ChatGPT Search: What we know about new Google competitor
OpenAI search engine is now available in ChatGPT (photo: Getty Images)
On Thursday, OpenAI launched its search engine, ChatGPT Search, which is an evolution of the SearchGPT prototype introduced this summer, according to TechCrunch.
What’s known about the new search engine
Integrated into the ChatGPT platform from OpenAI, ChatGPT Search is designed to provide relevant answers to questions, OpenAI states, using a wide range of online sources.
ChatGPT Search, powered by an enhanced version of OpenAI's GPT-4o model, provides information and photos from the Internet, such as sports scores, news, stock quotes, and more, along with links to relevant sources, after which users can ask additional questions to clarify their current search.
ChatGPT will determine whether to search the web based on your question, or you can manually choose to search by clicking on the new web search icon.
Responses include both in-line and sidebar links to news publishers and other data sources with which OpenAI has licensing agreements. For example, searching for weekend events might yield news summaries from local news sites, while a follow-up question about restaurant recommendations would display a list of local options.
Responses have both in-line and sidebar attribution to news sites and other sources (Photo: OpenAI)
ChatGPT Plus and Team users will initially gain access to the ChatGPT Search engine on mobile devices and online, while OpenAI's enterprise and educational clients will receive ChatGPT Search in the coming weeks, followed by free users.
OpenAI states that it plans to continue improving search capabilities, especially in areas such as shopping and travel, as well as using its "reasoning" models for "deeper research." The company also plans to add ChatGPT Search to its Advanced Voice Mode feature and for ChatGPT users who are not logged in.
Some publishers have protested against generative overviews like ChatGPT Search and Google’s AI Overviews, claiming they threaten to divert traffic from the sites from which they obtain information. One study showed that AI Overviews could negatively impact approximately 25 percent of publisher traffic due to less emphasis on linking to articles.
OpenAI states that it has taken into account feedback from its publishing partners (Photo: OpenAI)
Additionally, we previously wrote that Windows users will receive ChatGPT directly on their devices.
