Few Have Tested OpenAI’s Google Competitor—Here’s What They’re Saying

OpenAI’s ambitious new search engine, SearchGPT, has received a mixed reception from early testers and industry experts. Designed to offer a streamlined, AI-powered search experience, SearchGPT generates concise answers from various web sources, presenting them with linked citations, subheadings, bullet points, and images. The goal is to provide users with instant, digestible information instead of traditional search results that require sifting through links. However, despite its potential, the tool is still seen as a work in progress, with some significant limitations emerging during its early testing phase.

One of the primary critiques of **SearchGPT** is its struggle with certain types of queries, particularly around shopping and local information, where it often fails to match the depth and precision of Google The search engine also exhibits a common flaw among AI tools: providing incorrect or misleading information with absolute confidence. These inaccuracies, known as **"AI hallucinations,"** have raised concerns about the reliability of SearchGPT’s results, especially in scenarios where precision and factual accuracy are critical.

The excitement around SearchGPT stems from its potential to disrupt the traditional search engine market, particularly Google’s dominance, which has remained largely unchallenged for decades. Since the debut of **ChatGPT** in November 2022, many tech pundits and industry insiders have speculated that AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT and SearchGPT could revolutionize the way people find information online. These AI systems could challenge the traditional search model by offering quicker, more direct answers to user queries, rather than making users click through pages of results.

However, early feedback indicates that SearchGPT still has significant hurdles to overcome before it can be seen as a true rival to Google. For example, Google's immense advantage in access to specialized data, such as business listings, flight information, and hotel availability, remains a significant barrier. Google has spent years building relationships and acquiring data sources to enhance its search capabilities—like its 2011 purchase of a flight data provider for $676 million. This gives Google a major edge in search categories that require up-to-date, specialized information, making it difficult for SearchGPT to compete in these areas.

Some early testers have expressed disappointment with SearchGPT’s performance. Ananay Arora, a software engineer and AI researcher, found that while the tool could answer local restaurant queries well, it often stumbled in other areas. Arora pointed out issues with the images that accompany search results and found the labeling of sources confusing. Despite OpenAI’s reputation for cutting-edge AI models, Arora noted that SearchGPT didn’t live up to his high expectations, especially compared to the more impressive performance of ChatGPT.

On the other hand, not all feedback has been negative. Daniel Lemire, a tech professional who tested the prototype, praised SearchGPT for being more user-friendly and effective than Google’s AI-generated results. Lemire said that while Google’s AI overviews often feel clunky, SearchGPT provides clearer, more concise answers. For users like him, the interface and output are already preferable to Google’s, signaling that SearchGPT could find a niche audience willing to adopt it over traditional search engines.

Interestingly, smaller startups like Perplexity are also entering the fray, offering similar AI-powered search experiences. Perplexity combines AI with its own “web index” to provide one-shot answers, offering users a glimpse of what the future of search could look like. Some testers have compared SearchGPT unfavorably to Perplexity, noting that while both tools aim to revolutionize search with AI, Perplexity has a smoother interface and more accurate results. This raises the question of whether OpenAI’s SearchGPT can differentiate itself from both established giants like Google and emerging challengers like Perplexity.

A major issue for OpenAI will be SearchGPT’s long-term business model. While  Google and other traditional search engines make money through ads, OpenAI has yet to clarify whether SearchGPT will remain free ll or be integrated into its ChatGPT subscription model ll. OpenAI spokeswoman Kayla Wood emphasized that the company’s current business model is based on subscriptions rather than ad revenue, but she didn’t rule out the possibility of changes in the future. As of now, SearchGPT is available to a small group of 10,000 early testers, with no word on when it might be widely accessible or how it will be monetized.

For now, Google continues to thrive despite the growing interest in AI search tools. In a July 2023 investor call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai attributed the company’s ongoing growth to its “tremendous momentum in search.” Even Microsoft, which integrated OpenAI’s chatbot technology into its Bing search engine, has seen only modest market share growth despite the AI enhancements. Bing still lags far behind Google in both user base and search quality.

As  SearchGPT moves forward, OpenAI is gathering feedback to guide ongoing improvements. Jim Yu, founder of the search marketing firm BrightEdge, highlighted that while AI hallucinations were a concern, they affected only a small percentage of queries. Nonetheless, these early issues—combined with Google’s entrenched position and specialized data access—show that while SearchGPT might be a promising experiment, it will need significant refinement before it can pose a genuine threat to the current search giants.

Ultimately, the question remains whether SearchGPT can truly disrupt the way people search for information online. While it has the potential to streamline queries and offer faster answers, Google’s decades-long dominance and resource base make it a formidable competitor. For now, OpenAI seems focused on honing its product and learning from user feedback. As more people gain access to SearchGPT, it will be clearer whether this new AI search engine can live up to its potential and bring about the revolution many in the tech industry have predicted.