Why ChatGPT Users Go Back to Google
Gener8’s interconnected data feeds enable deep understanding of online customer journeys
For years, the prevailing narrative has cast generative AI as the inevitable "Google killer." Yet, as platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini integrate into our daily routines, the data reveals a far more collaborative story.
Instead of a replacement, a sophisticated new user workflow has emerged: a "digital handshake" where users leverage AI for powerful synthesis before instinctively returning to Google for the crucial final steps of verification, deep exploration, and action. This symbiotic relationship isn't just a temporary trend, it’s reshaping how we all find and act on information.
ChatGPT’s Digital Handshake with Google
While Google is the single largest source of traffic to ChatGPT, the AI platform sends an even greater share of its departing users back to the search giant. This reveals a complementary, not purely competitive, relationship.
Users are adopting a multi-step process, leveraging each platform for its core strengths. The journey begins with discovery on Google, moves to synthesis in ChatGPT, and then "hands off" back to Google for validation and action.
But why do users return to Google?
- The Verification Imperative. Users instinctively fact-check AI-generated claims, statistics, and sources, using Google's vast index of authoritative sites as the ground truth.
- The Exploration Launchpad. An AI summary is often the start, not the end, of research. Users go to Google for primary sources, deeper dives, and alternative perspectives.
- The Transactional Bridge. ChatGPT can plan a trip or compare products, but users need Google to book flights, buy items, and find local services.
- The Citation Pathway. When ChatGPT provides source links to build trust, it inherently directs users back to the Google-indexed web for more context.
Users now have a powerful new workflow: using AI for broad synthesis and traditional search for the crucial steps of verification, deep exploration, and transaction. This "digital handshake" is reshaping how we all find and act on information.
Gemini’s Digital Footprint
Similarly, the traffic distribution flows show that users primarily see Gemini as an extension of the Google search experience rather than a standalone destination. This circular flow back to Google Search highlights a common user workflow: Gemini is used for initial information generation or synthesis, but users then return to search results for verification, deeper exploration, or new queries. For many, Gemini has not replaced traditional search but has instead become a powerful tool integrated into the broader search process.
The traffic data also highlights a complex and competitive relationship between Gemini and its rival, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, with a significant bidirectional flow of users that underscores a market still in flux. This dynamic reflects a discerning user base that actively evaluates and compares both platforms, creating a duopoly where loyalty is fluid and performance is the decisive factor. A particularly telling behaviour is the high rate of platform switching: chatgpt.com ranks as both the second-largest source of traffic to Gemini (5.77%) and the second-largest destination from it (5.4%), signaling that users are not brand loyalists but pragmatic evaluators. This pattern reveals that many of the most engaged AI users are “poly-users,” drawing on the strengths of each platform for different tasks, such as using one for creative writing and another for code generation, or more often, running the same prompt on both to directly compare outputs and select the result that best meets their needs.
The LLM Mid-Journey Touchpoint
Beyond the broad flow between platforms, a more granular look at user journeys reveals a fascinating behaviour: the LLM as a mid-journey ‘touchpoint’. Our analysis found that in nearly a third of instances (28.8%), the domain a user visits immediately after leaving ChatGPT or Gemini is the exact same one they were on just before. This pattern indicates that users are not abandoning their tasks but momentarily pausing them. They are effectively ‘dipping into’ the AI as a specialised tool—perhaps to summarise a dense article, debug a piece of code, or rephrase a paragraph—before immediately returning to their original context to apply that new information. This solidifies the role of the LLM not as a final destination, but as a powerful informational pit stop in a much larger online journey.
When the analysis is expanded from specific domains to IAB content categories, it is unsurprising that ‘Technology and Computing’ leads in generating the largest share of immediate bounce-back traffic, given its dominance by search engines and mail providers.
However, this ‘LLM touchpoint’ mindset is far from a niche behaviour. We see it mirrored across diverse online activities, such as a shopper on an e-commerce site using an AI to compare product specs before returning to purchase. This pattern is also confirmed in Society, Business, and Arts & Entertainment journeys, proving the LLM is becoming a versatile, on-demand assistant that is deeply integrated into the fabric of our digital lives.
How can I access this data?
We utilised Gener8's Consumer Browsing dataset to understand traffic flows to and from ChatGPT and Gemini.
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