Four days ago I heard someone in a video casually say: “I’ll ChatGPT it.”
I did a double take. I actually backed up the video to make sure I’d heard what I thought I heard.
Not because using ChatGPT to find information is unusual. Obviously it isn’t. It was how casually she said it. No explanation. No discussion about AI. Just “I’ll ChatGPT it,” delivered like this is apparently a thing we say now.
And maybe it is.
I don’t know whether that phrase will stick. I don’t know whether we’re watching the beginning of the same kind of language shift that turned Google into a verb. But I do think it was meaningful.
The actual picture right now is more complicated than that. The most recent data I’ve reviewed still shows Google as the clear leader in where people begin their searches.
And Google isn’t standing still. AI Overviews are increasingly appearing directly in traditional search results, and AI Mode gives users a much more conversational search experience. So a lot of the shift toward AI-assisted discovery may actually happen inside Google.
Google publishes some enormous numbers around usage of its AI features, but I take those with a grain of salt. They’re Google’s own numbers, and some of the ways AI usage is counted can include people who were simply presented with an AI result during a search. That’s not the same thing as consciously deciding, “I’m going to use AI to figure this out.”
That’s part of why this tiny anecdote caught my attention. “I’ll ChatGPT it” was intentional.
Maybe it turns out to mean nothing. Maybe ChatGPT never becomes a verb the way Google did. Or maybe I happened to notice one small signal of a much larger behavioral change while it’s happening.
Don’t try to optimize for everything. Google’s AI experiences, ChatGPT, Claude and the other AI platforms aren’t all drawing from exactly the same parts of the internet when they formulate answers and recommendations.
Figure out where your customers are actually starting when they look for what you sell. Then prioritize the one or two places that matter most and make sure your business can be found, understood and recommended there. That’s the same starting point I got into in AI Changed Customer Discovery, and it’s the core of my AI Search work.
We don’t need to know yet whether “I’ll ChatGPT it” will become the next “I’ll Google it.” But I wouldn’t wait for the answer before paying attention to where your customers are looking for theirs.
Not yet. The most recent data I’ve reviewed still shows Google as the clear leader in where people begin their searches. And Google isn’t standing still — AI Overviews are increasingly appearing in traditional results and AI Mode offers a more conversational experience — so a lot of the shift toward AI-assisted discovery may actually happen inside Google.
Not necessarily. One phrase is one small signal, and it may turn out to mean nothing. But it was intentional — someone consciously choosing to use AI to figure something out, which isn’t the same as being shown an AI result during a Google search. That’s why it’s worth paying attention to.
Don’t try to optimize for everything. Google’s AI experiences, ChatGPT, Claude and the other AI platforms aren’t all drawing from exactly the same parts of the internet. Figure out where your customers actually start when they look for what you sell, then prioritize the one or two places that matter most and make sure your business can be found, understood and recommended there.
We don’t need to know yet whether “I’ll ChatGPT it” will become the next “I’ll Google it.” But I wouldn’t wait for the answer before paying attention to where your customers are looking for theirs.
Adapted from my Practical AI for Business newsletter on Substack.
That's where AI Search starts — understanding how your customers actually look for businesses like yours, and making sure you can be found, understood and recommended where it matters most.