ChatGPT Atlas Uses Google Search Results
SEOs Discover OpenAI's New Browser Relies on Its Biggest Competitor
Right, let me tell you about something absolutely bonkers that's just happened in the SEO world. OpenAI launched their new ChatGPT Atlas browser on Monday, and within 48 hours, sharp-eyed SEO professionals spotted something that's left everyone scratching their heads the bloody thing is using Google search results, not Microsoft Bing, as everyone expected.
I know what you're thinking: "But Microsoft invested billions in OpenAI!" Exactly. That's why this is such a big deal.
This isn't just industry gossip. This revelation fundamentally changes how we need to think about optimising content for AI platforms in 2025. Let me walk you through what's happened, why it matters, and what you need to do about it right now.
How This Actually Got Discovered
So here's how it went down. OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT Atlas on 21st October 2025, making a big song and dance about how it's going to revolutionise web browsing. Fair enough it does look pretty impressive. But they only released it for Mac users initially, which meant a relatively small group of early adopters got their hands on it first.
Now, SEO professionals are a curious bunch. Within hours of the launch, people were testing the new browser with their key search terms, poking around in the interface, and comparing results across different platforms. And that's when someone noticed a prominent "Google" link sitting there at the top right of the search results tabs.
Not Bing. Google.
Here's what people are seeing:
When you use the search vertical tabs (Web, Images, Videos, News), there's a clear Google attribution link
The results look suspiciously similar to what you'd get from Google's index
Rankings appear to correlate closely with Google positions
Despite Microsoft being one of OpenAI's largest investors and Bing supposedly being their search partner
There's no Bing branding anywhere to be found in Atlas's search results
Now, this might sound like a minor technical detail to some people. It's not. This is absolutely massive, and here's why.
Why Every SEO Should Be Paying Attention
For months now, we've all been playing this game where we're optimising for two separate universes:
Google's world (traditional search, AI Overviews, Gemini)
Bing's world (ChatGPT Search, some Perplexity implementations)
The logic seemed pretty straightforward: ChatGPT equals Bing. Microsoft poured billions into OpenAI, they integrated ChatGPT into Bing, the partnership was all over the tech news. It made sense.
Except now it doesn't.
Here's what this actually means for those of us doing SEO:
If Atlas is genuinely using Google's index and results and all signs point to yes, then suddenly optimising for ChatGPT visibility requires Google SEO fundamentals, not Bing-specific strategies. All that advice about "make sure you're sorted in Bing Webmaster Tools for ChatGPT visibility"? Well, it just got a lot more complicated.
Think about it. We've been telling clients to focus on Bing indexing if they want to appear in ChatGPT results. We've been studying Bing's ranking factors. We've been treating Google and ChatGPT as separate optimisation challenges.
Turns out, they might have been connected all along.
The Awkward Microsoft Situation
Right, let's talk about the elephant in the room, or should I say, the multi-billion-pound elephant.
Microsoft has pumped over £11 billion into OpenAI. Bing was supposed to be the search engine powering OpenAI's products. That was the whole point of the partnership. Yet here we are, looking at ChatGPT Atlas, OpenAI's very first browser and it's showing Google results.
You can imagine the conversations happening in Redmond right now.
For Microsoft, this raises some uncomfortable questions:
Is this actually within the terms of their partnership with OpenAI?
How does this affect Bing's positioning and future strategy?
Are they just going to let this slide, or is there pushback happening behind closed doors?
For OpenAI, it's equally interesting:
Are they deliberately choosing the dominant search engine for better user experience?
Is this a temporary arrangement whilst they sort something else out?
What does this mean for their relationship with Microsoft going forward?
And for Google:
Do they even know their results are powering a competitor's browser?
Could this be violating Google's Terms of Service?
Might Google decide to cut off access, forcing Atlas back to Bing?
The silence from all three companies is rather telling, isn't it? No official statements, no clarifications, no press releases. Just that Google link sitting there in Atlas's interface, quietly upending everything we thought we knew about these partnerships.
I've been in this industry long enough to know that when companies go quiet like this, there's usually something interesting happening behind the scenes.
How Atlas Actually Works (And Why the Google Thing Matters)
Let me break down what's actually happening when you use Atlas, because understanding the mechanics is important here.
