It started in 2022 with perplexity.ai, which (when it was working great) allowed you to do 10 minutes of Google searches in about 10 seconds. Google’s answer? AI Overviews, which got everyone’s knickers in a knot because there were no links, which meant no revenue for content creators or publishers. Now, there’s OpenAI’s newly announced SearchGPT, which will not only present links, but also organize and contextualize information with summaries, insights, and detailed answers. To quote Yoda: “Begun, the search wars have.”

SearchGPT’s interface begins with a user-friendly prompt: “What are you looking for?” and includes features such as follow-up questions and a sidebar for additional resources. A standout feature, “visual answers,” showcases AI-generated videos and relevant images, though details on this feature are still forthcoming.

Currently in its prototype phase, SearchGPT is available to a limited group of 10,000 test users. It leverages the GPT-4 model and collaborates with third-party partners and direct content feeds for its search capabilities.

Notably, OpenAI says it is emphasizing transparency and ethical use of content. The company has partnered with major publishers, including The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press, to ensure proper attribution and respect for content creators’ rights. Publishers can manage their appearance in SearchGPT results and opt out of having their content used for training AI models.

Will SearchGPT be a Google Killer? Doubtful, but Google will need a strong answer to keep SearchGPT from gaining too much traction.

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