OpenAI is gunning for Google. The company is primed to take over the future of search with “SearchGPT” – it’s new AI search engine solution, built directly into ChatGPT.
Promising users a more convenient, intuitive way to browse the web, SearchGPT combines a conversational interface with multimodal capabilities, instant summarization, and exceptional search clarity. As the popularity of AI search continues to explode, OpenAI’s technology could transform the digital media landscape forever, leaving traditional Google searches in the dust.
So what exactly is SearchGPT, what can it do, and how does it compare to Google, as well as other AI search solutions like Perplexity AI? Here’s everything you need to know about OpenAI’s revolutionary new search experience.
What is SearchGPT?
SearchGPT was initially introduced by OpenAI – the market-leading AI developer behind ChatGPT, on July 25, 2024. Described as a new “prototype” collection of search features for ChatGPT, the solution promised to combine the strength of OpenAI’s models with the web.
Essentially, the solution gives users an AI search engine, similar to the popular Perplexity AI offering. It allows you to look for information on the web, by asking ChatGPT natural questions. Instead of giving you a list of URLs to choose from (like traditional Google search), ChatGPT summarizes what it finds on the web, and gives you a selection of “source links” for all the information revealed.
OpenAI hasn’t shared a lot of direct information about how SearchGPT works. However, we assume it follows a process similar to Perplexity AI, using retrieval augmented generation (RAG) techniques. RAG helps to reduce the likelihood of hallucinations in generative AI responses by integrating information from a database into an LLM to improve accuracy.
We also know that the search model is built on GPT-4o, it’s a fine-tuned solution trained using novel synthetic data generation – including distilled outputs from the OpenAI o1-preview.
The model basically converts a search query into numerical “embeddings” that allow the AI system to define meaning and intent. Then, it searches a vector database packed with trusted information sources. We’re not sure what those sources are, but based on OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft, we can probably assume many sources come from Bing.
Using this retrieval mechanism, SearchGPT can generate precise, accurate, and contextual responses, while linking back to original web content. The system can then continue interacting with users about the responses it generates, allowing them to ask follow-up questions.
The Key Features of SearchGPT
SearchGPT, now commonly referred to as “ChatGPT Search”, has a lot of similarities to Perplexity.AI – one of the world’s most popular AI search engines. However, it’s designed to be particularly easy to use, because it’s embedded into ChatGPT.
That means billions of ChatGPT users don’t have to access a separate app or tool to start searching the web, they can leverage all the benefits of AI search alongside ChatGPT’s existing features. The main features of SearchGPT so far include:
- Conversational AI: SearchGPT uses the same large language model as ChatGPT, giving you the same familiar “natural language interface” when you’re asking questions.
- Direct up-to-date answers: Instead of a list of links, SearchGPT gives you a concise, and relevant answer to each query, drawing on real-time information from the web. There’s no more “arbitrary cut-off date” for the web information ChatGPT can access.
- Citations panel: Although you don’t get a direct list of links, SearchGPT does give you a sidebar, showing all the sources used to generate the response. You can click on these links to dive further into articles, and access more information.
- Follow-up questions: Users can continue to converse with ChatGPT and ask follow-up questions about the responses. For instance, you could ask SearchGPT to explain a segment of its response in more detail, or convert an answer into a different format.
- Multimodal functionality: SearchGPT can do more than just provide users with text-based answers. It can also surface visual results in the form of videos, and pictures, to provide more in-depth answers to user queries.
How to Use SearchGPT in ChatGPT
SearchGPT started life as a prototype, giving a handful of users direct access to a dedicated search experience. On October 31st, 2024, however, OpenAI revealed that it had officially built the new functionality into ChatGPT’s existing interface. That means there’s no separate product to purchase, all you’re going to need is a ChatGPT account.
Currently, you can only access the feature directly if you have a ChatGPT Plus account, or a “Team” account. If you do have one of these subscriptions, all you need to do is visit Chatgpt.com/search, and click on the search button to start looking for information. There’s also a handy Chrome extension available, so you can search directly from your browser URL bar.
Basically, this means you can replace your standard “Google” search experience on Chrome or “Bing” experience on Microsoft Edge, with SearchGPT. The functionality is available on all ChatGPT platforms, including desktop apps, Android, iOS, Windows, and MacOS.
