TLDR
A brief in the publishers' copyright case against OpenAI and Microsoft quotes an OpenAI engineer writing in February 2023 that users "won't click" links in ChatGPT answers. Microsoft's own data put Bing Chat click-through to publisher sites up to 94% below regular search.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
An OpenAI software engineer wrote in February 2023 that "no matter how prominently we show the links, users won't click", according to a newly unsealed brief in the copyright case brought by The New York Times and other publishers against OpenAI and Microsoft. The brief, filed on 17 September in federal court in New York, also cites Microsoft data showing Bing Chat sent publishers a fraction of the clicks regular Bing search did.
What the documents say
The filing quotes Nick Turley, OpenAI's head of ChatGPT, writing that users had "no good reason to click" on source links once ChatGPT had answered their question. It quotes a Microsoft director describing AI scraping as "the largest theft of labor in human history".
The click numbers are the part search marketers will keep. Compared with regular Bing search, Bing Chat click-through was 87% to 93% lower for The New York Times' websites, 83% to 91% lower for the Daily News titles and 51% to 94% lower for Ziff Davis sites.
Where the case stands
The brief is the publishers' side of the argument, and the court has not ruled. OpenAI and Microsoft say their use of news content is fair use and that their products do not substitute for journalism.
Opposition briefs are due on 23 October, amicus briefs on 30 October and replies on 20 November.
What publishers stand to lose
For news sites, a referral click is the whole business model: it is the visit that carries the ad impression, the subscription offer and the newsletter sign-up. A search result that answers the question and keeps the reader loses all three for the publisher whose reporting supplied the answer.
Independent tests now point the same way as Microsoft's internal figures. A randomised trial of 1,065 desktop users published by Digital Content Next this month found 39.8% fewer outbound clicks when Google showed an AI Overview, and University of Pennsylvania and Northeastern researchers found Google's AI Mode cut click-through by 18.8 percentage points.
Google's answer is a pilot that pays publishers when their content grounds an AI answer, at a rate it has not disclosed. In Australia, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller has asked the government to make AI companies pay publishers under a mechanism like the News Media Bargaining Code.
The same case has already produced messages showing OpenAI staff discussing a way around the Times paywall. Australia has no fair use exception, so local publishers negotiating licences with AI companies will read the US evidence closely.
What brands should plan for
For brands, the Microsoft range is a useful planning assumption: an AI answer that cites a page may send it somewhere between half and a sixteenth of the visits a search listing would. Traffic forecasts that count AI referrals like search referrals will overshoot.
The practical change is in measurement. Track how often AI answers cite and mention the brand, alongside the clicks they send, and judge content on whether it is chosen as a source.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What did the OpenAI engineer say about links?
How much lower were Bing Chat clicks than Bing search?
Who is suing OpenAI and Microsoft?
Has the court ruled?
Xaviery Malinao writes for Prompt the Market on how brands and agencies are adapting to answer engines, drawing on Bushnote's work with clients across search, AI search and content.
