We’ve long anticipated that OpenAI would launch its own search engine soon, and now it’s here. After a brief trial period (for which we weren’t selected), the company led by Sam Altman has decided to roll out SearchGPT. Rather than a standalone product, however, it’s integrated within the well-known ChatGPT interface.
Now, users can choose to search manually with the “Search” button, or let the AI proactively gather information from various websites to answer any question. “This combines the advantages of a natural language interface with the value of up-to-date results for sports, news, stock quotes, and more”, OpenAI stated in their release.
Some paying users and those who signed up for the waitlist should already have access. This feature will also roll out to free users in the coming months, staying true to OpenAI’s mission to make AI accessible to everyone.
OpenAI believes its search engine could be more helpful to people than the most advanced current search engine, as it combines top-tier AI with search functionality and ChatGPT’s knowledge about each user. According to OpenAI, this should create an improved experience.
Deals with media outlets also now provide access to various content, like sports scores or weather updates, which SearchGPT can display seamlessly.
Perhaps the most intriguing part for the publishing industry is that source attribution will be included, and traffic will be redirected, though it’s hard to say how much. The results will appear in a section on the right-hand side.
ChatGPT has secured multi-million-dollar agreements with several major media groups and it’s safe to assume that all of them have collaborated and will be prominently featured in this new search experience. It’s also worth remembering that, outside of these agreements, no plans have been disclosed about compensating the rest of the web, which will be part of the product. What we do know is that OpenAI will not share its revenue beyond the agreements mentioned, so anyone can and should protect their data if they see no benefit in sharing it.
We end with a question. Will SearchGPT succeed where Bing has stumbled? Bing was the first search engine to integrate AI, and while it initially saw positive results, we can say that this feature has not marked a turning point.
Our opinion: For now, we’ll continue to block OpenAI tools on CMS MAG Spain. We simply don’t see the benefits of granting access to our data—more than six years of high-quality information—without anything in return. We’d like to do the same with Google and its AI Overviews, but they won’t allow it…
OpenAI has taken another step forward in directly challenging Google. At CMS MAG, we welcome a new product that can compete head-to-head with Google and offer new possibilities in the market, potentially reducing its dominance.
Feel free to share your opinion in the comments.
Note: Article originally written in Spanish, translated with ChatGPT, and reviewed in english by Jorge Mediavilla.
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