OpenAI Crawl Activity Tripled Since GPT-5, Data Shows

OpenAI’s automated crawl exercise is estimated to have roughly tripled after the launch of GPT-5, based on a new analysis from Botify and visitor creator Chris Lengthy.

In Botify’s dataset, OpenAI’s search crawler is now producing extra log occasions than its coaching crawler. That’s a reversal from the interval earlier than GPT-5.

Lengthy, co-founder of the web optimization consultancy Nectiv, analyzed roughly 7 billion OpenAI-bot log occasions from Botify’s enterprise consumer dataset spanning November 2024 via March 2026.

What The Knowledge Exhibits

Two of the three OpenAI consumer brokers Botify measured noticed exercise spike across the GPT-5 launch.

OAI-SearchBot, which retrieves content material when ChatGPT performs internet searches, recorded about 3.5x extra occasions after August 2025. That works out to roughly 2.2 billion extra occasions in Botify’s dataset.

GPTBot, which collects coaching information, recorded about 2.9x extra occasions over the identical interval. That’s one other 1.8 billion occasions.

The third consumer agent, ChatGPT-Consumer, moved in the other way. Lengthy studies a 28% drop in ChatGPT-Consumer log occasions between December 2025 and March 2026. ChatGPT-Consumer fires when a ChatGPT session fetches a web page on behalf of a consumer, so the drop measures logged user-initiated fetches somewhat than ChatGPT utilization total.

Lengthy presents two doable readings. One is that fewer periods could also be triggering real-time web page fetches. The opposite, steered by Botify’s staff, is that OpenAI could also be relying extra on saved or listed sources, decreasing the necessity to fetch pages in actual time. Lengthy doesn’t choose between them.

Search Bot Now Outpaces Coaching Bot

Earlier than GPT-5, OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot ran at roughly even volumes in Botify’s dataset, with a ratio of about 0.95 search occasions per coaching occasion. After GPT-5, that ratio rose to about 1.14.

The sample traces up with what Dan Petrovic wrote in August 2025 about GPT-5, arguing that OpenAI was sourcing extra solutions from reside search than from skilled reminiscence. Botify’s information is in step with that learn.

Trade Breakdown

The post-GPT-5 search bot will increase diversified by business. Healthcare websites noticed about 740% extra OAI-SearchBot exercise after launch; Media and Publishing, 702%; and Marketplaces, Software program, and Retail, 190-216%.

Journey websites had the smallest rise at 30%. The search and coaching steadiness additionally varies. Lengthy studies a +256% OAI-SearchBot to GPTBot crawl distinction for Media/Publishing, the most important hole. Software program and Web lean towards search, Healthcare and Retail favor coaching, with -50% and -33%. GPTBot is extra energetic total.

Botify and Lengthy counsel OpenAI routes immediate sorts in another way: information inquiries set off reside search, well being and product queries depend on skilled data.

How OpenAI’s Crawl Compares To Google’s

Even after tripling, OpenAI’s crawl exercise is far smaller than Google’s.

In Botify’s most up-to-date 30-day window, Googlebot registered 18.2 billion occasions, in contrast with 887 million occasions from OpenAI’s crawlers mixed. That places OpenAI at about 4% of Google’s crawl quantity.

A 12 months earlier, the identical comparability was 15 billion Google occasions to 207 million OpenAI occasions, or about 1.38%. The hole is closing, although Google’s crawl continues to be roughly 20 instances bigger in absolute phrases.

Bingbot registered about 5.49 billion occasions in the latest window, placing OpenAI at roughly 14% of Bing.

Methodology & Industrial Context

The dataset is Botify’s, protecting enterprise purchasers in retail, ecommerce, know-how, publishing, journey, and marketplaces. The evaluation was performed by Lengthy as a visitor creator on Botify’s weblog.

For transparency, Botify sells log file evaluation and AI bot administration software program, and the publish promotes a follow-up webinar and a product demo.

The dataset skews towards giant enterprise web sites somewhat than a consultant cross-section of the online.

Why This Issues

In Botify’s dataset, OAI-SearchBot now generates extra log occasions than GPTBot. Websites that block solely GPTBot are usually not blocking the bot OpenAI says is used to floor web sites in ChatGPT search solutions.

Websites that block OAI-SearchBot could also be excluding themselves from ChatGPT search solutions.

How This Matches With Different Reviews

Botify’s findings line up with patterns different distributors have reported. An Alli AI evaluation lined earlier this month discovered OpenAI’s ChatGPT-User made 3.6x more requests than Googlebot in a smaller WordPress-heavy pattern. A Hostinger evaluation discovered OAI-SearchBot’s website coverage reaching 55% whereas GPTBot protection fell. Akamai’s current bot site visitors report confirmed OpenAI leading AI bot traffic to publishing sites.

The studies counsel that AI coaching crawls and AI search crawls must be measured individually, particularly as OAI-SearchBot exercise grows.