ChatGPT's search is ready
OpenAI has introduced a search function for its chatbot ChatGPT that taps into several other sources in addition to Bing.
ChatGPT Search is available via the web interface as well as the desktop and mobile apps – but only within the paid Plus and Team versions of ChatGPT. Users of the free version are excluded.
The chatbot can already access a web search to answer a user's questions. To achieve this, ChatGPT must be explicitly asked to use Bing to answer a question. This also works in the free version. As with other AI search services, ChatGPT links to the hit pages that the chatbot has considered in its answer. The user can thus check the accuracy of the answer – and should do so, because ChatGPT can also hallucinate when processing information from the web.
However, the traditional web search "by hand" is cumbersome and not well integrated into the chatbot. The new function does this much better. The search is integrated into the chatbot in a very natural way. ChatGPT activates the web search automatically depending on the query; alternatively, the user can also activate it via a switch in the query field. Where appropriate, ChatGPT embeds images in the answers. In a separate column, it lists the hit pages that it has used for the answers.
OpenAI has developed a customized version of GPT-4o for the search. According to OpenAI, it uses other data sources in addition to Bing, for example for questions about the weather, stock market prices, sports and other news as well as maps. News sources include Associated Press, Axel Springer, Condé Nast, Financial Times, Hearst, Le Monde, News Corp, Reuters, The Atlantic, Time, and Vox Media.
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The search was originally released in July as a prototype under the name SearchGPT for 10,000 test users. OpenAI intends to improve the search continuously, particularly in areas such as shopping and travel. The operator also plans to release the search for Advanced Voice and Canvas as well as for users with a free account in the future.
A lot is happening in the search services market. Many new AI search services such as Perplexity, You.com and Kagi have been launched. Meta is reportedly working on its own AI search. And now OpenAI has activated its AI search. So Google will have to dress warmly. Consumers, on the other hand, can be pleased with such a large selection - competition stimulates business.
(jo)
