Measurement | Search Console, rankings, AI Overviews presence, organic pipeline | Business Hub mentions and clicks, share of answer on a fixed question set, AI-referred pipeline |
| Paid | Google Ads on high-intent queries | ChatGPT Ads where your buyers are on Free or Go plans, tested small |
The content and authority rows are the same work. That is the main argument for one program: every comparison page, pricing page and customer story you publish improves both scorecards at once.
What to do in the next 30 days
- Claim and verify your Business Hub profile with a company login, and record a baseline of what ChatGPT says before you edit anything.
- Write down the 20 to 30 questions your buyers ask before they shortlist, and test them in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot.
- Compare where you appear in Google results with where you appear in AI answers for the same questions; the gaps are your first content and authority priorities.
- Agree on the two scorecards and one owner, then set a monthly review with pipeline, not traffic, as the headline.
If you want a second opinion on how to split the effort, talk to our team and we will come back with a 30-minute pipeline plan for your company.
We work with clients across Canada and the US, and the plan covers both Google and AI assistants.
Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT replacing Google search?
Not in volume. Google held about 74% of US desktop search activity in Q4 2025 in the SparkToro and Datos study, and Alphabet reported its fastest query growth in five years in Q3 2026. ChatGPT is adding a new place to search, especially for open research questions.
How many people use ChatGPT?
OpenAI reported 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paying subscribers on February 27, 2026, as reported by TechCrunch.
Should we move SEO budget to AI visibility?
In our view, move effort, not the whole budget. Most of the work that earns AI mentions (answer-first pages, comparisons, reviews, third-party coverage) also helps Google. Add measurement for AI answers and a small authority budget rather than starting a separate team.
Does claiming our ChatGPT Business Hub profile improve rankings?
No. OpenAI says claiming does not change visibility or guarantee placement. It keeps your facts accurate and gives you metrics.
What is the difference between SEO, AEO and GEO?
SEO earns rankings in search results. AEO (answer engine optimization) and GEO (generative engine optimization) are two names for earning mentions and citations in AI answers. In practice they share most of the same content and authority work.
Sources
- OpenAI Help Center: Setting up your business on ChatGPT (read November 12, 2026)
- TechCrunch: ChatGPT reaches 900M weekly active users (February 27, 2026)
- PPC Land: Google holds 73.7% of desktop searches, ChatGPT is smaller than you think (March 4, 2026), reporting the SparkToro and Datos study
- Marketing Dive: Google's AI overhaul of search hits snags as ad revenue growth cools (October 29, 2026)
- Similarweb (vendor research): Is AI replacing search? What the 2026 numbers actually reveal (August 4, 2026)
- Forrester: B2B buyers make zero-click buying number one (January 22, 2026)
- Search Engine Roundtable: OpenAI working on ChatGPT tools for business (November 6, 2026, updated November 10, 2026)
Related service: Generative engine optimization. See also pricing and client results.
We run enterprise B2B demand generation for teams in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and the United States.