The Multi-Tab Search Setup
When you search in ChatGPT Atlas, you get a tabbed interface that's remarkably similar to Google Search. It's almost like they've deliberately copied the layout:
Home Tab: This is your ChatGPT conversational experience AI-generated responses with citations, the usual stuff
Web Tab: Traditional search results, and yep, there's that Google link sitting at the top
Images Tab: Image search results (Google link again)
Videos Tab: Video results (another Google link)
News Tab: News results (you guessed it—Google link)
Now here's the thing that's got everyone talking. This isn't ChatGPT doing its own thing, searching the web and synthesising results from scratch. It looks suspiciously like Atlas is serving up Google's index, Google's rankings, Google's vertical search results and then layering ChatGPT's clever AI stuff on top.
It's like they've taken Google's engine and bolted ChatGPT onto it.
What Early Testers Are Finding
People who've been properly testing this (and fair play to them for being thorough) are reporting some interesting patterns:
Ranking correlation: Sites that rank well in Google are showing up in similar positions in Atlas
SERP feature similarity: Featured snippets and knowledge panels look identical to Google's
Index freshness: Pages that get indexed in Google appear quickly in Atlas too
Mobile versus desktop: Results seem consistent with Google's device-specific behaviour
Local results: The local pack results align with Google My Business data
If it looks like Google, behaves like Google, and literally has a Google link on it... well, you can draw your own conclusions.
What's Actually Going On Here? Three Theories
The SEO community loves a good debate, and right now, three main theories are floating around about what OpenAI is actually doing:
Theory 1: They're Scraping Google (Bit Dodgy, That)
The most controversial option OpenAI might be scraping Google's search results to populate Atlas's search tabs. Technically possible, but legally? That's a minefield.
Arguments for this theory:
The prominent Google link suggests they're at least acknowledging where the data comes from
Google has the most comprehensive index available, why wouldn't you use it?
OpenAI needs quality results immediately, and building its own index would take years
Arguments against:
Google's got sophisticated anti-scraping measures that would make this quite difficult
The legal risk would be absolutely enormous
It completely undermines the Microsoft partnership, which seems mad
Theory 2: There's a Secret Deal with Google (Plot Twist!)
Now this would be a surprise, what if OpenAI has actually secured a licensing deal with Google to use their search results? Sounds mad given the competitive landscape, but stranger things have happened.
Why this might actually be true:
That Google attribution link suggests an official relationship of some sort
Google might prefer licensing their results over having them scraped
It would provide a better user experience than relying on Bing alone
Why it probably isn't:
Neither company has said a word about it
It directly undermines Microsoft's massive investment
Google has no obvious incentive to help a competitor eat their lunch
Theory 3: It's a Bit of Everything (Most Likely, Honestly)
The most plausible explanation is that Atlas is using a hybrid approach, ChatGPT's web search capabilities, Bing's index where appropriate, Google's results where they can access them, and their own AI synthesis pulling it all together.
Why this makes the most sense:
Provides the best possible results for users (which is what matters)
Allows proper attribution where it's needed
Maintains technical flexibility
Gives everyone plausible deniability
Whatever the actual answer is—and we might not know for certain until someone issues an official statement—the fact remains that Google results are appearing prominently. Which means Google SEO matters for Atlas visibility. End of story.
What This Actually Means for Your SEO Strategy
Right, let's get practical. If Atlas is using Google results, your optimisation strategy has just become both simpler and more complicated at the same time. Classic, really.
The Simpler Bits:
One Foundation, Multiple Platforms If Google rankings influence both Google search AND Atlas results, you're not maintaining two separate strategies. Optimise for Google, and you'll likely appear in Atlas. That's actually quite efficient.
Your Existing Tactics Still Work All those Google SEO best practices you've been using technical optimisation, quality content, E-E-A-T signals, structured data they now have double the value because they're affecting multiple AI platforms.
Better Resource Allocation You're not splitting your budget and time between Google optimisation and Bing optimisation just to cover AI visibility. Focus on doing Google properly, and the rest should follow.
The More Complicated Bits:
There's an AI Layer on Top Whilst Atlas might be using Google's index, ChatGPT's AI layer is synthesising and presenting that information differently. You need to optimise for both ranking in results AND being properly cited in AI-generated responses.
