OpenAI officially launched web search capabilities in ChatGPT today, turning conversational AI into a powerful search competitor. The integration will come first to paid subscribers and SearchGPT waitlist users; It is planned to be made more widely available for free, corporate and education users in the coming weeks.

“Now chat can lead you to a better answer: Ask the question in a more natural and conversational way, and ChatGPT can choose to respond with information from the web,” OpenAI said. he said. official announcement. “Dig deeper with follow-up questions and ChatGPT will take into account the entire context of your chat to get a better answer for you.”

(Below we compared it to Google search and Perplexity, generally considered among the best generative AI search engines, and found the new service to be very competitive in terms of accuracy and overall a great addition to OpenAI’s already diverse offering of high-quality AI services pool.)

Today’s launch comes after months of speculation and strategic positioning. In July, OpenAI tested the waters with a prototype rolled out to 10,000 users that sent shockwaves through the tech industry, causing shares of Microsoft and Alphabet to tumble. 3% drop on announcement day. The company has been quietly improving its search capabilities ever since, and is even trying to do so. recruiting talent From the ranks of Google.

OpenAI has also signed deals with major media organizations, including big names like Axel Springer and News Corp. These partnerships don’t guarantee priority placement in search results, but they create open attribution protocols and give publishers more control over how their content appears on ChatGPT. answers. Publishers can opt out of OpenAI’s web browser that doesn’t bypass paywalls; This is an exploit that emerged last year when ChatGPT used Microsoft Bing to browse the web.

Behind the scenes, search integration combines several technologies, including Microsoft’s Bing. “The search model is a tweaked version of GPT-4o and has been post-trained using new synthetic data generation techniques, including distillation of output from the OpenAI o1 preview,” OpenAI explained. “ChatGPT search is also derived from third-party search providers. It also uses “as content provided directly by our partners to provide the information users are looking for.”

Adding insult to injury, there’s even a Google Chrome extension To use SearchGPT as the default web search engine.

The release marks a significant change in OpenAI’s competitive positioning. While Google recently expanded its AI overview feature to more than 100 countries and Meta is reportedly developing its own AI search solution, ChatGPT’s integration of web search with conversational AI capabilities creates a different user experience.

Unlike Google and Bing, ChatGPT’s search feature focuses on natural language interactions; This means that users can directly interact with the model after a query and understand the context and users’ intentions. This is similar to what other AI searches offer such as Perplexity or You.com

Testing OpenAI’s SearchGPT

So how does it stack up against the competition? We tested this feature in a number of different use cases and these were our observations when compared to Google (the world’s best search engine) and Perplexity (the world’s best search engine). the best According to the world’s most productive artificial intelligence-supported search engine different comments)

Presenting data

Quick: “What is the price of Bitcoin?”

We asked the models about the Bitcoin price, it is worth noting that the journalist who wrote this article is in Brazil.

The information was correct. What changed was the way it was presented.

Google was the fastest to provide results and accomplished the task almost instantly. He showed a basic price chart in USD using his own viewer for the price chart. Additional information and the usual set of follow-up questions were also provided.

Below this, a list of the most relevant price trackers in the industry is presented.

Perplexity, on the other hand, not only provided the graph but also answered the question in natural language.

Beneath this information, a list of suggestions is provided, including price predictions and follow-up questions for a deeper understanding of Bitcoin.

SearchGPT did not provide a graphic and its response was text only. But this was the most comprehensive answer of the three results.

It was also the only engine that understood my location and offered the price in both US Dollars and Brazilian BRL; A feature that foreign users may find extremely useful.

Understanding Complex Local Service Search and Multiple Contexts

Recommendation: Find a physical therapist specializing in sports injuries near downtown Porto Alegre, Brazil, who speaks Spanish or English as well as Portuguese and is open after 2 p.m.

We wanted to test how well the models could handle a search that combined different contexts. In this example, a result showing all physical therapists in Brazil would be irrelevant because each case makes the search scope much shorter.

As expected, Google didn’t handle the prompt well, so we had to adapt it into a shorter, more keyword-specific prompt. He concluded “Physiotherapist sports injuries spanish english porto alegre brazil”.

The first was the LinkedIn page of a professional who met our standards but did not speak another language. Google even made it clear that the search did not include the word “Spanish”.

The next results were just a list of professionals listed in Google Places, relevant in terms of location and availability but not distinguishing by language or expertise.

It’s important to note that Google presents information without claiming to match the query exactly.

SearchGPT crawled Google Places and provided good results; He cited doctors who specialize in sports, even doctors who worked on the Olympics. However, he specifically stated that his results showed that the doctors were bilingual, but this was not true.

Stunner wasn’t capable of providing a perfect match either, but it was the most accurate of the three, all things considered. It was capable of training physiotherapists who spoke Spanish or Portuguese as well as English and specialized in sports. However, the results were not significant in terms of location.

But Perplexity’s follow-up questions come to the fore here. One of the suggested questions, even though it was not related, was to search without considering location. This can be a good way to find a great second place in terms of accuracy.

Censorship

Quick: The best adult sites for Latin fans

We then tested whether the models provided sensitive information.

SearchGPT refused to generate a result immediately. Even in terms of web search, the model is heavily censored.

Perplexity was capable of providing an answer, even showing additional details such as subscription prices and arguments to support its decision. a search engine culture.

Google has what may be the best approach. There is a “safe search” filter that users can turn on or off accordingly. When opened it did not show any results. When closed, it did not provide a list and instead showed a list of articles containing lists of lists.

Solution

For existing ChatGPT Plus subscribers, the new calling integration is a great addition that turns their subscription into an all-in-one AI powerhouse. Its ability to seamlessly switch between creative tasks, coding, rendering, and now web searches makes it an efficient choice for advanced users who are already taking advantage of ChatGPT’s diverse capabilities.

However, considering that Perplexity offers similar functionality for free, it remains the king of AI-powered productive web searches for now if we consider only this functionality.

Confusion remains the preferred option for:

• Users focused primarily on research and information gathering
• Those who prefer a special AI-powered search experience without subscription fees
• Students and academics who need to iterate on AI with follow-up ideas after initial questioning.
• Users who want unlimited access to various types of content

Google remains ideal for:

• Casual web users looking for quick and clear answers
• Local business searches and map integration
• Shopping related queries with comprehensive product listings
• Users who prefer traditional search engine features and ad-supported content
• Weird people who like ads for some reason

The choice between them ultimately depends on whether users prioritize dedicated search capabilities or prefer a multifunctional AI assistant that includes search as one of many features.