# Where Does ChatGPT Get Its Information? Training Data vs. Live Web Search, Explained for Beginners > ChatGPT answers from two sources: what it learned during training and what it looks up on the web in the moment. Based on OpenAI's own help docs and crawler documentation, here's how they differ and what site owners should check. | Field | Value | |-------|-------| | Published | 2026-10-13 | | Category | Beginner | | Author | Aro Ogata | | Tags | beginner, SEO basics, ChatGPT, ChatGPT search, training data, OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot, AI search | | URL | https://linksurge.jp/blog/en/where-chatgpt-gets-information/ | --- ## Key Takeaways: ChatGPT Answers From What It Learned and What It Looks Up "Where did ChatGPT get that?" Everyone asks it eventually. I went back through OpenAI's help center and its crawler documentation to sort it out, and here's what it comes down to. 1. **There are two sources** — One is training data, the huge body of information the model learned from before you ever typed a word. The other is web search, where ChatGPT looks things up while answering. Think of it as what someone already knows versus what they check on their phone 2. **Training data stops at a point in time** — OpenAI says its models are built from publicly available internet content, data from partners, and information provided by users, trainers and researchers. Anything that happened after training isn't in that knowledge 3. **Web search fills the gap for current information** — ChatGPT may search the web automatically when current information would help, and those answers can include citations linking to sources 4. **Different crawlers do different jobs** — GPTBot collects content that may be used for training. OAI-SearchBot crawls so sites can appear in ChatGPT search. Their settings are independent, so you can opt out of training and still appear in search Let's look at each source, then at what you should actually check on your own site. --- ## 1. Two Sources Behind Every Answer Start with the big picture. Picture ChatGPT as a very well-read friend. This friend has spent years reading an enormous amount and answers most questions from memory. But ask "What's in the news today?" or "What does this plan cost right now?" and memory isn't enough. So they pull out their phone, look it up, and answer from what they find. | Source | What OpenAI calls it | Analogy | What the answer looks like | |:--|:--|:--|:--| | 1 | Training data | What your friend already knows from years of reading | No source links. Doesn't know about anything after training | | 2 | Web search (ChatGPT search) | What your friend just looked up on their phone | May include citations. Can handle current information | The two often blend. ChatGPT may frame an answer from what it learned, then fill in specific facts from a search. ### Why does the difference matter? For site owners, the two sources involve your site in completely different ways. Whether your content ends up in training data and whether it gets read and cited in a search are decided by separate systems. Mix them up and you'll end up changing the wrong setting. I'll show a common example of that later. > References: > [How ChatGPT and our foundation models are developed - OpenAI Help Center](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7842364-how-chatgpt-and-our-foundation-models-are-developed) > [Searching the web with ChatGPT - OpenAI Help Center](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-searching-the-web-with-chatgpt) --- ## 2. Source 1: Training Data (What the Model Already Knows) Training data is the information used to build an AI model, the "brain" behind ChatGPT. OpenAI says its foundation models, including the ones that power ChatGPT, are developed from three main sources. - **Publicly available internet content** — Webpages, public forums, blogs and posts anyone can access - **Information from third-party partners** — Datasets OpenAI accesses through agreements - **Information from users, human trainers and researchers** — Data people provide or create to improve the models ### What kind of web content is used? According to OpenAI, it only uses publicly available content that's freely and openly accessible. It says it doesn't intentionally collect from sources known to be behind paywalls. It also filters out material such as hate speech, adult content, sites that aggregate personal information, and spam. ### Does the model store copies of what it read? This is where a lot of people get it wrong. OpenAI says its models don't store or retain copies of the data they were trained on, and that ChatGPT doesn't "copy and paste" from training data. Instead, the model learns patterns in how words relate to each other and predicts the next most likely word, one at a time. That's also why, as OpenAI notes, the same question can produce different answers. In my own testing, asking the same thing a few times usually changes the wording and sometimes the examples. ### Training data has a cutoff date Training data is gathered up to a certain point. OpenAI's developer documentation lists a "Knowledge cutoff" date for each model. Anything after that date isn't part of what the model learned. That's why price changes or brand-new products often trip up answers that rely on training data alone. ### Can I keep my site out of training? Yes. OpenAI publishes a crawler called GPTBot that collects public content that may be used for training. Blocking GPTBot in your robots.txt file (the file that tells crawlers which parts of your site they may visit) signals that your content shouldn't be used to train its foundation models. > References: > [How ChatGPT and our foundation models are developed - OpenAI Help