Today is a very big day for everyone in the media business. Right now, open ChatGPT and choose ChatGPT 4o. You'll see a globe in the context window. Click it and enter your search term. Sit back and wonder about the future of link-based search, ecommerce, and the web itself.
I entered this prompt: "OpenAI new search feature to compete with google and bing." ChatGPT 4o Search returned the following few paragraphs with the citation links indicated below along with a fully clickable summary of every source article.
OpenAI has introduced a search functionality within its ChatGPT platform, positioning itself as a competitor to established search engines like Google and Microsoft's Bing. This feature enables ChatGPT to access real-time information from the web, providing users with up-to-date responses on topics such as news, sports scores, stock prices, and weather. The integration allows ChatGPT to automatically perform web searches based on user queries, delivering relevant answers accompanied by links to external sources.
Initially available to ChatGPT Plus and Team subscribers, OpenAI plans to extend this capability to enterprise, educational, and free users in the coming months. The search function is powered by a fine-tuned version of OpenAI's GPT-4o model, which utilizes data from third-party search providers and content from established partners.
This development signifies OpenAI's strategic move into the search market, challenging Google's long-standing dominance and Microsoft's recent advancements with AI-integrated Bing. By embedding search capabilities directly into ChatGPT, OpenAI aims to offer a seamless experience that combines conversational AI with real-time information retrieval.
The introduction of this feature also addresses previous limitations of ChatGPT, which was constrained by a knowledge cutoff and lacked access to current information. With the new search functionality, ChatGPT can now provide more accurate and timely responses, enhancing its utility for users seeking up-to-date information.
As OpenAI continues to develop and refine this feature, it is poised to reshape the landscape of online search by integrating advanced AI capabilities into the user experience.
With all the sources cited and a gigantic list of additional sources, why am I saying it's the end of link-based search? I didn't need to click on anything at all. One hundred percent of the information I think I needed was summarized and provided in a format that was completely usable for my purposes.
Why am I saying, "I think" I needed? Because I have no idea what I'm looking at, and I have learned to default to distrust when reading any generative AI work product. All of the articles are summarized, which may be great… but also could be nonsense.
BTW, there's no way Google doesn't have an answer for this.
New behavior = disruption. Buckle your seatbelt. This is going to be a wild ride. -s
P.S. You know I always close my emails asking you to respond with your thoughts and comments. Today, I'd really appreciate it. There are two massive technology changes coming our way. The first is the topic of today's email. The second is marketing to agents (AI bots), which isn't quite here yet, but is around the corner. As a community, we're going to be dealing with both of these issues for the foreseeable future. Please, let me hear from you.
ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named he covers tech and business for , is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular . He's a , and the creator of the popular, free online course, . Follow or visit .
