OpenAI recently added a big new feature to ChatGPT, ChatGPT Search. This fundamentally transforms what ChatGPT can do and how users interact with the AI chatbot. ChatGPT can now search the internet and give more precise, up-to-date information, with links to relevant web sources.
In this week’s edition of MSP Explained, we’ll dive deep into ChatGPT Search, including what it is, how to use it, and how it compares with competing products.
What is ChatGPT Search?
ChatGPT Search is a new feature in ChatGPT, which gives you results from the web in real time. It’s like Google’s AI Overview feature but integrated directly into ChatGPT.
OpenAI first introduced its ambitions to enter the internet search business by announcing SearchGPT, a prototype search engine, available for a limited set of users who signed up for a waitlist. Rather than launching SearchGPT as a separate product, OpenAI has integrated the search functionality directly into ChatGPT.
With ChatGPT Search, OpenAI aims to bring the Google-like search experience directly to ChatGPT. The responses for search terms will now have citations, which link to relevant blog posts and articles from the web. Clicking on the sources will take the user to the website where the information came from, much like clicking on a search result in Google.
ChatGPT has also added a button to perform a search if the search option isn’t triggered automatically for a search term. Search can also be summoned on ChatGPT by starting the first input from “search for.” Unlike traditional search engines, ChatGPT can follow up on the questions and find deep answers from the web-based on the replies.
OpenAI has partnered with different data providers to add up-to-date information about categories like Weather, Stocks, Sports, News, Maps and more. This keeps ChatGPT up to speed with Google’s search offering, providing information in a well-structured format.
ChatGPT Search is available now for all ChatGPT Plus and Team users (Paid) and SearchGPT waitlist users. It will roll out to Enterprise and Edu users in the next few weeks, and OpenAI says ChatGPT Search will be available for all Free users in the coming months.
ChatGPT vs ChatGPT Search: What’s the Difference?
The standard ChatGPT version has a knowledge base until April 2023. This means it doesn’t have information about events that happened before. While better suited for general queries, it doesn’t perform well for current affairs and recent events.
ChatGPT Search addresses this limitation by adding internet search capabilities. With Search enabled, ChatGPT can access information from various sources across the web, depending on the query. It serves as a potential alternative to Google search, particularly for finding the latest information about current events.
ChatGPT automatically searches for information from the internet if it feels the need for the latest information. For instance, we searched for the “best phones under Rs 10,000” on ChatGPT standard and ChatGPT Search and how do these two searches differ:
As you can see, ChatGPT Standard gives outdated information, while ChatGPT Search goes on the internet and gives real-time information about the query.
ChatGPT Search: Free vs Paid
ChatGPT Search is available for free as well as Paid customers. But there’s a stark visual difference between the Search for different plans. Here’s how the search for “What are some great ways to fix up a backyard” on ChatGPT Search on Premium plan looks:
Now here’s what it looks like on the free version of ChatGPT Search:
Let’s look at another search term. Here is what ChatGPT said when searching for “What’s the weather going to be like next weekend?”
This is what the same term looks like in the free version:
As you can see from these search results, the free version of ChatGPT Search is limited to text results, while the Paid version features the complete suite of visual search components.
It’s also worth noting that the Search button is currently absent in the free version.
How to use ChatGPT Search?
ChatGPT Search can be accessed directly via ChatGPT on the web and mobile apps. It can also be accessed directly via browsers. Here’s how to do it:
On Mobile (Android and iOS)
ChatGPT Search works on the ChatGPT app on mobile. Here’s how to use it:
- Open the ChatGPT app on your phone.
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- Start chatting with relevant search terms.
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- If the term requires the latest information from the web, ChatGPT will search for information from the web and reply with search results.
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On the Web
The ChatGPT Search can be accessed via the ChatGPT website. Here’s how to do it:
- Open ChatGPT.com on your browser.
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- Search for relevant search terms with ChatGPT.
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- ChatGPT will search for the latest information from the web and reply with search results.
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On PC (Chromium-based browsers)
OpenAI also released a dedicated Chrome extension for Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome, Edge, Brave and more. Here’s how it works:
- Install the ChatGPT Search extension on your browser.
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- This will turn the default search engine to ChatGPT Search.
- Now search for anything on the browser, and it will open on ChatGPT Search instead of the default search engine.
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- Chrome might ask you to revert changes to the search engine back to Google. Click ‘Keep it’ to use ChatGPT Search as the default search engine.
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Note: The above steps were based on the Edge browser.
ChatGPT Search vs Google vs Copilot
We have also compared the results of the ChatGPT Search with that of Google and Copilot. Here are our findings:
Use Case 1
Let’s search for “Which is the best phone under 20,000” on ChatGPT Search, Google and Copilot:
- ChatGPT Search returned a well-laid-out result with the list of the three best phones for November 2024. It not only provided the names of the phones but also gave a small overview of the phones. You can see that the sources were quoted pretty neatly
- Google, on the other hand, features product snippets (mostly ads) prominently, and scrolling down features web search results. This search term didn’t invoke the Generative AI overview on Google search.
- Copilot returned a list of phones with just prices and nothing more. It gave a general overview of these phones and asked me if there was something specific I was looking for.
Use Case 2
Let’s search for “How to deactivate Instagram account”
- ChatGPT didn’t search for the information at first, so we had to ask it to search for it. Both ChatGPT and ChatGPT Search returned slightly different results, but similar.
- Google Search returned AI Overview for this search term and gave a no-nonsense summary of deactivating an Instagram account. It also suggested a YouTube video about the query.
- Copilot, like ChatGPT, did not check for web sources at first for this query. We had to ask to search for it, and it presented the same answer with sources.
As you can see, Google is unbeatable in search queries like this. The visual results provide a much better context. While ChatGPT Search for Plus and Team users get better results for weather, the basic search on ChatGPT is not there yet. The same goes for Copilot.
That said, ChatGPT and Copilot are more conversational, so, you can keep on chatting with them to extract more information.
Conclusion
ChatGPT Search is a welcome addition to ChatGPT and makes the tool much more useful in finding information from the internet. While it may not yet replace Google as “the search engine,” ChatGPT Search definitely is a big addition to the tool, and it offers something that traditional search engines don’t. The complete rollout to all users is scheduled for the coming months and we can expect more improvements to the platform as it happens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use ChatGPT for the search?
Yes, ChatGPT can be used for search. It can also be a default search engine on your browser with the help of the ChatGPT extension.
Is ChatGPT Search free?
ChatGPT Search is now available for a limited set of free users who signed up for the SearchGPT program. It will be available for all free users in the coming months.
Are ChatGPT Search results in real-time?
With ChatGPT Search, OpenAI has opened up ChatGPT for real-time information. Users can access ChatGPT Search and get real-time information from the web on ChatGPT.
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