SearchGPT is an alternative of sorts to a normal Google Search, which is already populated with AI-generated responses thanks toGoogle’s AI Overviews. The new prototype is also OpenAI’s first real step towards integrating current online information into its AI models. Up until this point, unless you were using an extension likeBrowse with Bing, which fed current web results into ChatGPT’s answers, everything the model used to respond to questions and generate ideas was based on out-of-date information from when OpenAI last fed the model new training data. SearchGPT has what appears to be real-time web results.
I tried NotebookLM with Gemini 1.5 Pro and it’s better than ChatGPT
I didn’t have to guess where the AI pulled information from, which made fact-checking and research so much easier.
SearchGPT is more answer engine than search engine
OpenAI is not focused on links
SearchGPT starts with a traditional search box, which accepts the same kinds of questions you might already ask Google. To go off of OpenAI’s example, searching for “when is the best time to see nudibranchs in Half Moon Bay this weekend” pulls up images of the sea creature (think a sea slug, but more fun), along with the locations of tide pools to visit and the recommended times you should look for them.
Unlike ChatGPT, which would typically answer this kind of question with text formatted like a chat response, SearchGPT creates a bespoke page, formatted to be legible and pleasing to read. you may also ask a follow-up question about the weather, for example, and SearchGPT keeps the context of your first question in mind. And when you do need a list of links, there’s a sidebar on the side you can pull up to access them.
SearchGPT keeps proper citations in mind
The whole experience is remarkably similar to what Perplexity, an AI company focused on creating a Google Search alternative, produces. Perplexity scans websites for results and produces a lightly formatted natural language response to whatever question you throw at it. There are images if you need them, and Perplexity can answer follow-up questions too. The company even launched a feature calledPerplexity Pagesthat lets you share your results with other people, and tweak formatting and tone after the fact.
The devil is in the details when it comes to the difference between the two “answer engines,” however. Whereas Perplexity wascredibly caught plagiarizingtext from sources it technically shouldn’t have access to, OpenAI has made a show ofmaking deals with web publishersto train on their articles and more prominently feature them in ChatGPT. That’s not to say OpenAI isn’t likely guilty of the same scraping and plagiarism as it’s competitors, just that now it’s asking for permission before it gets in more trouble. SearchGPT is even designed with publishers in mind, with “clear, in-line, named attribution and links,” according to OpenAI. The company is also “launching a way for publishers to manage how they appear in SearchGPT,” though it’s not entirely clear what that means.
How to try SearchGPT for yourself
The odds are not in your favor
TheSearchGPT prototypeis available to test for anyone with a ChatGPT account, which you’re able to create with an email and password, or by connecting to an existing Apple, Google, or Microsoft account. Here’s the basic steps:
Don’t expect an immediate response, though.OpenAI tells The Vergethat it’s only testing SearchGPT with 10,000 test users, which pales in comparison to the millions of users ChatGPT has. It’s not clear if that initial test group will be expanded or if OpenAI plans on testing SearchGPT multiple times over the coming weeks and months, but what is clear is that if you’re willing to wait, some of the elements of SearchGPT will make their way back to the original.
OpenAI is pretty clear that SearchGPT isn’t a product in and of itself. The prototype is temporary, but OpenAI plans to “integrate the best of these features directly into ChatGPT in the future.”
It’s not quite a search revolution just yet
We’ll have to try SearchGPT for ourselves before we can say it’s a capable replacement for something like Google Search, but OpenAI seems to at least have a take on what a modern search experience could look like. Most people don’t go looking for websites, they’re looking for answers that websites hold, and SearchGPT and Perplexity are the shortcuts.
As someone who enjoys the idea of people enjoying and benefiting from the things I write online, that’s kind of a scary idea. But while SearchGPT remains just a prototype and not the next big feature in ChatGPT, I think Google is probably the one that should be more worried.
