In short. ChatGPT search can use Bing results, while OpenAI also documents third-party providers, partner content, and a Healthcare workspace exception.
Definition: Yes. As of 17 October 2026, OpenAI documents that ChatGPT search can use Bing to retrieve web results for Enterprise and Edu workspaces; its general search documentation also describes third-party search providers and rewritten queries.
Key facts
- OpenAI's ChatGPT search help page explains that search sometimes uses other providers and sends them targeted queries.
- OpenAI's Enterprise and Edu documentation explicitly names Bing as a recipient of search queries separated from user accounts.
- Microsoft's Bing partnership announcement, dated 23 May 2023, presents Bing as ChatGPT's default search experience.
- OpenAI's search launch announcement, dated 31 October 2024, describes third-party search providers alongside content supplied directly by partners.
What does the documented Bing relationship cover?
Microsoft's Build announcement describes a Bing integration that supplies web information and citations within ChatGPT. Its default-search wording belongs to that announcement's date and rollout.
The current Enterprise and Edu help page says ChatGPT may send Bing search queries that are disassociated from a user's account. It also names Bing and other data providers for specialized results, including weather and finance. The same page specifies that ChatGPT for Healthcare workspaces do not use Bing for web search or specialized data providers.
OpenAI's launch post describes a combination of search providers and partner content. OpenAI does not give a per-provider share of searches in these pages.
How does ChatGPT send a question to a search provider?
Query rewriting means reformulating a question into a search query. OpenAI's general search documentation describes sending targeted queries to providers, followed where useful by more specific searches after reviewing initial results.
The documentation's restaurant example turns a request for nearby restaurants into a query specifying San Francisco. In its provider privacy links, the page names Microsoft and Shopify. These links identify providers whose policies readers can consult; the Enterprise and Edu page supplies the explicit statement about Bing web results.
What can a website owner check?
OpenAI's crawler documentation identifies OAI-SearchBot as its search crawler, which requests website content for ChatGPT search. It recommends allowing this crawler through robots.txt, the file containing crawler access rules, and permitting requests from its published IP ranges. A matching robots.txt group is:
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /
The search help page also calls for checking that the website host or content delivery network permits searchbot traffic. For inspecting an answer, it describes opening citations and selecting Sources, when available, to review cited pages and other relevant links.
Related terms
- ChatGPT search
- OAI-SearchBot
- Query rewriting
- Where can I see the sources behind a ChatGPT search answer?
FAQ
Does ChatGPT send my original question unchanged to Bing?
OpenAI's search help page describes rewriting prompts into targeted queries. Your question can therefore lead to several searches with different wording.
Does every ChatGPT workspace use Bing?
OpenAI's Enterprise and Edu documentation names a specific exception: ChatGPT for Healthcare workspaces do not use Bing for web search or specialized data providers.
Sources
- OpenAI, "Searching the web with ChatGPT", accessed 17 October 2026
- OpenAI, "ChatGPT search for Enterprise and Edu", accessed 17 October 2026
- Microsoft Bing, "Bing at Microsoft Build 2023: Continuing the Transformation of Search", 23 May 2023
- OpenAI, "Introducing ChatGPT search", 31 October 2024
- OpenAI, "Overview of OpenAI Crawlers", accessed 17 October 2026
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