Understanding user behaviour data that Google never shared
As marketers, we’ve always wondered how people actually use the tools that dominate their digital lives. When Google exploded in growth, that usage data stayed locked within Google’s walls. But something remarkable is happening with AI companies – they’re sharing detailed research about how their products are being used, giving us unprecedented insights into user behaviour.
OpenAI recently released comprehensive research analyzing real ChatGPT usage patterns from over 700 million weekly users sending 2.5 billion messages daily. This isn’t survey data or guesswork – it’s actual usage patterns from 29,000 messages per second, analyzed with privacy-preserving methodology.
The Big Picture: What People Actually Do With AI
The research reveals some surprising patterns that should inform how you think about your customers’ daily digital habits:
70% of ChatGPT use is personal, not work-related – and personal usage is growing faster than business use. This suggests AI is becoming as embedded in daily life as social media or search engines.
The top three use cases account for nearly 78% of all messages:
- Practical Guidance (28.3%): People asking for advice and how-to information
- Writing (26.1%): Text creation, editing, and refinement
- Seeking Information (21.1%): Research and fact-finding
Contrary to the hype around coding and complex tasks, Computer Programming accounts for only 4.2% of messages, while Relationships and Personal Reflection make up just 1.9%.
(Breakdown of granular conversation topics – How People Use ChatGPT)
What This Means for Your Marketing Strategy
1. Your Customers Are Getting Smarter, Faster
With nearly half of users under 26 and usage exploding in developing countries, your audience is rapidly becoming more AI-literate. They’re using AI to research purchases, compare options, and even help craft emails to businesses.
Marketing implication: Your content needs to assume a more informed, research-savvy audience. Generic sales copy won’t cut it when prospects can instantly fact-check claims and generate comparison tables.
2. The Rise of the “Advisor Economy”
The research shows 49% of messages are people asking for guidance and advice (“Asking”), compared to 40% requesting task completion (“Doing”). Users value ChatGPT more as an advisor than as a task performer.
Marketing opportunity: Position your business as a trusted advisor, not just a service provider. Create content that genuinely helps people make better decisions, even if they don’t immediately buy from you.
3. Writing Is the New Superpower
Writing dominates work-related AI usage, accounting for 42% of professional messages. Interestingly, two-thirds of these are requests to modify existing text rather than create from scratch.
Content strategy insight: Your customers are becoming better writers and communicators. They’re refining proposals, improving emails, and polishing presentations. Your marketing materials need to match this rising standard of communication quality.
4. Gender and Geographic Shifts
The research shows gender gaps in AI usage have largely closed, with over half of weekly users having typically female first names. Usage is also growing fastest in low- and middle-income countries.
Market expansion: Traditional assumptions about who adopts technology first may no longer apply. AI democratizes access to advanced capabilities regardless of traditional demographic barriers.
The Transparency Advantage
What makes this research remarkable isn’t just the insights – it’s the transparency. Unlike the early days of Google’s rise, we’re getting real data about how transformative technologies are being used. This gives us a competitive advantage as marketers.
We can now make informed decisions based on actual usage patterns rather than speculation. We know that people are using AI for practical guidance more than creative tasks, for personal help more than work tasks, and as advisors more than task-completers.
Action Steps for Your Business
- Audit your content strategy: Are you providing the practical guidance your AI-savvy customers are seeking?
- Elevate your writing quality: Your customers are getting better at communication – make sure your marketing keeps pace.
- Position as an advisor: Focus on helping customers make better decisions, not just selling products.
- Prepare for informed prospects: Develop deeper, more substantive content that satisfies AI-assisted research.
The AI revolution isn’t just about the technology – it’s about understanding how that technology changes your customers’ behaviour, expectations, and capabilities. For the first time, we have the data to make those insights actionable.
This analysis is based on OpenAI’s research “How People Are Using ChatGPT” and the underlying academic paper “Habits of AI System Use by the General Population” from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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