ChatGPT Search Has Arrived for Everyone
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has added web search for all users. Traditional search engines like Google have long been the go-to resource, but the rise of AI-powered tools, such as ChatGPT and competitors like Perplexity, will change how people search for and synthesize information. ChatGPT’s new search capabilities blend real-time data retrieval with conversational AI, offering a different approach to information gathering. What are some of ChatGPT’s search features and how do they differ from traditional search engines and other AI tools?
GAI Search
Google has dominated the search engine landscape for years. The advent of generative artificial intelligence brought a shift from the use of search engines to answer engines. Even without using a specific GAI search tool, now results in search engines like Google and Bing are first presented as an AI generated result, showing an answer to the query versus links to websites. Search engines have been able to provide instant results for straightforward queries like “what is the weather today in Raleigh, NC” and “what is the square root of PI” or “what the show times for Nosferatu near me” for some time. However, with GAI summaries the results to queries like “what is a good substitute for buttermilk” or “does rubbing alcohol kill covid-19 germs”, provide immediate results as well, without needing to wade through links to articles and assessing the information. These GAI results are helpful, but like all GAI produced information, they need to be assessed for bias, hallucinations, currency, and source. Early outcomes from Google’s AI Overview results suggested that users glue toppings to pizza, eat a rock a day, and other strange results. Other issues, such as script injections with hidden text, could be used to manipulate results and influence the summary.
ChatGPT Search
ChatGPT search, which is now available to all logged in users, was initially called SearchGPT. Like other GAI search engines including Perplexity, Phind, You, Exa and others, ChatGPT search delivers answers to search queries with embedded links to source materials. To use ChatGPT search simply pull up the main ChatGPT site or app and choose the icon that looks like a globe to have ChatGPT search the web for your prompt. Unless you have turned off chat archives (choose “Temporary Chat” from the drop-down menu on top of the home screen under ChatGPT) your search history will appear along with your other prompts.
A simple search, such as “can lawyers charge back for credit card processing fees?” results in a few paragraphs in response, citing sources for some paragraphs in the body of the result. Below the primary response there are more links to “Recent Developments” that provide the source/site, page name, and when it was posted online. At the very bottom of the results click “Sources” to open a panel on the right of the screen to see all the sources used to generate the response.
To test results from very recent events, try a search for “what are some of the most innovative and affordable products for consumers at the 2025 CES?” in ChatGPT. The results from this search including “notable highlights” and for each product includes an image, the product name, a brief description, and a link to the website that provided the information. Click on “Sources” at the bottom of the results shows more website results.
An added option at the bottom of the results is to “switch models” with an option to try the prompt “without web search”. The traditional results from ChatGPT provide a categorized list of products that are organized by type of product (smart home, personal tech, EVs, etc.) and under each type suggests examples such solar powered smart doorbells and wearable health trackers, sometimes referencing price ranges. There are no links, but a follow up prompt “are there any websites with links to these products to purchase from CES 2025” resulted in a link to the CES official website, tech news websites, retailers and other helpful information.
Interestingly, a follow up prompt: “are there any websites with links to these products to purchase from CES 2025” to the search results yielded in information less detailed than the regular ChatGPT generative response.
Comparing Google to ChatGPT Search
Eric Enge analyzed the results from 62 different types of queries to Google’s search engine and ChatGPT search in an article for Search Engine Land. He summarizes which types of queries are better suited to Google versus ChatGPT search. For instance, Google’s results outperform ChatGPT in local search and contextualizing search to the user. ChatGPT, however, does a better job with content gap analysis, where someone wishes to improve content for SEO purposes. Because of Google’s “People also ask” and “Things to know” search refinement suggestions it tends to do a better job of helping with debatable user intent, where the query is extremely broad. Mr. Enge also points out numerous problems with results from both Google and ChatGPT search. He summarizes that while ChatGPT search is surprisingly competitive in some areas, Google is the better solution for most searches. Since Google’s search engine launched in 1998, ChatGPT search still has a lot of work to do to catch up.
A different analysis from Tom’s Guide written by Ryan Morrison summarizes in the title “goodbye Google” after a weekend of using early iterations of ChatGPT search.
Challenges to GAI Search
With change comes challenges. GAI search responses are subject to the same issues (hallucinations, incorrect or inadequate results) as GAI results. Additionally, media companies are suing Perplexity and OpenAI for copyright violations. Currently OpenAI’s response is to partner with specific media companies, which will throttle results to only certain websites. This article on The Verge has more information about these issues.
Another challenge to GAI search is funding. Many users are pleased with the ChatGPT search results due to a lack of paid advertisements and weighted placement. However, while OpenAI is currently not interested in serving up ads, there is a cost to doing business that has to be offset. In the future that could mean more bias in results, limited searches, or sponsored follow up questions like Perplexity’s model.
Marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) has focused on Google as the primary place to be seen. GAI search potentially changes that strategy. Law firms and other businesses will need to adapt to the changing dynamic. This article from Jaffe PR points out that many of the shifts in SEO strategy to appeal to GAI search are to continue to follow best practices for digital marketing. Another challenge for marketers will be understanding and tracking search traffic for metrics and referral sources.
All In or Opt Out
If you really want to shift over to ChatGPT search instead of Google there is a Chrome extension to make it easy to default to ChatGPT. You can bypass this default by adding !g to the beginning of the search query to get results from Google instead.
If you would prefer to use Google for search and remove Google’s AI generated summary results, using Google search modifiers or operators will remove the AI generated results. In testing, Jason Cohen of PC Magazine found that simply adding -AI at the end of any search seemed to remove the generative text.
Conclusion
ChatGPT’s search capabilities offer a new way to find and understand information online, with strengths in content analysis and research, while Google is still better for local searches and personalized results. Users and organizations now have multiple options for searching online, from traditional search engines to AI-powered tools, each with their own advantages. The key is understanding which tool works best for distinct types of searches and using them accordingly.