OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has introduced a prototype of SearchGPT, an AI-powered search engine.

The launch has sparked considerable interest, leading to discussions about its potential to compete with Google.

However, early studies and user feedback indicate that while SearchGPT shows promise, it has limitations and needs more refinement.

Experts suggest it needs further development before challenging current market leaders.

Study Highlights SearchGPT’s Strengths and Weaknesses

SE Ranking, an SEO software company, conducted an in-depth analysis of SearchGPT’s performance and compared it to Google and Bing.

The study found that SearchGPT’s search results are 73% similar to Bing’s but only 46% similar to Google’s.

Interestingly, 26% of domains ranking in SearchGPT receive no traffic from Google, indicating opportunities for websites struggling to gain traction.

The study highlighted some of SearchGPT’s key features, including:

• The ability to summarize information from multiple sources Provide a conversational interface for refining searches Offering an ad-free user experience.
• However, the research noted that SearchGPT lacks the variety and depth of Google’s search results, especially for navigational, transactional, and local searches.
• The study also suggested that SearchGPT favors authoritative, well-established websites, with backlinks being a significant ranking factor.

Around 32% of all SearchGPT results came from media sources, increasing to over 75% for media-related queries.

SE Ranking notes that SearchGPT needs improvement in providing the latest news, as some news results were outdated.

User Experiences & Limitations Reported By The Washington Post

The Washington Post interviewed several early testers of SearchGPT and reported mixed reviews.

Some users praised the tool’s summarization capabilities and found it more helpful than Google’s AI-generated answers for certain queries.

Others, however, found SearchGPT’s interface and results less impressive than those of smaller competitors like Perplexity.

The article also highlighted instances where SearchGPT provided incorrect or “hallucinated” information, a problem that has plagued other AI chatbots.

While the SE Ranking study estimated that less than 1% of searches returned inaccurate results, The Washington Post says there’s significant room for improvement.

The article also highlighted Google’s advantage in handling shopping and local queries due to its access to specialized data, which can be expensive to acquire.

Looking Ahead: OpenAI’s Plans For SearchGPT and Potential Impact on the Market

OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood revealed that the company plans to integrate SearchGPT’s best features into ChatGPT, potentially enhancing the popular language model’s capabilities.

When asked about the possibility of including ads in SearchGPT, Wood stated that OpenAI’s business model is based on subscriptions but didn’t specify whether SearchGPT would be offered for free or as part of a ChatGPT subscription.

Despite the excitement surrounding SearchGPT, Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently reported continued growth in the company’s search revenue, suggesting that Google may maintain its dominant position even with the emergence of new AI-powered search tools.

Top Takeaways

Despite its current limitations, SearchGPT has the potential to shake up online information seeking. As OpenAI iterates based on user feedback, its impact may grow significantly.

Integrating SearchGPT’s best features into ChatGPT could create a more powerful info-seeking tool. The proposed subscription model raises questions about competition with free search engines and user adoption.

While Google’s search revenue and specialized query handling remain strong, SearchGPT could carve out its own niche. The two might coexist, serving different user needs.

For SearchGPT to truly compete, OpenAI must address accuracy issues, expand query capabilities, and continuously improve based on user input. It could become a viable alternative to traditional search engines with ongoing development.

Featured Image: Robert Way/Shutterstock