OpenAI has asked the UK regulator CMA to require that ChatGPT be included in the default suite of Android and Chrome applications. If regulators agree, millions of smartphones will gain a one‑click "smart" search capability, turning the chatbot from a novelty into a direct competitor to traditional search.
OpenAI reports that the service now handles roughly 900 million active users each week, indicating it is no longer a toy but a substantial advertising channel. In the same period Google announced a 16 % rise in search revenue to $63 billion, yet OpenAI's audience growth threatens that monopoly: some queries and associated ad spend could shift toward AI interfaces.
Google has labeled the proposed "pop‑up" updates as intrusive and warned they could degrade user experience, while simultaneously accelerating the rollout of Gemini, its own response to ChatGPT. The episode shows that even a multibillion‑dollar giant must reckon with the rapid emergence of alternative search access points.
For advertisers and SEO teams this is a signal to reassess budget allocation. Current estimates suggest AI‑search could capture up to 10 % of total advertising spend within two years. New performance metrics will be required, and creative assets will need to adapt to a conversational format, or else ROI measurement will break down.
The bottom line: shift up to 10 % of ad budgets into AI‑search, establish separate KPIs for dialog‑based queries, and you will avoid losing millions on an emerging media platform.