What ChatGPT actually searches for behind one question
By Sviatoslav Stohov · AI Visibility Strategist · Published
Behind one buyer question, ChatGPT usually runs two web searches of its own. It adds the year and words like "official", "comparison" and "features". In two of three answers, it also searches for specific products by name, even though the question named none.
How many searches one question turns into
Between 13 and 30 October 2026, we asked ChatGPT "best tool" questions for 3,148 B2B companies. No question named a brand. ChatGPT searched the web before 9,408 of the 9,434 answers, and each answer came with the list of searches it ran: 18,668 in total.
Most questions turned into two searches (59%). A quarter turned into one search, and 15% into three or more. A search was about as long as the question: 12 words on average. In a typical answer, the first search kept three quarters of the question's main words.
Which words ChatGPT adds
ChatGPT added the year "2026" in 70% of answers. No question had it. "Official" came next, in 30% of answers: ChatGPT looked for a company's own pages. "Comparison" and "features" followed. "Pricing" came up in 12% of answers and "reviews" in 4%.
ChatGPT also took words out. "Best" was in 56% of the questions, but in only 31% of the searches.
ChatGPT searches for products by name
The questions named no brand. Even so, in 68% of answers at least one search named a specific product. In 48%, the very first search already did.
Here is one real example from the data. We replaced the product names with letters.
| What ChatGPT typed | |
|---|---|
| Question | What are the best outbound sales tools for startups without dedicated SDR teams? |
| Search 1 | 2026 outbound sales software pricing features Product A Product B Product C Product D official |
| Search 2 | best outbound sales tools startups without SDR team 2026 Product A Product B Product C Product D Product E |
Our reading: ChatGPT often has a shortlist before it searches. It then uses the searches to check those products: their features, their prices and their own pages. A company that isn't on the shortlist has to turn up in the general search, on pages about the whole category. Our data doesn't show where the shortlist comes from. Our guess is what the model learned in training.
What ChatGPT rarely searches for
Few searches asked for reviews (3%) or alternatives (under 1%). Only 0.1% mentioned Reddit, and 0.5% named G2, Capterra or Gartner.
Yet in the same answers, G2 came up for a third of the companies (what ChatGPT cites). Our reading: ChatGPT gets to review sites through general searches. It rarely asks for them by name.
What this means for you
- Keep your pages current for this year. ChatGPT added "2026" in seven of ten answers. When you update a page, update the facts on it, and show the date.
- Make your own pages answer the checking searches. ChatGPT paired product names with "official", "features" and "pricing". A features page and a pricing page that state the facts plainly give it something to find.
- Get onto the shortlist. In half of the answers, ChatGPT named products in its very first search. Being on the "best" lists and guides for your category lets the general search find you as well.
How we counted
This is one assistant, one month and one type of question: "which tool is best for…", in US English. We counted words in the searches that came with each answer. A product name counted when it started with a capital letter, wasn't in the question and wasn't an ordinary English word. Names that are ordinary words, and names at the very start of a search, weren't counted, so the real shares are likely higher. Other assistants run their own searches.
What our free check does
Our free check asks 10 of your buyers' questions in six assistants: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot. You get an email with two scores, who the assistants name instead of you, and up to three findings with the assistants' own words. We don't change anything on your site, and the check is not a promise that assistants will name you.