Once you have access to SearchGPT, you can interact with the bot just like you’d speak to ChatGPT, entering prompts as normal. The SearchGPT system will generate a summary response in the main part of the page, and give you a list of links (citations) on the left-hand side.
You’ll also see the “Ask a Follow up” bar on the bottom, which allows you to ask additional questions about the results that ChatGPT generated for you.
How SearchGPT Compares to Google Search
As mentioned above, there are already a bunch of AI Search engine options out there, if you’re looking for a more conversational, summary-based search experience. However, OpenAI’s biggest competitor is still Google Search. The company is even encouraging users to download its browser extension so SearchGPT can act as their primary search engine.
Obviously, Google is already embedding AI into its search experience too. Thanks to Google Gemini, most users already have an “AI overview” at the top of the Google search results which also summarizes information from the web, and provides citation links.
However, there are quite a few things that set SearchGPT apart from Google’s AI search experience.
SearchGPT’s More Streamlined Search Experience
First, both SearchGPT and Google can “summarize” information from the web for you. However, Google’s AI overviews are basically an “add-on” to the traditional search experience. They’re a lot like the previous “featured snippet” feature on Google, and they’re not available for every search.
Alternatively, SearchGPT makes the summarized answer a core part of the search experience. The responses you get are more in-depth and more consistent. SearchGPT is focused on giving you “answers” not just links – even if you do get a list of sources with a response.
Notably, that list of links will also be a lot shorter than what you get from Google. According to a SERanking report, SearchGPT displays an average of around 13 URLs – compared to the thousands you might get from Google.
You also get a more “uniform” search experience, without a bunch of additional extra features like videos, maps, and images. While SearchGPT does provide images for each query, they’re not a “main part” of the answer you get – more like contextual padding. This could make the overall search experience feel a lot more streamlined and simple for users.
On the other hand, SearchGPT does seem to repeat the domains in its citations list quite frequently – unlike Google, which gives you a lot of different, unique links. You also get fewer links to Reddit, Quora, and Wikipedia in SearchGPT’s results, compared to Google.
There are No Ads on OpenAI’s Search Engine
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons users might choose SearchGPT over Google, is there aren’t any ads to worry about. Advertising and promotions take up a lot of space on Google’s search engine. That makes sense, considering the amount of revenue Google makes from advertising.
SearchGPT, on the other hand, has no ads at all. According to Sam Altman, OpenAI wanted to create an experience that let users know they weren’t being “influenced by advertisers”. There are no plans to introduce ads to SearchGPT either. That’s good news for browsers, but it could be worrisome for marketers, who may be concerned that they’ll lose visibility in the future of search.
Fortunately, OpenAI has said that it is working closely with publishers and reporters to keep the digital journalism landscape thriving. The SearchGPT experience is designed to help users discover publisher sites and experiences, prioritizing links to high-quality content. You’re not just getting a summarized response “extracted” from the internet like you would with ChatGPT.
You get a response that actively highlights all of the original source content that the AI system used to create its answer. That means original creators aren’t being kept out of the loop. OpenAI will also be continuing to work with publishers to learn more about what their readers want, and hopefully upgrade the SearchGPT experience in the future.
Contextual Continuity in SearchGPT
Every search you make on Google is an independent, individual query. If you search for “Best Italian meals” and then “Lasagne recipes”, Google won’t remember what you’ve looked at in the past and tailor its responses to you. SearchGPT is different, thanks to its conversational interface.
Instead of typing a bunch of phrases and keywords into a search box and trying to piece information together from different resources, you can have a full conversation with SearchGPT. Users can ask a specific question, like “Where can I see the aurora borealis in Iceland?” and the tool will surface an image, and a list of the best times to view the phenomenon.
If you type a “follow-up” query, like “When are the cheapest flights” in the same search conversation, the bot will know you’re talking about flights to Iceland, specifically those schedule for the times when the borealis is most likely to appear.
Obviously, this functionality isn’t perfect yet. SearchGPT can still struggle with understanding certain ambiguous terms. It also doesn’t have the best “local” information yet, if you were looking for things like the opening times of a specific restaurant, or a map to wherever you want to go, then Google might still be the better option.
Search Accuracy in SearchGPT
Although no AI search engine is completely faultless, SearchGPT might be able to deliver more “accurate” responses than Google in some areas. Fundamentally, traditional Google Search focuses heavily on keyword matching. That means you might have to sift through a lot of different pages before you find the answers you really need.