Center](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7842364-how-chatgpt-and-our-foundation-models-are-developed) > [Models - OpenAI API Docs](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models) > [Overview of OpenAI Crawlers - OpenAI API Docs](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) --- ## 3. Source 2: Web Search (What It Looks Up Right Now) Web search covers training data's blind spot. OpenAI's help center says ChatGPT can search the web to answer questions with current information and links to relevant sources. ### When does ChatGPT search the web? Two ways. - **Automatically** — ChatGPT may search the web on its own when your question would benefit from current information - **When you ask it to** — Pick Search from the tools menu, or type "/" in the message box and choose Search So the same ChatGPT sometimes answers from memory and sometimes looks things up first. It depends on the question. ### Your question isn't searched word for word Here's the part I find most interesting. OpenAI says ChatGPT search sometimes partners with other search providers, and when it does, it usually rewrites your question into one or more targeted search queries. OpenAI's own example: a question about the latest on CCR8-targeting cancer drugs first became the search "CCR8 immunotherapy drug development 2025." After reviewing those results, ChatGPT may send more specific follow-up queries to other providers. It's a lot like how you'd rephrase a search a few times while researching. OpenAI doesn't publish every detail of these partnerships, but its help page points to the privacy policies of Microsoft and Shopify as search providers. ### How can I tell where an answer came from? Answers that use web search may include citations. Click one to open the source. Select Sources to see the cited pages and other relevant links. OpenAI is upfront that search results and citations can be incomplete, outdated or incorrect. It recommends opening the cited source to confirm it supports the answer and checking when it was published or updated. A citation is not a guarantee of accuracy. ### Which sites show up in ChatGPT search? OpenAI says ChatGPT ranks search results using multiple factors meant to surface relevant, reliable information, and that placement isn't guaranteed. To be eligible, a site needs to allow OAI-SearchBot to crawl it, and its host or CDN (a network that speeds up content delivery) needs to allow traffic from OpenAI's published IP addresses. For a deeper look at how ChatGPT search is built, see "[Inside ChatGPT Search](/blog/en/chatgpt-search-architecture-2026/)." > References: > [Searching the web with ChatGPT - OpenAI Help Center](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-searching-the-web-with-chatgpt) > [Overview of OpenAI Crawlers - OpenAI API Docs](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) --- ## 4. The OpenAI Crawlers Site Owners Should Know Now for the most practical part. OpenAI documents several crawlers, each with a different purpose. | Crawler | Why it visits | If you block it in robots.txt | |:--|:--|:--| | GPTBot | Collects public content that may be used for training | Signals your content shouldn't be used for training | | OAI-SearchBot | Crawls so sites can appear in ChatGPT's search features | Your site won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers (it may still appear as a navigational link) | | ChatGPT-User | Visits a page when a user's request calls for it | Because a user triggers it, robots.txt rules may not apply | | OAI-AdsBot | Checks pages submitted as ads in ChatGPT | Only visits pages submitted as ads | What stood out to me most in the documentation: GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot settings are independent. That means you can say "don't train on my content, but do show it in search." For example, this robots.txt blocks GPTBot while allowing OAI-SearchBot: ```text User-agent: GPTBot Disallow: / User-agent: OAI-SearchBot Allow: / ``` OpenAI says robots.txt changes take about 24 hours to take effect for search. Check back the next day. OpenAI also notes that if you allow both crawlers, it may use the results of a single crawl for both purposes. > References: > [Overview of OpenAI Crawlers - OpenAI API Docs](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) --- ## 5. Don't Mix This Up With Google Let's separate ChatGPT from Google for a moment, because the two get blended together a lot in AI search talk. Google's AI Overviews (the AI summary at the top of search results) and AI Mode run on Google's own search index, its catalog of pages. Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in them and no special optimization needed. The crawler is the same Googlebot that powers regular search. ChatGPT search is a separate system that uses OpenAI's crawlers and its search partners. So these are two separate checks: - **Google Search and its AI features** — Can Googlebot crawl your pages, and are they in Google's index? - **ChatGPT search** — Can OAI-SearchBot crawl your pages? For the Google side, see "[What Are AI Overviews?](/blog/en/what-are-ai-overviews/)" and "[How Search Engines Work](/blog/en/how-search-engines-work/)" in this series. > References: > [AI features and your website - Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) --- ## 6. Common Misconceptions and Mistakes Once you know how the two sources work, the usual mistakes make sense. Here are five. ### Myth 1: "ChatGPT has memorized the whole internet, including today's news." Training data has a cutoff, and anything after it isn't in what the model learned. When you need current information, check whether the answer used web search and includes citations. ### Myth 2: "If I block GPTBot, I'll disappear