# ChatGPT search reaches 185.6 million average monthly users in the EU > Source: > Published: 2026-10-29 20:47:27+00:00 # ChatGPT search reaches 185.6 million average monthly users in the EU Photo: Tim Witzdam / Pexels OpenAI's search feature keeps growing as it heads toward Digital Services Act obligations as a very large online search engine ChatGPT search averaged 185.6 million monthly active recipients in the European Union over the six months ending September 30, 2026. That is up from 159.1 million in the prior six-month period. The number matters for more than bragging rights. In Brussels, user counts like this decide how much regulatory homework a platform has to do. ## The numbers behind the jump The latest figure covers the window from April through September 2026. The previous disclosure, 159.1 million, covered the six months ending March 31, 2026. That works out to an increase of 26.5 million average monthly recipients in a single reporting period. For context, that gain alone is a little more than half of the EU’s regulatory threshold for the most heavily supervised platforms. The figures apply specifically to ChatGPT’s web search capabilities. They do not cover the broader chatbot product. So this measures people using ChatGPT to look things up on the web, not everyone asking it to draft emails or explain tax forms. The longer trend is even steeper. Earlier disclosures put ChatGPT search at approximately 11.2 million recipients as of October 31, 2024. That rose to 41.3 million by March 31, 2025, then 120.4 million by September 30, 2025. The most recent update was released around October 29, 2026. It confirmed that ChatGPT search has stayed above the 45 million threshold since at least March 2026. ## Why Brussels cares about one number Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, or DSA, platforms are sorted by size. The heavyweight cutoff is 45 million average monthly recipients in the EU. Cross it, and a service can be designated a Very Large Online Platform or, in the case of search tools, a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE). ### AI, tech, and the markets they move—in one daily briefing. Daily. Free. Join 34,000+ readers across crypto, finance, and policy. The European Commission designated ChatGPT a VLOSE on August 31, 2026. That made it the first AI chatbot to receive the label under the DSA. The designation brings enhanced obligations. [OpenAI](https://cryptobriefing.com/markets/openai/) is now expected to carry out systemic risk assessments and adopt transparency measures similar to those required of conventional search providers. Those rules target risks tied to illegal content, public discourse, and fundamental rights. Compliance is due four months after a platform is notified of its status. Based on the August designation, that deadline lands around late December 2026 or early January 2027. ## Background: from feature to regulated infrastructure The six-month averaging method matters here. Regulators use rolling averages so that a single viral month cannot push a service over the line, or drop it back under. ChatGPT search did not need the benefit of the doubt. It has cleared the bar by a wide margin in consecutive periods. The progression also shows how quickly regulatory frameworks can be outrun. A product counted at approximately 11.2 million recipients in late 2024 was a regulated heavyweight less than two years later. ## What this means For OpenAI, the immediate impact is operational. Risk assessments, audits, and transparency reporting take staff, time, and money. The company now has to document how its search product handles the issues regulators care about, on a fixed schedule, with independent scrutiny. For the broader AI sector, the precedent is the bigger story. Once one AI chatbot is treated as a search engine for regulatory purposes, the question for every rival offering web-connected answers in Europe becomes when, not if, they will cross the same line. The 45 million figure is effectively a tripwire for the entire category. For regulators, ChatGPT is a test case. How the Commission applies rules built for link-based search to a system that generates answers will shape how AI is supervised across the bloc. The things to watch are concrete. One is whether OpenAI meets the compliance deadline around the turn of the year. Another is what its first systemic risk filings reveal about how the product works. A third is whether the next six-month disclosure keeps climbing at this pace. **Disclosure:** This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our [Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/). ## More in AI [See all](https://cryptobriefing.com/artificial-intelligence/)