There’s always a chance that Google could rank an “irrelevant” page at the top of its search results too, because of a publisher’s “SEO” strategy – which can be frustrating. SearchGPT, on the other hand, uses more in-depth AI technology to understand what you’re actually looking for, so it’s more effective at delivering accurate results – for the most part.
Again, there are limitations here, as the LLM can’t understand every “ambiguous” phrase you might be searching for. For instance, it might not be able to tell the difference between people searching for web-based cookies and baked cookies if you ask, “What are cookies?”.
Plus, it’s worth noting that Bing’s search results, and the results you get from SearchGPT generally have a lot of overlap. That’s probably because of OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft. However, many of the results you get will be unique and specific to your questions – more so than if you used a standard search engine.
SearchGPT also struggles with local search and ecommerce queries more than a traditional search engine. For instance, if you search for a specific product on Google, it will give you a range of options, with images, prices, and descriptions. SearchGPT is more tuned to giving you “informational” responses, rather than direct links to where you can find or buy things.
AI Hallucinations: Google vs SearchGPT
One additional thing worth looking at when comparing SearchGPT to Google search, and Google’s AI overviews, is the potential risk of “AI hallucinations”. Both Google and OpenAI have struggled with this issue in the past.
Google got off to a rocky start with its search overviews, often providing inappropriate answers to user questions – like telling people to glue cheese to their pizza to stop it from sliding off the crust. Still, the company has updated and improved the system since then. SearchGPT has had hiccups too.
OpenAI has openly told its users that its system can make mistakes. There’s a chance that the bot might provide information that’s not totally correct because it’s limited in the information it can access. However, the fact that SearchGPT can now access the internet in real-time means it’s less likely to have hallucinations as a result of “outdated” content.
Plus, since SearchGPT makes it easy to visit links to the original sources of content means you can always double-check the results yourself, if you’re worried about AI ethical issues, like bias, hallucinations, or discrimination.
Is SearchGPT the Best AI Search Engine?
SearchGPT is still in its early stages. It’s not even accessible to every ChatGPT user yet – but it does have a lot of benefits that sets it apart from Google’s AI overviews, and tools like Perplexity AI. For instance, SearchGPT benefits from:
- More diverse sources: SearchGPT seems to use a wider range of sources for its answers than Perplexity, Google AI overview, and a few other AI search solutions. It draws from industry-specific websites, government sites, academic institutions, and more.
- Depth and structure: Although Perplexity AI can deliver ultra-in-depth summarizations, SearchGPT definitely offers more structured, in-depth summaries than Google AI overview. The responses are also more practical and action-oriented than Google’s.
- Intent understanding: SearchGPT does demonstrate a stronger ability to anticipate user intent and potential follow-up questions than Google AI overview. However, Perplexity is relatively good at understanding intent too.
- Instructional guidance: Both Perplexity AI and SearchGPT are better at delivering instructional, informative, and industry-specific responses to questions than Google’s AI overview. SearchGPT also offers some excellent multi-faceted responses.
- Ease of use: Google’s AI overview is definitely user-friendly, but it just builds on the traditional search experience. Perplexity is user-friendly too, but requires users to access a separate platform. Since SearchGPT is built into ChatGPT, it might offer the most user-friendly experience overall for some searchers.
The Future of Digital Media
SearchGPT has the potential to transform the way we search for, and consume media on the web. This has implications not just for everyday browsers, but for publishers and content creators too. Business leaders will need to start rethinking how they attempt to improve their visibility online.
It won’t be enough to target short-form phrases and keywords anymore. Marketers will need to think about more conversational queries, and begin incorporating rich media into their strategies to adapt to SearchGPT’s multimodal capabilities.
The good news is that the rise of SearchGPT should encourage an increased focus on high-quality, engaging, and unique content from publishers. It will also push marketers to build more direct relationships with their audience, and collaborate with other publications to boost their “earned media presence”. Notably, SearchGPT won’t be the last we hear about the future of AI search either.
Meta is already apparently developing its own AI search solution, and Google will undoubtedly expand its AI overview feature in the years ahead. Even companies like Zoom are partnering with brands like Perplexity AI to implement AI search into unified communication tools.
The future of online search is certainly going to be AI-first. The question is, will SearchGPT become the market leader, or will Google find its way back to the top?
