ChatGPT Search, OpenAI's AI-powered web search experience, is now available to all ChatGPT users with several new features.
By default, ChatGPT automatically determines which questions to route to ChatGPT Search. Alternatively, users can tap the new “Web Search” icon in the ChatGPT interface. ChatGPT search not only displays a summary of answers from various online sources, but also displays “rich” content such as embedded photos and YouTube videos.
ChatGPT Search was launched in October as an evolution of OpenAI's SearchGPT prototype announced this summer. Powered by a fine-tuned version of OpenAI's GPT-4o model, ChatGPT Search provides web information such as sports scores, news, and stock prices with links to related sources. At that point, the user can ask for a follow. Refine your search by creating a question.
ChatGPT search was initially available only to premium ChatGPT subscribers. Now, non-paying users can also access it.
ChatGPT Search has also been “accelerated” and can be set as the default search engine in any web browser, OpenAI said in a livestream Monday. Additionally, we've improved the ChatGPT search experience for mobile. On mobile, users can now see more organized business information, for example, addresses (Apple Maps in the iOS ChatGPT app) and phone numbers.
Image credit: OpenAI
Finally, ChatGPT search is now available in Advanced Voice mode, OpenAI's real-time conversation feature for ChatGPT. In the coming days, users will be able to access the latest web information while using advanced voice modes on mobile or desktop.
When my colleague Max Zeff tested ChatGPT Search earlier this year, he found it mixed. However, it's clear that OpenAI intends to improve this capability, and we see this as an important avenue for growth.
Some publishers have protested AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews, saying they can cannibalize traffic to the sites that source their information. According to one study, AI summaries alone can negatively impact around 25% of a publisher's traffic by de-emphasizing links to web pages.
OpenAI says it has incorporated feedback from partners into how ChatGPT Search determines which articles are most relevant to a query, as well as how it determines article summary length and citations.