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OpenAI has now made its ChatGPT web search feature accessible to everyone — even those without an account. The search functionality in ChatGPT is seen as an attempt by OpenAI to counter Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini.
Initially, this feature was only available for paid users, with the company promising to extend it to free, enterprise, and education users. The latest update now removes the login barrier entirely.
The search function enables users to simply click a search button and receive responses in the familiar conversation style of ChatGPT. Unlike traditional search engines, however, ChatGPT augments its replies with relevant internet content, including photos and source links, offering a more in-depth response.
A recent report by Search Engine Land reveals that although Google still dominates with 6.5 billion unique worldwide visitors, ChatGPT web search was at 566 million in December. However, researchers found one interesting fact. About 70% of the ChatGPT web search prompts were unique; that is, these prompts were never seen in classic search engines such as Google or Microsoft Bing.
ChatGPT tends to attract a younger male audience, while workers, homemakers, and retirees more commonly use Google. This indicates that older and more mature individuals are still cautious about using ChatGPT as a search engine.
One challenge that OpenAI faces is the cost of running an AI-powered search engine. Operating a traditional search engine is generally less expensive, and it remains to be seen how OpenAI will address this issue. Currently, OpenAI has chosen not to display ads in ChatGPT.
Recently, OpenAI announced ‘Deep Research,’ a new feature in ChatGPT designed to conduct multi-step investigations on the internet. This tool will leverage OpenAI’s upcoming model, ‘o3’, which is optimised for web browsing and data analysis.
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