The Core Tension
OpenAI has the users. Google has the infrastructure. Who wins?
ChatGPT’s 900M weekly active users dwarf Gemini’s 650M monthly. But Google has 50 billion products indexed, existing merchant relationships, and ad billing systems already in place.
This is the classic platform vs. infrastructure battle. OpenAI must build commerce infrastructure while maintaining user trust. Google must convince users to accept ads in AI without losing them to ad-free alternatives.
Both paths are hard.
Scale Comparison
| User Base | Infrastructure |
|---|---|
| OpenAI Leads | Google Leads |
| 900M weekly active users (100%) | 50B+ products indexed (100%) |
| 650M monthly active users (Gemini) (72%) | “Building…” still working with merchants on data (7%) |
OpenAI’s Hidden Advantage: Intent Quality
Conversion Rate Comparison
| ChatGPT Referrals | 11.4% |
| Direct Website Traffic | 6.0% |
ChatGPT referral traffic vs. direct website visits (SimilarWeb 2025)
What This Means: Users coming from ChatGPT are nearly 2× more likely to buy than users visiting directly. AI pre-qualifies intent.
What Each Side Must Overcome
OpenAI Must Build
- Product Data Feeds — standardizing merchant catalogs
- Merchant Relationships — recruiting retailers at scale
- Payment Infrastructure — Stripe partnership helps, but early
Google Must Prove
- Users Accept AI Ads — “Sponsored” labels may feel like old search
- Trust Doesn’t Erode — conversational AI + ads = risky combo
- Gemini Catches Up — 650M vs 900M user gap must close
The Adoption Question
OpenAI must build infrastructure fast enough before Google’s AI ads become normalized.
Can Google maintain user trust while embedding advertising into conversational AI?
The race is on.
This is part of a comprehensive analysis. Read the full analysis on The Business Engineer.