from ChatGPT search." GPTBot is for training. OAI-SearchBot is for search. Their settings are independent. The real risk runs the other way: block every OpenAI crawler to opt out of training and you'll vanish from search too. Honestly, it's the most avoidable robots.txt mistake I come across. Decide which one you actually want to stop before you edit the file. ### Myth 3: "If an answer has citations, it's correct." OpenAI itself says search results and citations can be incomplete, outdated or wrong. Open the source and confirm it says what the answer claims, and check how recent it is. ### Myth 4: "Check once and you know how ChatGPT sees you." Answers vary, and cited sources shift. Third-party tracking showed ChatGPT's mix of cited sources changing sharply within days in August 2026. See "[ChatGPT's Citation Sources Moved 86% in Four Days](/blog/en/chatgpt-citation-volatility-2026/)" for the details. Don't judge from one check. Ask the same questions repeatedly and keep a record. ### Myth 5: "If I rank well on Google, ChatGPT will cite me too." ChatGPT search is a different system, and OpenAI says placement isn't guaranteed. Check how Google sees you and how ChatGPT sees you separately. --- ## 7. How to Check Your Own Site Here's how to see how ChatGPT treats your site. 1. **Open your robots.txt** — Add "/robots.txt" to your domain and look for GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot. If you want to appear in ChatGPT search, make sure OAI-SearchBot isn't blocked 2. **Ask ChatGPT with search turned on** — Ask questions related to your business or niche. Open Sources and see whether your site appears and which sites do 3. **Keep a log** — Answers change, so re-ask the same set of questions on a schedule and save the results Step 3 gets tedious by hand. Tools like [LinkSurge](https://linksurge.jp/)'s [GEO monitoring](https://linksurge.jp/geo) send the same questions to several AI tools, including ChatGPT, and record whether your brand is mentioned or cited. To see which kinds of domains ChatGPT tends to cite, read "[The Domains ChatGPT Cites in Japan](/blog/en/chatgpt-citation-sources-japan-2026/)," which also explains how to map citation sources for any market. If you care whether your brand's name shows up in AI answers, "[Why Branded Search and Brand Mentions Matter More in the AI Era](/blog/en/branded-search-brand-mentions-beginners/)" is a good companion read. Pairing a tracking tool like [LinkSurge](https://linksurge.jp/) with your own spot checks makes changes much easier to catch. --- {{linksurge-card}} ## Quick Check ### Q1: What are the two sources ChatGPT answers from? Answer: Training data, which the model learned from in advance, and web search, which it uses to look things up while answering. ### Q2: If you block GPTBot in robots.txt, will your site disappear from ChatGPT search? Answer: No. GPTBot is the training crawler, and its setting is independent of OAI-SearchBot, which handles search. Blocking OAI-SearchBot is what keeps you out of ChatGPT search answers. ### Q3: Why does ChatGPT sometimes get recent events wrong? Answer: Its training data has a cutoff date, so anything after that isn't in what it learned. Answers that use web search can fill in more current information. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Does ChatGPT search the internet every time it answers? No. According to OpenAI, ChatGPT may search the web automatically when current information would help, and users can also choose Search manually. Answers that don't use search are generated from what the model learned during training. ### What does my site need to appear in ChatGPT search answers? OpenAI says a site must allow OAI-SearchBot to crawl it and must allow traffic from OpenAI's published IP addresses at the host or CDN level. ChatGPT then ranks results using multiple factors, and placement isn't guaranteed. ### How do I stop ChatGPT from training on my content? Block GPTBot in your robots.txt file. OpenAI says disallowing GPTBot indicates your content shouldn't be used to train its generative AI foundation models. If you keep OAI-SearchBot allowed, your site stays eligible for ChatGPT search. ### Does ChatGPT copy text straight from its training data? OpenAI says its models don't store copies of their training data and don't copy and paste from it. The model generates text by predicting likely next words based on patterns it learned. That's also why the same question can get different answers. --- ## Conclusion: Separate "Trained On" From "Looked Up" Whenever you research ChatGPT or plan around it, start by asking one question: is this about training data or about web search? To opt out of training, use GPTBot. To appear in search, allow OAI-SearchBot. That single distinction prevents most of the configuration mistakes beginners make. Your next step is simple. Open your site's robots.txt and check how those two crawlers are handled. Then ask ChatGPT a few questions from your field with search on, and look at which sources come up. The previous article in this series is "[Does Google Penalize AI-Written Content?](/blog/en/ai-written-content-google-beginners/)" Up next: "[What Is Google AI Mode?](/blog/en/google-ai-mode-beginners/)" For the full reading order, see the "[SEO, GEO and AIO Beginner Curriculum](/blog/en/seo-beginner-curriculum/)," and keep the "[SEO Glossary for Beginners](/blog/en/seo-glossary-beginners/)" nearby. When you're ready for the full playbook, "[How to Get Cited by ChatGPT: The Complete 2026 Guide](/blog/en/chatgpt-geo-complete-guide-2026/)" is the next step. LinkSurge's [GEO monitoring](https://linksurge.jp/geo) sends the same questions to ChatGPT and other AI tools on a schedule and records whether your brand is mentioned or cited.