Nothing's Set in Stone If this turns out to be a temporary arrangement (and it might be), strategies built entirely around it could need rapid adjustment. If Google decides to cut off access tomorrow, everything changes. Again.
Attribution Works Differently In traditional Google search, your ranking position is pretty much everything. In Atlas, you might rank brilliantly but end up being synthesised into an AI response without anyone ever seeing your brand name clearly. That's... less ideal.
What You Should Actually Do About This
Based on what we know right now, here's a proper action plan that won't waste your time:
Week One: Get Your Hands Dirty with Testing
Download Atlas (If You've Got a Mac): Head to chatgpt.com/atlas and get it installed. Start testing straight away with your key search terms and see what comes up.
Document Everything You Find:
Are your pages showing up in Atlas search results?
Do the rankings match what you're seeing in Google?
How is ChatGPT synthesising your content in the Home tab?
Are you getting cited in the AI-generated responses?
Compare Across Platforms: Test the same queries in Google Search, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT Atlas, and Bing. Write down the differences. You'll be surprised what you notice.
Weeks Two to Four: Actually Optimise Things
Double Down on Google SEO Fundamentals:
Get your technical SEO properly sorted
Focus on genuinely high-quality, comprehensive content
Build strong E-E-A-T signals (this matters more than ever)
Implement proper schema markup
Make sure your mobile experience is spot-on
Prepare for AI Synthesis:
Create clear content structure that's easy for AI to extract
Write concise, authoritative answers to common questions
Include original data and insights (AI systems love citing this)
Use named expert authors with credentials
Be transparent about your sources
Keep Track of Attribution: Monitor when and how your content appears in Atlas's AI responses, not just where you rank in traditional search results.
Ongoing: Stay on Your Toes
Watch for Official Announcements: Microsoft, OpenAI, or Google could clarify things or change the whole arrangement at any moment. Keep your eyes peeled.
Track the Windows Launch: Atlas is Mac-only at the moment, which limits who can use it. When Windows launches (and it will), usage is going to absolutely explode. Be ready.
Prepare for Different Scenarios: Have contingency plans ready for:
Atlas sticking with Google long-term
Atlas moving to Bing exclusively
Atlas using a hybrid approach
Google blocking Atlas access entirely
Don't put all your eggs in one basket, basically.
The Bigger Picture: It's Getting Messy Out There
ChatGPT Atlas using Google results isn't just a quirky tech story it's a sign that the AI search wars are becoming properly complicated.
For Content Creators (That's Most of Us)
You're Juggling Multiple Platforms Now: Right, so now you're optimising for:
Google Search (the traditional one)
Google AI Overviews (the new AI bits)
Google AI Mode (the full conversational thing)
ChatGPT via Bing (supposedly)
ChatGPT Atlas via Google (apparently)
Perplexity (doing its own thing)
Claude (still emerging but worth watching)
Each one has slightly different selection criteria, but here's the thing if they're all drawing from similar underlying search results, then quality and authority matter more than ever before. You can't game seven different systems. But you can be genuinely excellent, and that works everywhere.
For Businesses (Especially UK Ones)
You Need to Hedge Your Bets: Don't put everything into one platform. Build your presence across:
Strong Google rankings (apparently crucial for multiple AI platforms now)
Bing visibility (still matters for some ChatGPT implementations)
Third-party authority sources (these get cited by everyone)
Social and community platforms (Reddit's massive for AI training data)
The lesson here is diversification. If you've built your entire strategy around one platform and it shifts overnight, you're stuffed.
For the Industry (Those of Us Who Care About This Stuff)
Platform-Agnostic Is the Way Forward: The Atlas situation teaches us that partnerships, integrations, and technical implementations can shift faster than you can say "algorithm update." The only truly sustainable strategy is creating genuinely authoritative, valuable content that deserves to be cited regardless of which platform is doing the citing.
We've spent too much time trying to game individual systems. Maybe it's time to just... be actually good at what we do?
When Windows Launches, Everything Changes
Atlas is currently Mac-only, which means it's reaching a relatively small subset of ChatGPT's 800 million weekly users. But Windows support is coming—they've promised it—and that's when this goes from interesting to absolutely critical.
