Our research team spent September 2026 measuring how often ChatGPT users click through to the brands ChatGPT recommends, and how that rate changes with a brand’s position in the answer. The study drew on 31,470 ChatGPT responses recorded by an opt-in panel of 2,150 U.S. adults, combined with referral data from 112 websites across 10 industries.
ChatGPT has no formal results page, so ranking position works differently than it does in Google. For this study, a brand’s ranking position is the order in which it appears when ChatGPT recommends more than one brand in an answer, such as a response to “best accounting software for small businesses.” We counted a click-through when the user opened that brand’s website directly from the answer. We also tracked branded searches, where the user looked up the brand in a search engine within 24 hours of the answer, because many users verify a recommendation before visiting the site.
In the sections below, we break down ChatGPT click-through rates by recommendation position, compare them with Google, and segment the data by industry, query type, and citation link position.
ChatGPT Click-Through Rate by Recommendation Position
In the table below, we break down the share of ChatGPT answers in which the user clicked through to a recommended brand, by that brand’s position in the answer. The total visit rate adds direct clicks and branded searches together.
ChatGPT Click-Through Rate by Recommendation Position (September 2026)
| Position | Direct Click-Through Rate | Branded Search Follow-Up Rate | Total Visit Rate |
| 1 | 10.3% | 12.4% | 22.7% |
| 2 | 5.7% | 6.9% | 12.6% |
| 3 | 4.9% | 5.8% | 10.7% |
| 4 | 2.8% | 3.3% | 6.1% |
| 5 | 2.6% | 2.9% | 5.5% |
| 6 | 1.7% | 2.4% | 4.1% |
| 7 | 1.8% | 2.4% | 4.2% |
| 8 | 1.1% | 1.5% | 2.6% |
| 9 | 0.8% | 1.2% | 2.0% |
| 10 | 1.0% | 1.1% | 2.1% |
Our researchers took three main findings from this data:
- We found that the first-recommended brand received a visit in 22.7% of answers, more than the brands in positions 5 through 10 combined.
- At every position, branded search follow-ups outnumbered direct clicks. More than half of the value of a ChatGPT recommendation reaches the brand through a search engine, where it is often credited to organic search.
- The last brand in an answer received a small boost. Many answers list three, seven, or ten brands, which is why position 3 stayed close to position 2, and positions 7 and 10 drew slightly more visits than the positions just before them.
ChatGPT vs Google Click-Through Rate by Position
In the table below, we compare ChatGPT’s direct click-through rate at each recommendation position with the organic click-through rate at the same position in Google, taken from our Google click-through rates by ranking position report. The Google figures are blended rates across searches with and without an AI answer.
ChatGPT vs Google Click-Through Rate by Position (September 2026)
| Position | ChatGPT Direct Click-Through Rate | Google Organic Click-Through Rate | ChatGPT-to-Google Ratio |
| 1 | 10.3% | 7.1% | 1.5x |
| 2 | 5.7% | 3.0% | 1.9x |
| 3 | 4.9% | 1.7% | 2.9x |
| 4 | 2.8% | 1.1% | 2.5x |
| 5 | 2.6% | 0.7% | 3.7x |
| 6 | 1.7% | 0.6% | 2.8x |
| 7 | 1.8% | 0.4% | 4.5x |
| 8 | 1.1% | 0.3% | 3.7x |
| 9 | 0.8% | 0.2% | 4.0x |
| 10 | 1.0% | 0.2% | 5.0x |
Our researchers took three main findings from this data:
- We found that a ChatGPT recommendation in position 1 earned a direct click 1.5 times as often as a first-position Google result.
- The gap widened further down the list. Brands in positions 5 through 10 received roughly three to five times the click-through rate of the same Google positions, because users tend to read a ChatGPT answer in full before choosing.
- Google still sends far more total visits for most keywords, since search volume is many times higher. Per answer shown, a ChatGPT recommendation is worth more than a Google ranking at every position we measured.
ChatGPT Click-Through Rate by Industry
Click-through rates varied widely by industry, depending mostly on how urgent the purchase is and how much research buyers do before contacting a company. In the table below, we break down direct click-through rates for the top three positions in each of the 10 industries in our study, along with the branded search follow-up rate for the first-recommended brand.
