ChatGPT's Surprise Reliance on Google Snippets Has SEO Pros Scrambling

ChatGPT Google fallback

Late Tuesday, SEO consultant Aleyda Solís published a Confirmed: ChatGPT uses Google SERP Snippets for its Answers [A Test with Proof] showing that her test page, missing from Bing's index, still appeared inside ChatGPT's answers as soon as Google indexed it. The chatbot labeled the citation "cached snippet via web search" and displayed text identical to Google's live result, implying a Google-powered fallback whenever Bing data is unavailable.

Quick pulse

• Screenshots shared by @aleyda and @rogermontti have reached 1.2 million impressions on X - sentiment is amused but alert.
• "SEO is not dead" memes featuring the coffin-dancing pallbearers GIF are trending again.
• Developers disagree on whether OpenAI is scraping Google directly or simply parsing public SERPs.
• Legal speculation is heating up: a top r/legaladvice thread topped 3,000 upvotes within hours.
• Brands that paused meta-description work earlier this year say they are "turning it back on, today".

Social chatter and marketer takeaways

Buzz Block 1: "SEO Never Died"

Redditors argue Solís' experiment shows that meta descriptions and first-paragraph copy still shape what ChatGPT displays. The leading r/SEO thread gained more than 4,000 upvotes in six hours.

"ChatGPT just read my meta description off Google - guess I'm writing them again"

Why it matters: AI summaries can echo your Google snippet almost word for word, influencing brand tone for better or worse.

Buzz Block 2: "Is OpenAI Scraping Google?"

Network traces posted by @stephanebureau on X (380,000 views and counting) show ChatGPT calling the Bing API first, then a second request that resembles Google SERP data. Without a statement from OpenAI, devs remain split on whether this is sanctioned aggregation or gray-area scraping.

Why it matters: If Google decides to throttle that access, ChatGPT's browsing mode could lose reliability for content discovery.

Buzz Block 3: "Bing Bruised"

Marketers joke that ChatGPT "doesn't even trust its own parent search engine". A meme of Sad Ben Affleck holding a Bing logo has been reposted 7,000 times.

Why it matters: Teams relying on Bing's indexing speed for AI visibility may need to revisit publishing timelines.

Fact check and caveats

• No hard proof exists of an official OpenAI-Google API arrangement; all evidence is based on matching snippet text and unverified network logs.
• Server logs from Solís' test page are not yet public, so we cannot confirm whether ChatGPT tried and failed to crawl the page directly.
• Google's Terms of Service forbid unlicensed scraping. Any legal showdown remains speculative.

Sources

• X / @aleyda, 2024-06-11 09:40 UTC
• LinkedIn post, 2024-06-11 10:30 UTC
• X / @stephanebureau, 2024-06-11 15:12 UTC
• X / @jonathanchill, 2024-06-11 16:20 UTC
• Reddit / r/SEO thread "ChatGPT is reading Google snippets", 2024-06-11 12:05 UTC