Why the Windows Launch Is a Big Deal:
Sheer Volume: Windows completely dominates desktop market share worldwide. We're talking the vast majority of business users.
Enterprise Adoption: Most companies run on Windows systems. When Atlas becomes available for Windows, you'll see corporate rollouts.
Accessibility: Suddenly, millions more users will have easy access to Atlas. The testing pool becomes the actual user base.
Better Data: We'll get a much clearer picture of actual user behaviour and adoption rates once it's not limited to Mac users.
If Atlas manages to grab significant market share on Windows whilst still using Google results, it becomes a proper strategic threat to both Chrome and traditional Google Search—powered by Google's own index. You couldn't make this up, honestly. The irony is delicious.
The Questions Nobody Can Answer (Yet)
As Atlas rolls out more widely, there are several massive questions that nobody seems able or willing to answer:
Does Google actually know about this and approve it? Or is OpenAI accessing results in a way Google didn't anticipate or authorise? Because those are two very different scenarios.
What does Microsoft actually think? They've poured billions into OpenAI, specifically expecting Bing to be the search engine for their products. Are they fuming? Renegotiating? Totally fine with it? We have no idea.
How will Google respond? They could block access. They could demand licensing fees. They could just let it carry on. Your guess is as good as mine.
Is this strategic or just temporary? Will Atlas eventually move to Bing once the initial buzz dies down, or is this the long-term plan? Nobody's saying.
What are the actual legal implications? Terms of service, API usage, data licensing—it's all a bit murky right now. Lawyers are probably having a field day.
How do users actually benefit? Is Google's index objectively better for Atlas users than Bing would be? Does it even matter from a user experience perspective?
Until someone from one of these companies actually goes on record, we're all just educated guessing. Which is frustrating, but also quite exciting if you enjoy a bit of industry drama.
How the SEO World Is Reacting
SEO Twitter (or X, or whatever we're calling it these days) absolutely exploded when this news broke. The reactions have been varied, shall we say:
The Shocked Camp: "Microsoft invests £11 billion and OpenAI uses Google?! What on earth is happening?"
The Pragmatists: "Honestly, doesn't matter whose index it is. Focus on quality and authority, and you'll show up everywhere."
The Cynics: "Of course they're using Google. It's the best index by miles. Partnership or not."
The Strategists: "This actually makes life easier. Master Google SEO, and you'll dominate multiple AI platforms at once."
The Worried Ones: "If Google blocks access tomorrow, Atlas is completely dead in the water. That's a massive risk for OpenAI."
The Realists: "We have no idea what's actually happening, and we won't until someone issues an official statement. Everything else is just speculation."
The general consensus? Everyone's a bit confused, nobody really knows what's going on, but the smart money is on building quality content that works across all platforms rather than trying to game individual systems.
Which, to be fair, is probably what we should have been doing all along.
What to Watch For Over the Next Few Months
Based on how things usually go with these sorts of launches, here's what we're likely to see:
November 2025:
Windows version launch (almost certainly happening)
Someone might actually issue an official statement about what's going on
More SEO professionals will test it properly and share their findings
OpenAI might quietly change how Atlas accesses results
December 2025:
iOS and Android versions should arrive
We'll start getting proper user adoption data
Market share impact on Chrome will become measurable
We'll have a much clearer picture of Atlas's actual search infrastructure
January 2026:
Industry analysts will publish their impact studies
SEO strategies will have adapted to whatever the confirmed approach is
There might be legal or partnership changes announced
Atlas features will expand based on what users actually want
This is all educated guessing, mind you. Technology moves fast, and companies change direction faster. But that's the rough timeline most people are working with.
The Bottom Line: Stop Gaming, Start Building
Here's the thing that the Atlas revelation makes abundantly clear, and it's something we've all known deep down for ages: we've wasted years trying to game individual platforms Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity when the answer has always been much simpler.
Just build content so bloody good that every AI platform wants to cite it.
If Atlas is using Google results today, might use Bing tomorrow, and could switch to a hybrid approach next month, then the only strategy that actually makes sense is creating genuinely authoritative, valuable, well-structured content that deserves to be cited regardless of what's going on under the hood.
