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SE Ranking notes that SearchGPT needs improvement in providing the latest news, as some news results were outdated.
See also: The 6 Best AI Search Engines To Try Right Now
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.