SearchGPT is coming; 5 ways it will be different from Google

After months of rumors, OpenAI finally announced that it would be bringing a search engine to ChatGPT and has attracted around 10,000 users Reportedly testing the prototype.

I am still on the waiting list myself. (If you are not on it, you can sign up here.) But with the help of sample questions provided by OpenAI, plus the Browsing 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 learn more about SearchGPT, the main question I ask myself is: how is SearchGPT different from Google, which controls 90% of the internet search activity, and why would anyone prefer to search the internet via SearchGPT?

In an interview in march with podcaster Lex Fridman, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his company is focused on the same question. “Maybe there’s just a much better way to help people find, act on, and synthesize information,” he said.

OpenAI plans to integrate these features directly into its ChatGPT chatbot at some point. Until then, based on my previous research, here are five ways SearchGPT stands out from Google.

Search results

One of the key differences between OpenAI search and Google search is the results page.

When you run a query with SearchGPT, you get a summary of the answer with links to sources of information. The idea is to save time with more immediate responses.

An example of a SearchGPT query asks for the best tomatoes to grow in Minnesota. The results list Early Girl, Celebrity, Roma, and Cherokee Purple, along with links to the horticultural resources that make these recommendations.

When you run the same query with Google, you get an AI summary, or an AI-generated summary of results, which is a pretty good parallel to what SearchGPT generally does. But you also get the People Also Ask feature with four suggested questions and then some links. If the AI ​​summary answers your question, you’re in luck. If not, you’ll have to do some scrolling.

OpenAI hopes to eliminate that scrolling.

“I feel like a lot of people are tired of going to multiple websites hoping they’ll actually find something,” said Danny Goodwin, editor-in-chief of SEO news site Search Engine Land. “It may be more limited to the SEO industry itself, but there are a lot of complaints about the quality of Google searches … it’s very difficult to find answers to what should be simple questions.”

Ads

Another big difference: SearchGPT probably won’t have ads. At least for now.

After all, SearchGPT is available to ChatGPT Plus members, who pay $20 per month for unlimited access to the GPT-4o model.

In the interview with Fridman, Altman made it clear that he doesn’t like advertising.

“I like that people are paying for ChatGPT and know that the answers they get are not influenced by advertisers,” he said. “If I use Twitter or Facebook or Google or some other great but ad-supported product, I don’t like that and I think it’s going to be worse, not better, in a world with AI.”

Google loves ads. It has advertising offered since 2000 — and earned $237.8 billion in 2023 alone through advertising.

Context

OpenAI said it plans to eventually integrate search functionality directly into its ChatGPT chatbot.

The result is a more conversational experience where SearchGPT maintains context to answer follow-up questions.

“Instead of typing a bunch of keywords or phrases into a search box, you ask SearchGPT questions the same way you would ask a friend or known expert for 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 queries is, “When can I see nudibranchs in Half Moon Bay this weekend?” SearchGPT returns images of nudibranchs, also known as sea slugs, and the exact time of low tide each day. It cites the Pacific Beach Coalition and Tide Forecast as sources. And then the fake user asks, “Is it going to be warm?” and SearchGPT knows that this query is looking for a weather forecast for Half Moon Bay, California.

If I ask Google, “What’s there to do in New York next weekend?” and then ask, “Is it going to rain?” I get weather data for my current location.

Hallucinations

Both Google and SearchGPT suffer from hallucinations, which occur when a chatbot provides incorrect or misleading information.

You may recall that Google’s AI Overviews had a rocky start, no pun intended. But after scaling back and regrouping, we now have see AI overviews in approximately 8% of Google searches.

SearchGPT has had its own hiccups, even in promotional materials. In a video in the OpenAI blog post, there is a search for “music festivals in Boone North Carolina in August.” However, as The Atlantic pointed outgave the wrong dates for the Appalachian Summer Festival.

ChatGPT comes with the warning: “ChatGPT may make mistakes. Check important info.” It was not immediately clear whether SearchGPT gives a similar warning.

Local Search and E-Commerce

Not all searches are informational. Sometimes we search 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. In both cases it is an established value.

OpenAI indicated in the blog post that it will continue to make improvements in both areas.

When I used ChatGPT to search for “pizza near me,” the chatbot said it needed a city or zip code. When I entered my zip code, it came up with three real pizzerias in my city. I don’t particularly like any of them, but they all exist.

“Perhaps it would be better to think of SearchGPT as a kind of concierge service, and Google as an ever-expanding combination of encyclopedia, atlas and news agency,” Grehan said.