It is official: OpenAI has entered the search engine game. They are going to release SearchGPT, a prototype that they're currently testing. As of now, you can't access it, but you can join the waitlist.

What is SearchGPT?

Exactly what it sounds like: essentially a much better version of Google Search, and maybe even Perplexity. They're combining the power of their artificial intelligence bots to provide a much nicer search experience. Instead of just giving you a link that might have the answer to your query, SearchGPT will give you the answer right away. 

The way they're doing it is quite impressive. They will include nicely embedded videos, lists, and other elements depending on the user's search intent. For example, if you're looking up the weather, they will provide a nice little weather update immediately. Yes, Google does this to some extent, but it seems like OpenAI’s approach is quite innovative.

Admittedly, I am a fan of OpenAI, so I'm excited to see what they have here. As they said, it's a new way to search. One really interesting aspect they touched on is how they’re bringing more choice to publishers. This means that people with large publication websites, and ideally small websites as well, will have the choice of how they appear in SearchGPT results. 

This is quite exciting. If done correctly, it could be a significant hit for Google Search. I’m excited to see how this develops. 

They're going to source the actual information where they're getting all the data from, so if you're a publisher, you can still get traffic to your website. However, I assume the click-through rate will be lower since users will get the answer right away. On the other hand, the traffic that you do get will likely have higher search intent.

I am very keen to test it out. Hopefully, I get the chance to do so soon. As soon as I do, I’ll create a post about it. Go and check it out. If I were Google, I'd be worried, because if OpenAI executes this correctly, they could make a massive impact on the search engine game, just like Perplexity has done.

Whats your views on this? Please let us know in the comment.

*Source: https://openai.com/index/searchgpt-prototype/?c=nerdshow