This is how OpenAI explains it:
“We also plan to get feedback on the prototype and bring the best of the experience into ChatGPT.
…Please note that we plan to integrate the SearchGPT experience into ChatGPT in the future. SearchGPT combines the strength of our AI models with information from the web to give you fast and timely answers with clear, relevant sources.”
Is SearchGPT then a competitor to Google? The more appropriate question is if ChatGPT is building toward disrupting the entire concept of organic search.
Google has done a fair job of exhausting and disenchanting users with ads, tracking and data mining their personal lives. So it’s not implausible that a more capable version of ChatGPT could redefine how people get answers.
BrightEdge’s research discovered that SearchGPT’s strength was in facilitating trustworthy research. That makes even more sense with the understanding that SearchGPT is currently planned to be integrated into ChatGPT, not as a competitor to Google but as a competitor to the concept of organic search.
Takeaways: What SEOs And Marketers Need To Know
The major takeaways from the research can be broken down into five ways SearchGPT is better than Google AIO and Perplexity.
1. Diverse Authoritative Sources.
The research shows that SearchGPT consistently surfaces answers from authoritative and trustworthy sources.
“Its knowledge base spans academic resources, specialized industry platforms, official government pages, and reputable commercial websites.”
2. Comprehensive Answers
BrightEdge’s analysis showed that SearchGPT delivers comprehensive answers on any topic, simplifying them into clear, understandable responses.
3. Proactive Query Interpretation
This is really interesting because the researchers discovered that SearchGPT was not only able to understand the user’s immediate information need, it answered questions with an expanded breadth of coverage.
BrightEdge explained it like this:
“Its initial response often incorporates additional relevant information, illustrative examples, and real-world applications.”
4. Pragmatic And Practical
SearchGPT tended to provide practical answers that were good for ecommerce search queries. BrightEdge noted:
“It frequently offers specific product suggestions and recommendations.”
5. Wide-Ranging Topic Expertise
The research paper noted that SearchGPT correctly used industry jargon, even for esoteric B2B search queries. The researchers explained:
“This approach caters to both general users and industry professionals alike.”
Read the research results on SearchGPT here.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Khosro