Is SearchGPT really a threat to Google?

Will OpenAI’s SearchGPT dethrone Google Search? With minimal access to the new model and an already full waiting list, OpenAI’s SearchGPT has had people wondering if it could dethrone Google Search after 25 years of glory. The consensus? Not anytime soon.

OpenAI wants SearchGPT to be your go-to destination for accurate, sourced, and fast information. “Getting answers on the web can take a lot of effort,” the site says, “often requiring multiple attempts to get relevant results.” Rather than a conventional results list, SearchGPT wants its AI model to respond to queries in a conversational manner while providing a list of sources for fact-checking. The model will allow for follow-up questions. It’s not yet clear whether SearchGPT will use a subscription-based model, an ad-supported free version, or be included in a general ChatGPT subscription.

Users and publishers have reported mixed reviews. AI and cybersecurity researcher Ananay Arora says that the tool “doesn’t seem to pose much of a threat to Google so far,” saying that he expected a game changer “given [OpenAI’s] history of state-of-the-art models.” On the other hand, CEO of AI Mistakes Daniel Lemire said OpenAI’s search tool is better than AI-generated results like Google Overviews, saying he “would choose SearchGPT over Google any day.” Users pinpointed Perplexity’ s search model as a better example of what OpenAI hopes to achieve.

The infamous GenAI hallucinations are still alive and well. One user reported that SearchGPT isn’t immune to GenAI’s tendency to dole out nonsense and completely fabricated information. “A big downside to AI search is it will tell you things with complete confidence that are just false.”