{"id":13652,"date":"2025-08-06T12:45:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T12:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T12:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T12:45:17","slug":"chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/","title":{"rendered":"ChatGPT Is Using Google Search \u2013 We Tested It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last month, <a title=\"X \u2013 Abhishek Iyer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/distantgradient\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abhishek Iyer<\/a> ran a sharp experiment:<\/p>\n<p>He created a brand-new nonsense term, got it indexed only in Google, and then asked ChatGPT about it.<\/p>\n<p>ChatGPT returned a perfect summary \u2014 despite the fact that Bing had never seen the page.<\/p>\n<p>That test got our attention.<\/p>\n<p>So we ran our own.<\/p>\n<p>We invented a new fake SEO term, NexorbalOptimization, published a dedicated page on Backlinko, and made sure only Googlebot could crawl it.<\/p>\n<p>Then we waited.<\/p>\n<p>The results confirmed what Abhishek \u2014 and a handful of others \u2014 have started to suspect:<\/p>\n<p>ChatGPT Plus is using Google Search data. Not just Bing.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how we ran the test, what we found, and what this means for the future of AI search visibility.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#Step_1_Create_a_Term_That_Doesnt_Exist\" >Step 1: Create a Term That Doesn\u2019t Exist<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#Step_2_Let_Google_In_and_Block_Everyone_Else\" >Step 2: Let Google In (and Block Everyone Else)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#Step_3_Wait_for_Indexing_Then_Ask_ChatGPT\" >Step 3: Wait for Indexing, Then Ask ChatGPT<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#The_Results\" >The Results<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#Why_This_Matters\" >Why This Matters<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#What_This_Means_for_SEO_in_the_Age_of_AI\" >What This Means for SEO in the Age of AI<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#Why_LLM_Visibility_Still_Starts_with_Google_And_How_to_Track_It\" >Why LLM Visibility Still Starts with Google (And How to Track It)<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#Thinking_Ahead\" >Thinking Ahead<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#Want_to_Run_the_Test_Yourself\" >Want to Run the Test Yourself?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/chatgpt-is-using-google-search-we-tested-it\/#Shoutout\" >Shoutout<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_1_Create_a_Term_That_Doesnt_Exist\"><\/span>Step 1: Create a Term That Doesn\u2019t Exist<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We made up a new SEO buzzword: NexorbalOptimization.<\/p>\n<p>It had:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Zero mentions online<\/li>\n<li>No search volume<\/li>\n<li>No overlap with real words, acronyms, or brand names<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We built a new page on Backlinko with fake-but-professional sounding content explaining what \u201cNexorbalOptimization\u201d supposedly is.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" alt=\"Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.96571428571429\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/backlinko-nexorbaloptimization.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<p>Here\u2019s the live URL: <a title=\"Nexorbaloptimization: The Future of AI Search\" href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/nexorbaloptimization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/backlinko.com\/nexorbaloptimization<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_2_Let_Google_In_and_Block_Everyone_Else\"><\/span>Step 2: Let Google In (and Block Everyone Else)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Next, we updated our robots.txt file with the following:<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-code alert\">\n<figure class=\"hidden-sm-down\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/themes\/backlinko\/dist\/images\/code-icon_2a06ab93.png\" alt=\"code icon\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"><br \/>\n        <\/figure>\n<div>\n<pre><code># Allow Googlebot to access the specific page\nUser-agent: Googlebot\nAllow: \/nexorbaloptimization\n# Block all other bots from that page only\nUser-agent: *\nDisallow: \/nexorbaloptimization<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>We also made sure this URL wasn\u2019t included in our public sitemap.xml file.<\/p>\n<p>That meant:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Googlebot could crawl and index the page<\/li>\n<li>Bing, Perplexity, DuckDuckGo, Claude, and other bots were blocked<\/li>\n<li>The page was invisible to public crawlers and AI tools, unless they were using Google<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We manually submitted the URL to Google Search Console and waited for indexing.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"GSC \u2013 Inspect \u2013 Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" alt=\"GSC \u2013 Inspect \u2013 Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.88571428571429\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/gsc-inspect-backlinko-nexorbaloptimization.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_3_Wait_for_Indexing_Then_Ask_ChatGPT\"><\/span>Step 3: Wait for Indexing, Then Ask ChatGPT<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Once the page was live, it took a few hours to get indexed in Google:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Google SERP \u2013 Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" alt=\"Google SERP \u2013 Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.57571428571429\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/google-serp-backlinko-nexorbaloptimization.