ChatGPT prompts soared nearly 70% in H1 2025. Sensor Tower reports jump from 17 million in January to almost 29 million in June.
Shopping queries exploded, almost doubling their share from 7.8% to 9.8% of all prompts. That’s a 25% gain just in the shopping category alone amid overall growth. Personal tech, home improvement, cosmetics, and clothing saw the most traction.
Coding searches dipped from 15.1% to 11.9%. Early adopters might be shifting to specialized coding assistants like Cursor or tools powered by Anthropic’s Claude Code. OpenAI’s August 7 ChatGPT5 launch confirmed GPT5 as the default for Cursor. 
Healthcare-related prompts gained as people lean on ChatGPT for interpreting medical results and diagnoses. OpenAI also shared that ChatGPT5 is optimized further for health use cases.
Source: Sensor Tower
OpenAI increased live links in ChatGPT answers. Click-throughs tripled from 100,000 to 300,000 between March and June. The average click rate jumped from 2.2% to 5.7%.
That means users rely on ChatGPT not just for AI advice but actively for product links and content. For businesses, just appearing is no longer enough—you need those clickable links.
This shift forces companies to optimize for AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity. The era of generative engine optimization (GEO) or AI optimization (AIO) is here. Ignoring it risks dropping search traffic and visibility.
Investors should watch companies tied to search closely. Early movers could dominate or disrupt. Ad models in these AI results will shape new revenue streams and might threaten traditional website visits.
Richard Lichtenstein stated:
Additional commentary on gen AI, advanced analytics, and private equity investing is available at Artificial Investment, Richard Lichtenstein’s independent Substack. Subscription is optional. Click to read.
ChatGPT’s prompt growth and evolving user behavior signal a deeper AI search transformation. Brands and investors must act fast or get left behind.
Source: Sensor Tower
Source: Sensor Tower
Source: Sensor Tower
Source: Sensor Tower