ChatGPT Click-Through Rate by Industry (September 2026)
| Industry | Position 1 | Position 2 | Position 3 | Branded Search Follow-Up, Position 1 |
| Legal Services | 13.2% | 8.4% | 5.7% | 9.1% |
| Insurance | 12.6% | 7.9% | 5.6% | 10.3% |
| Home Services | 12.1% | 7.2% | 5.0% | 8.4% |
| Financial Services | 11.4% | 7.0% | 5.2% | 12.7% |
| Healthcare | 10.7% | 6.5% | 4.6% | 13.9% |
| B2B Software | 9.3% | 6.2% | 4.7% | 15.8% |
| Travel and Hospitality | 8.9% | 5.4% | 3.8% | 11.2% |
| Real Estate | 8.2% | 4.9% | 3.5% | 9.6% |
| Education | 7.6% | 4.7% | 3.3% | 12.4% |
| Ecommerce and Retail | 7.1% | 4.3% | 3.1% | 10.8% |
Our researchers took three main findings from this data:
- We found that legal services, insurance, and home services had the highest first-position click-through rates, at 12.1% to 13.2%. Buyers in these categories often need help quickly and contact the first credible option.
- B2B software had the highest branded search follow-up rate at 15.8%. Software buyers tend to research a recommended vendor through reviews and comparison pages before visiting its site.
- Ecommerce and retail had the lowest first-position click-through rate at 7.1%, since shoppers often compare prices across several stores after reading the answer.
ChatGPT Click-Through Rate by Query Type
The intent behind the query had a larger effect on click-through rate than any other factor we measured. In the table below, we group the prompts in our dataset into five query types and show the direct click-through rate for the first position, the average for positions 2 and 3, and the average for positions 4 and below.
ChatGPT Click-Through Rate by Query Type (September 2026)
| Query Type | Example Prompt | Position 1 | Positions 2-3 Average | Positions 4+ Average |
| Transactional Queries | “Where can I buy a standing desk under $500?” | 14.6% | 7.9% | 2.4% |
| Local Service Queries | “Best plumber near me for a water heater replacement” | 13.1% | 7.4% | 2.7% |
| Commercial Comparison Queries | “Best CRM for a 20-person sales team” | 9.7% | 5.6% | 1.9% |
| Product Research Queries | “What should I look for in a home security system?” | 7.4% | 4.3% | 1.5% |
| Informational Queries | “How does whole life insurance work?” | 3.8% | 1.9% | 0.6% |
Our researchers took three main findings from this data:
- We found that transactional queries produced the highest first-position click-through rate at 14.6%, nearly four times the rate for informational queries.
- Local service queries held their value furthest down the list, with an average of 2.7% for positions 4 and below. Users with a local need often contact several providers before choosing one.
- The number of brands in an answer also mattered. When ChatGPT recommended three brands, the first one received a direct click in 12.9% of answers, compared with 7.4% when it recommended eight or more.
ChatGPT Citation Link Click-Through Rate by Position
When ChatGPT searches the web, it lists the sources it drew from as citation links alongside the answer. These are separate from brand recommendations: a citation might point to a review site, a news article, or a comparison page. In the table below, we show how often users clicked each citation position and how often an answer included a citation at that position.
ChatGPT Citation Link Click-Through Rate by Position (September 2026)
| Citation Position | Citation Link Click-Through Rate | Share of Answers With a Citation at This Position |
| 1 | 2.3% | 61.4% |
| 2 | 1.2% | 48.7% |
| 3 | 0.7% | 34.2% |
| 4 | 0.5% | 21.9% |
| 5 | 0.3% | 13.6% |
The first citation link drew a click in 2.3% of the answers that showed one, less than a quarter of the 10.3% direct click-through rate for the first-recommended brand. Citation clicks were most common when the user wanted to check a specific claim, such as a price or a statistic, and least common when the answer already recommended a brand. For companies trying to win business from ChatGPT through generative engine optimization, the larger opportunity is being one of the brands ChatGPT recommends, and being recommended early in the list.
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- First Page Sage Research Study. First Page Sage, July 13 – September 25, 2026. San Francisco, California
- Google Click-Through Rates (CTRs) by Ranking Position in 2026, First Page Sage, September 2026, San Francisco, California
- Introducing ChatGPT Search, OpenAI, October 2024, San Francisco, California
- Google Users Are Less Likely to Click on Links When an AI Summary Appears in the Results, Pew Research Center, July 2025, Washington, D.C.
- AI Search Has a Citation Problem, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia Journalism Review, March 2025, New York, New York