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<p>We confirmed that it still wasn\u2019t indexed in Bing:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Bing SERP \u2013 Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" alt=\"Bing SERP \u2013 Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.55428571428571\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/bing-serp-backlinko-nexorbaloptimization.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<p>Or DuckDuckGo:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"DuckDuckGo SERP \u2013 Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" alt=\"DuckDuckGo SERP \u2013 Backlinko \u2013 Nexorbaloptimization\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.73857142857143\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/duckduckgo-serp-backlinko-nexorbaloptimization.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<p>Then, we tested a prompt in different LLMs \/ models:<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-quote alert blue-box font-georgia type-normal transparent-img-bg\">\n<div class=\"media\">\n<figure class=\"sc-picture media-left hidden-sm-down\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/04\/icon-ai-prompt.png\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\">        <\/figure>\n<div class=\"media-body\">\n<blockquote class=\"sc-quote\">\n<p>What is nexorbaloptimization?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"media\">\n<figure class=\"sc-picture media-left hidden-md-up\">\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/04\/icon-ai-prompt.png\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\">                <\/figure>\n<p>                                <cite class=\"sc-name media-body media-middle\"><br \/>\n                                    <\/cite>\n            <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>ChatGPT Plus (temporary chat, with web browsing) found our page and quoted it word-for-word:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"ChatGPT \u2013 What is nexorbaloptimization?\" alt=\"ChatGPT \u2013 What is nexorbaloptimization?\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.3028571428571\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chatgpt-what-is-nexorbaloptimization-scaled.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<p>ChatGPT Free (with web browsing, not logged in) couldn\u2019t find anything:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"ChatGPT \u2013 Logged out prompt result\" alt=\"ChatGPT \u2013 Logged out prompt result\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.98142857142857\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chatgpt-free-prompt-result.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<p>Neither could Claude 4 Sonnet:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Claude \u2013 What is nexorbaloptimization?\" alt=\"Claude \u2013 What is nexorbaloptimization?\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.72428571428571\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/claude-what-is-nexorbaloptimization.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<p>Interestingly, Perplexity was the only other one that managed to find it:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Perplexity \u2013 What is nexorbaloptimization?\" alt=\"Perplexity \u2013 What is nexorbaloptimization?\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.0942857142857\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/perplexity-what-is-nexorbaloptimization-scaled.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Results\"><\/span>The Results<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Only ChatGPT Plus and Perplexity\u2019s Free plan returned a valid answer based on the Backlinko page.<\/p>\n<p>All other models either:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Returned nothing<\/li>\n<li>Said the term didn\u2019t exist<\/li>\n<li>Or made something up without referencing the page<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This confirmed two things:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Google was the only search engine that knew about the term<\/li>\n<li>The AI responses reflected the exact phrasing, structure, and concepts from our made-up page<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_This_Matters\"><\/span>Why This Matters<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s been speculation for months that ChatGPT specifically might be relying on more than just Bing.<\/p>\n<p>OpenAI has an official partnership with Microsoft.<\/p>\n<p>ChatGPT\u2019s default browsing model is often described as using Bing.<\/p>\n<p>But these experiments tell a different story.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what\u2019s becoming increasingly clear:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. ChatGPT Plus is indexing Google Search<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Especially when other engines haven\u2019t seen the page.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. SEO visibility in Google directly influences AI answers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If your page doesn\u2019t rank in Google, ChatGPT likely won\u2019t \u201csee\u201d it \u2014 regardless of whether you rank in Bing or not.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Google is the trusted source of truth for LLMs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not because it\u2019s stated \u2014 but because it\u2019s indexed faster, deeper, and more completely.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_This_Means_for_SEO_in_the_Age_of_AI\"><\/span>What This Means for SEO in the Age of AI<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This test, and others like it, reveal something critical:<\/p>\n<p>AI search visibility is becoming an extension of Google\u2019s reliable index and search visibility.