ChatGPT Overtakes Google as Primary Web Gateway for Paid Subscribers

Paid AI services have evolved from experimental tools to essential infrastructure, with ChatGPT now serving as the primary gateway to the internet for subscribers according to new research. British payments provider Bango, collaborating with market research firm 3Gem, surveyed 2,000 paying U.S. users in October 2025. The findings reveal a fundamental shift in digital behavior: 58% of ChatGPT subscribers have configured the AI as their default browser homepage, displacing traditional search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo. On mobile devices, AI widgets dominate home screens, reducing conventional search bars to secondary positions.

This behavioral shift comes with significant financial implications. Subscribers spend an average of $66 monthly across their AI tool portfolios – exceeding typical video streaming expenditures and approaching the self-reported budget ceiling of $72/month. With one-third of users already considering current pricing excessive, providers face pressure to enhance value propositions or develop lower-cost entry tiers. Notably, productivity tools now outweigh entertainment in user priorities: 62% would cancel streaming services before abandoning their AI assistants.

Users increasingly employ 'subscription cycling' – activating and immediately canceling services for short-term needs – to manage costs. This reflects broader market dynamics where AI's transformation into commercial ecosystems creates new competitive pressures. Many users envision integrated 'super-apps' handling both queries and transactions, though this risks compromising AI neutrality if platforms prioritize sponsored products. Bango's 'Super Bundling' strategy explicitly targets this volatility by combining services to reduce customer churn.

The transition carries hardware implications. As AI becomes users' primary interface, manufacturers face pressure to optimize devices for conversational interactions rather than traditional search. Current spending patterns suggest limited tolerance for price hikes, favoring providers who enhance efficiency without increasing costs. With AI reshaping digital behavior at this scale, the study underscores a pivotal moment where productivity tools have fundamentally redefined our relationship with technology infrastructure.