Why some companies choose ChatGPT over Copilot: what business type reveals about the decision

The way companies actually choose between ChatGPT and Copilot depends on practical needs, company size, habits, and even how much freedom teams have to try new things (rather than on flashy promises or headlines, which rarely reflect what happens in day-to-day work).

In offices where people feel pressure to get results quickly and where there is little patience for long approval processes or extra paperwork, the tools that win are usually the ones that can be set up in minutes, that don’t require weeks of negotiation with IT, and that let employees do what they need without constant checks or logins—so teams in these places often use ChatGPT, sometimes even without waiting for management to sign off.

On the other hand, in larger organisations where thousands of staff rely on Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams every hour, and where keeping everything in a single, trusted system matters more than saving a few dollars or minutes, Copilot stands out because it is built into the software people already use, it works with their existing security and login systems, and it lets IT and compliance teams sleep a little better at night because everything is easier to track and control.

There are also companies—especially in banking, healthcare, manufacturing, and the public sector—where rules and laws demand that information is handled in very specific ways, with careful audit trails and restricted access, and where the cost of mistakes is high enough that leaders don’t want staff experimenting with unofficial tools; in these environments, new software only gets approved if it fits perfectly with what’s already there, which often leads to Copilot being the first choice, simply because it keeps everything under the same roof.

Still, if you look at what people are actually doing, not just what the company policy says, you’ll see that many staff use ChatGPT anyway, especially in creative roles, technical jobs, or any position where the old tools are too slow, too limited, or just not flexible enough—so there is now a clear pattern where, even in firms that officially roll out Copilot by the thousands, you’ll find staff quietly opening ChatGPT on their phones or browsers whenever they need to brainstorm, solve problems, or get a job done that doesn’t fit into a single spreadsheet or email.

The real story, then, is not about one tool replacing the other, but about how different teams inside the same company—each facing their own mix of pressure, deadlines, and rules—find what works best for them, often switching back and forth, or using both at once to get the job done.

Startups and tech teams often pick ChatGPT because they want quick results and few barriers.

Young companies live on tight budgets and tight deadlines. ChatGPT opens in any browser, costs a flat monthly fee, and hooks into code editors or internal tools through a simple API. A recent Zebracat survey found that 61 % of developers at startups open ChatGPT every day, while only 26 % do so in large companies—clear proof that speed and low friction matter to small teams.

Creative and marketing groups choose ChatGPT because it fits their day-to-day design flow.

Design studios, ad agencies, and training departments like to brainstorm copy, tidy spreadsheets, or turn rough ideas into draft images without calling IT for help. ChatGPT accepts PDFs, slides, pictures, and sheets in one chat window and connects easily to Canva, Figma, or Slack through plug-ins, so content creators can keep their favourite tools and still get writing and image support in seconds. Usage data is broad, but Statcounter’s latest traffic study shows ChatGPT drawing almost 80 % of global chatbot referrals, far ahead of Copilot, hinting at wide adoption in creative fields.

Large firms that already run on Microsoft Office stick with Copilot because it is built into the software they know.

When a company has tens of thousands of employees using Outlook, Word, and Excel every hour, adding Copilot feels natural—one login, one admin console, one vendor contract. Barclays, for example, is giving Microsoft 365 Copilot to 100 000 staff so they can draft e-mails, summarise meetings, and search internal files without leaving Office.

Hospitals and research labs balance safety rules and speed, so some pick Copilot while others go with ChatGPT.

Health data carries strict privacy laws. Tools like Dragon Copilot for Healthcare record patient notes and store them in the same secure Microsoft cloud doctors already use. Yet innovation teams inside life-science companies sometimes need rapid, custom chatbots. Promega built 1 400 “custom GPTs” in ChatGPT Enterprise that help factory, sales, and support staff—a move possible because ChatGPT lets non-coders create their own assistants quickly.

Factories use Copilot for hands-on tasks, but reach for ChatGPT when they need fast answers or troubleshooting.

Microsoft markets an Industrial Copilot with voice commands and plain-language code generation so line workers can log faults or tweak automation without a laptop. Siemens is rolling this out across its manufacturing portfolio. At the same time, plant engineers often open ChatGPT to search manuals, draft repair notes, or build quick inventory helpers because it takes minutes to spin up a new chat instead of waiting for a formal software change.

Banks weigh Copilot’s central control against ChatGPT’s flexibility and often end up with a mix.

Barclays leans on Copilot to keep everything inside its regulated Microsoft environment, while BBVA expanded its ChatGPT Enterprise seats from 3 300 to 11 000 after staff said it saved nearly three hours a week. Each bank chooses the route that best fits its risk rules and project pace.

Government offices favour Copilot because it keeps data inside the same secure cloud they already use.

City councils and ministries usually standardise on Microsoft 365 for e-mail and documents, so Copilot slots into existing compliance checks and audit trails. A Gartner survey of IT leaders highlights the bottleneck, though: 94 % see benefits in Copilot pilots, yet only 6 % have finished a full rollout, showing how slowly public bodies move even when the tool fits their stack.

Some companies spend millions on licenses, but daily habits are shaped by what actually helps people work, not what is officially installed.

It is not uncommon for large organizations to buy thousands of Copilot licenses in a top-down decision, driven by IT strategy or board-level agreements, but when you check what staff are using every day, it turns out that browser tabs with ChatGPT are left open in the background—ready to help with quick answers, coding questions, or even to summarize a contract before an urgent meeting. This hidden pattern shows up even in industries like pharmaceuticals and finance, where policy is strict but workers still reach for what feels most effective. The line between “official” and “useful” is not always the same, and the gap is often filled by ChatGPT, which people can reach without waiting for a change in company policy.

Companies are starting to notice how “shadow tool” usage sparks new ways of working and even new internal rules.

A growing number of firms now accept that workers will use both assistants, even if Copilot is the only tool that went through the official approval process. Some IT leaders, noticing staff using ChatGPT for research, customer replies, or document checks, are now building internal policies that guide safe and sensible use of outside tools, instead of banning them outright. In some cases, businesses end up creating special sandboxes or “approved prompts” to let staff get the speed of ChatGPT while still keeping an eye on what happens to important data, showing a shift toward more practical, mixed-use workplaces.

The type of work often matters more than company size, with document-heavy jobs and data handling pushing teams toward one tool or the other.

It is not only company size or industry that shapes these choices; the actual daily workflow can make a bigger difference. Teams who spend most of their time in long documents, spreadsheets, or email chains find Copilot’s close links with Office make their lives easier, since everything happens without extra logins or exported files. Meanwhile, groups that work with lots of data formats—like designers juggling images and text, or support teams handling customer messages and feedback from many channels—prefer ChatGPT, which does not care if you upload a table, a screenshot, or a handwritten note. This split is especially clear in companies with both technical and administrative staff under the same roof.

Organisation type	What they usually adopt	Plain-spoken reason
Startups & small tech	ChatGPT	Opens fast, costs less, no heavy admin
Creative & marketing	ChatGPT	Handles words, images, and slides in one place
Large Office-based firms	Copilot	Lives inside Word, Excel, Outlook with single sign-on
Healthcare & labs	Mix	Copilot for patient safety, ChatGPT for quick custom bots
Factories	Mix	Copilot for voice and forms, ChatGPT for manual look-ups
Banks	Mix	Copilot for strict compliance, ChatGPT for flexible assistants
Government	Copilot	Fits existing Microsoft cloud and audit rules

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