After rumors swirled for months, OpenAI finally announced it will bring a search engine to ChatGPT and some 10,000 users are reportedly testing out the prototype.
I’m still on the waitlist myself. (If you’re not on it too, you can join here.) But using sample queries provided by OpenAI, plus the Browse with Bing search functionality that came with OpenAI’s latest flagship model, GPT-4o, I’ve been able to draw some early conclusions about what it’s like. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
As I’ve learned more about SearchGPT, the key question I’m exploring is this: How will be it any different from Google — which owns 90% of internet search activity –and why would anyone prefer to search the web using ChatGPT instead?
In a March interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his company is focused on the same question. “Maybe there’s just some much better way to help people find and act on and synthesize information,” he said.
OpenAI plans to integrate these features directly into its ChatGPT chatbot someday. Until then, based on my early research, here are five ways SearchGPT stands apart from Google.
Search results
One of the main differences between search with OpenAI and Google is the results page.
When you make a query with SearchGPT, you get an answer summary with links to information sources. The idea is to save time with more direct responses.
A sample SearchGPT query asks for the best tomatoes to grow in Minnesota. The results call out Early Girl, Celebrity, Roma and Cherokee Purple, along with links to the gardening resources that make those recommendations.
When you make that same query with Google, you get an AI Overview, or an AI-generated summary of results, which is a pretty good parallel to what SearchGPT is doing overall. But you also get the People Also Ask feature with four suggested questions and then some links. If the AI Overview answers your question, you’re in luck. If not, you’ll have to do some scrolling.
It’s that scrolling that OpenAI hopes to eliminate.
“I feel like a lot of people are kind of sick of going to multiple websites in the hopes that they actually find something,” said Danny Goodwin, editorial director of SEO news site Search Engine Land. “It may be more contained within the SEO industry itself, but there’s been a lot of complaints about the quality of Google search … it’s very hard to find answers to what should be simple questions.”
Ads
Another big distinction: SearchGPT won’t likely have ads. At least for now.
After all, SearchGPT will be available to ChatGPT Plus members, who pay $20 a month for unlimited access to the GPT-4o model.
In the Fridman interview, Altman made it clear he does not like ads.
“I like that people pay for ChatGPT and know that the answers they’re getting are not influenced by advertisers,” he said. “When I go use Twitter or Facebook or Google or any other great but ad-supported product, I don’t love that and I think it gets worse, not better, in a world with AI.”
Google loves ads. It has offered advertising since 2000 — and made $237.8 billion from ads in 2023 alone.
Context
OpenAI said it plans to eventually integrate search directly into its ChatGPT chatbot.
The result will be a more conversational experience in which SearchGPT retains context to answer follow-up questions.
“Instead of typing a bunch of keywords or phrases into a search box, you’ll ask SearchGPT questions in the same way you’d ask a friend or a known expert to provide answers or overviews in the form of an ongoing dialogue,” said Mike Grehan, CEO of digital marketing agency Chelsea Digital.
One of OpenAI’s sample searches is, “When can I see nudibranchs in Half Moon Bay this weekend?” SearchGPT delivers images of nudibranchs, also known as sea slugs, as well as the exact time for low tide each day. It cites the Pacific Beach Coalition and Tide Forecast as sources. And then the mock user asks, “Will it be hot?” and SearchGPT knows this query is looking for a weather forecast for Half Moon Bay, California.
If I ask Google, “What is there to do in New York next weekend?” and then, “Will it rain?” I get weather results for my current location.
Hallucinations
Both Google and SearchGPT have had hallucinations, which occur when a chatbot delivers false or misleading information.
You may recall Google’s AI Overviews got off to a rocky start, no pun intended. But after scaling back and regrouping, we now see AI Overviews on about 8% of Google searches.
SearchGPT has had its own hiccups, even in promotional materials. In a video in the OpenAI blog post, there’s a search for “music festivals in boone north carolina in august.” However, as The Atlantic pointed out, it delivered the wrong dates for the Appalachian Summer Festival.
ChatGPT comes with the caveat, “ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.” It wasn’t immediately clear if SearchGPT provides a similar warning.
Local search and e-commerce
Not all searches are informational. Sometimes we’re looking for things to buy or places to go. This is where Google still has an advantage.
Google Shopping launched in 2002 as Froogle. (Yes, really.) And the search giant released its first product focused on local businesses in 2005. It’s well-established in both.
In the blog post, OpenAI said it will continue to improve in both of those areas.
When I used ChatGPT to search for “pizza near me,” the chatbot said it needed a city or zip code. When I added my zip code, it came up with three real pizza places in my town. I don’t particularly like one of them, but they all exist.
“Perhaps it’s better to think of SearchGPT as a concierge-style service and Google as an ever-growing encyclopedia-meets-atlas-meets-news-bureau,” Grehan said.