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re not just optimizing to appear in a SERP.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re optimizing to be pulled into a ChatGPT answer box.<\/p>\n<p>Or a Perplexity paragraph.<\/p>\n<p>Or a Gemini-generated comparison.<\/p>\n<p>If Google doesn\u2019t index you \u2014 many AI tools won\u2019t surface you.<\/p>\n<p>That makes indexation and crawl access even more strategic than before.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_LLM_Visibility_Still_Starts_with_Google_And_How_to_Track_It\"><\/span>Why LLM Visibility Still Starts with Google (And How to Track It)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re trying to understand where your brand shows up in AI-generated content, you need to start with a simple truth:<\/p>\n<p>Google\u2019s index is the foundation layer for most LLMs.<\/p>\n<p>Even as tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity generate answers on the fly, they\u2019re pulling from a mix of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Crawled web results (often from Google-indexed pages)<\/li>\n<li>Structured data<\/li>\n<li>High-authority brand mentions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If your content isn\u2019t indexed \u2014 or isn\u2019t ranking \u2014 it\u2019s invisible to the most important LLMs.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why traditional SEO fundamentals still matter:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Crawlability<\/li>\n<li>Fast indexing<\/li>\n<li>Content structured for semantic clarity<\/li>\n<li>Owning your brand queries and product terms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Want to track your presence in AI tools?<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll need more than just a rank tracker.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Thinking_Ahead\"><\/span>Thinking Ahead<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>As LLMs become more influential in the discovery process, you\u2019ll want to start tracking how your brand shows up across tools \u2014 not just in SERPs.<\/p>\n<p>That means finding a tool (or set of tools) that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Can scale with your brand and content footprint<\/li>\n<li>Tracks citations, summaries, and AI-generated exposure<\/li>\n<li>Is transparent about what it\u2019s monitoring and how<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you\u2019re already using Semrush, their <a title=\"The Semrush AI Toolkit: Turn AI Mentions Into Business Wins\" href=\"https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/semrush-ai-toolkit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI SEO Toolkit<\/a> is a solid starting point.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Semrush AI Toolkit \u2013 Brand Performance\" alt=\"Semrush AI Toolkit \u2013 Brand Performance\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.3585714285714\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/semrush-ai-toolkit-brand-performance-scaled.png\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p><\/figure>\n<p>For enterprise teams managing multiple properties or international markets, <a title=\"Semrush Enterprise AIO\" href=\"https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/enterprise\/product\/seo\/aio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Semrush Enterprise AIO<\/a> adds more depth.<\/p>\n<p>Bottom line:<\/p>\n<p>LLM visibility is a new surface area. And the earlier you start tracking it, the better positioned you\u2019ll be to influence it.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Want_to_Run_the_Test_Yourself\"><\/span>Want to Run the Test Yourself?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Invent a fake phrase<\/li>\n<li>Create a page with unique content<\/li>\n<li>Submit to Google Search Console<\/li>\n<li>Block all other bots via robots.txt<\/li>\n<li>Wait for indexing<\/li>\n<li>Prompt ChatGPT (Plus with browsing) with a simple question<\/li>\n<li>See what it says<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>This kind of sting-test isn\u2019t just clever \u2014 it\u2019s revealing how the AI discovery layer is actually working.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Shoutout\"><\/span>Shoutout<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Big credit to Abhishek Iyer for running the original experiment that sparked this.<\/p>\n<p>You can read his breakdown <a title=\"ChatGPT web search uses Google Search and NOT Bing Search (with proof) - ACME.BOT\" href=\"https:\/\/acme.bot\/blog\/chatgpt-web-search-uses-google-search-and-not-bing-search-with-proof\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We just followed the trail \u2014 with a slightly sillier term.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/chatgpt-using-google-search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ChatGPT Is Using Google Search \u2013 We Tested It<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Backlinko<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last month, Abhishek Iyer ran a sharp experiment: He created a brand-new nonsense term, got it indexed only in Google, and then asked ChatGPT about it. ChatGPT returned a perfect summary \u2014 despite the fact that Bing had never seen the page. That test got our attention. So we ran our own. We invented a new fake SEO term, NexorbalOptimization, published a dedicated page on Backlinko, and made sure only Googlebot could crawl it. Then we waited. The results confirmed what Abhishek \u2014 and a handful [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-backlinko"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/backlinko-nexorbaloptimization-1ntBMN-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/backlinko-nexorbaloptimization-1ntBMN-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/author\/craig\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}