That means:
Expertise that can't be scraped from a hundred other generic sources
Original data and research that AI systems have to cite because nobody else has it
Crystal-clear structure that makes extraction and attribution straightforward
Authority signals that work across every platform
Actual user value that justifies sending people to your site
This isn't revolutionary. It's just... good practice. Proper practice. The kind of thing we should have been focusing on all along instead of obsessing over algorithm updates and ranking factors.
The Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight
Whilst everyone's getting caught up in the drama of OpenAI potentially using Google's index despite Microsoft's investment, there's a massive opportunity that most people are missing:
The people who optimise for Atlas visibility right now whilst the platform is brand new and patterns are still forming will establish authority positions that compound massively as adoption grows.
Atlas has access to 800 million weekly ChatGPT users who could migrate to the browser. That's not some niche tech-savvy audience. That's mainstream. That's your mum, your mates, your clients' customers.
The brands that work out how to be cited prominently in Atlas's AI responses—whether those are powered by Google, Bing, or a magic unicorn will gain exponential visibility as the user base scales up.
These are early days. Proper early days. And early days are when the smart money makes its move.
What You Should Do This Week (Seriously, Do This)
Right, enough theory. Here's what you actually need to do:
If you've got a Mac: Download Atlas right now. Search for your key topics and products. Write down what you see. This isn't optional you need to understand how your content appears in this new interface.
If you haven't got a Mac: Find a colleague, a friend, someone at the pub who has one. Get them to test your content's visibility. Offer to buy them a pint for their trouble.
Optimise your content for both traditional ranking AND AI synthesis. Don't pick one or the other. You need both. Structure matters. Clarity matters. Authority matters.
Build proper authority across the wider web get citations, mentions, proper partnerships that feeds into all AI platforms, not just one.
Stay properly informed as this situation develops. Set up Google Alerts for news about Atlas, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. Follow the key industry voices on social media. This story isn't finished.
Have contingency plans ready for multiple scenarios rather than betting everything on one platform or approach. Flexibility is your friend here.
Don't just read this and then forget about it. Actually do the work. The people who act now will be the ones who benefit most.
The Bigger Paradigm Shift
ChatGPT Atlas using Google results isn't just a quirky bit of tech news for SEO nerds. It's evidence that search, AI, and the web are being fundamentally restructured right in front of us.
For 20-odd years, Google dominated search with a clear model: crawl the web, rank the results, serve them to users, sell some ads. Simple. Competitors tried to beat them at that game and mostly failed spectacularly.
Now AI platforms are creating an entirely new game: synthesise information, provide direct answers, reduce clicks, become the destination rather than just the gateway to other websites.
And surprisingly hilariously, even they might be doing it using Google's own index.
The irony is absolutely perfect. Google built the best search index in the world, and now AI platforms might use that very index to make traditional search obsolete. Google's own competitive advantage becomes the foundation of its potential disruption.
You genuinely couldn't write this script.
Final Thoughts
So, SEOs discovering that ChatGPT Atlas uses Google results is more than just entertaining industry gossip it's a proper clarifying moment for all of us.
It shows us that:
Partnership announcements don't always predict what actually gets built
The best index tends to win regardless of business relationships
Multiple AI platforms might all be drawing from similar underlying sources
Quality and genuine authority transcend platform-specific tricks
The AI search wars are far messier than any official narrative suggests
More importantly, it simplifies what we should actually be doing: Build content so valuable, so authoritative, so well-structured that it deserves to be cited everywhere.
Optimise for excellence, and the platform-specific tactics become far less critical. Focus on being genuinely good at what you do.
The future of search visibility isn't about gaming individual AI platforms or obsessing over which search index they're using. It's about becoming the source that all platforms, regardless of what's happening under the hood, actively want to reference.
That's always been true, really. Using Google results, Atlas just makes it impossible to ignore.
The question now is straightforward: will you adapt quickly enough to benefit from this shift, or will you still be arguing about whose search index is better whilst your competitors build unassailable authority?
Your choice.
Breaking Update: As of publication (23rd October 2025), neither OpenAI, Microsoft, nor Google has issued any official statements about how Atlas's search functionality is actually implemented. We'll update this article as soon as any of them decides to go on record.
About the Author: This analysis is based on reports from Search Engine Land, BGR, CNN Business, Fortune, multiple UK digital agencies, and extensive direct testing by SEO professionals since Atlas launched on 21st October 2025.