Researchers analyzed SearchGPT’s responses to queries and identified how it can impact publishers, B2B sites and e-commerce, and discovered key differences between SearchGPT, AI Overviews and Perplexity.
What is SearchGPT?
SearchGPT is a prototype natural language search engine created by OpenAI that combines a generative AI model with the most current web data to provide contextually relevant answers in a natural language interface that includes citations to relevant online sources.
OpenAI has not offered detailed information about how SearchGPT accesses web information. But the fact that it’s using generative AI models means it’s likely using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), a technology that connects an AI language model to indexed web data to give it access to information it’s not trained on i. This enables AI search to provide contextually relevant answers that are up-to-date and based on authoritative and trustworthy web sources.
How BrightEdge analyzed SearchGPT
BrightEdge used a pair of search marketing tools designed for enterprise users to help identify search and content opportunities, emerging trends, and conduct in-depth competitor analysis.
They used their proprietary DataCube X and BrightEdge Generative Parser™ to extract data points from SearchGPT, AI Overviews and Perplexity.
This is how it was done:
“BrightEdge compared SearchGPT, Google’s AI Overviews and Perplexity.
To evaluate SearchGPT against Google’s AI overviews and confusion, BrightEdge used DataCube X along with BrightEdge Generative Parser ™ to identify a high-volume term and question based on exact match volumes. These queries were then input to all three engines to evaluate their approach, intent interpretation, and response retrieval methods.
This comparative study uses real, popular searches within each sector to accurately reflect the performance of these engines for typical users.”
DataCube X was used to identify high volume keywords and questions, all volumes were based on exact matches.
Each search engine was analyzed for:
- Access to the query
- Ability to interpret intent
- Method of obtaining answers
Search GPT Versus Google AI Overviews
Research conducted by BrightEdge shows that SearchGPT offers comprehensive answers, while Google AI Overviews (AIO) provides answers that are more concise, but also have an advantage in seeing current trends.
The observed difference is that SearchGPT in its current state is better for deep research and Google AIO excels at providing quick answers that are also aware of current trends.
Strength: BrightEdge’s report indicates that SearchGPT responses rely on a variety of authoritative web resources that reflect academic, industry-specific and public sources.
Weakness: The results of the report suggest that SearchGPT’s weakness in a comparison with AIO is within the trend area, where Google AIO proved to be more articulate.
Search GPT versus confusion
The researchers concluded that Perplexity offers concise answers that are tightly focused on topicality. This suggests that Perplexity, which bills itself as an “answer engine”, shares strengths with Google’s AIO in terms of providing concise answers. If I had to speculate, I’d say this might reflect a focus on satisfaction metrics that are biased toward more immediate responses.
Strength: Because SearchGPT appears to be more tuned to research and high-quality information sources, it can be said to have an advantage over Perplexity as a more comprehensive and potentially more credible tool for research than Perplexity.
Weakness: Confusion proved to be a more succinct source of answers that excelled at summarizing online information sources to answer questions.
SearchGPT’s focus on facilitating research makes sense because SearchGPT’s eventual context is as a supplement to ChatGPT.
Is SearchGPT a competitor to Google?
SearchGPT is not a competitor to Google because OpenAI’s stated plans are to incorporate it into ChatGPT and not as a standalone search engine. SearchGPT’s official purpose is not as a standalone search engine, but to be integrated into ChatGPT.
This is how OpenAI explains it:
“We also plan to get feedback on the prototype and bring the best of the experience into ChatGPT.
…Please note that we plan to integrate the SearchGPT experience into ChatGPT in the future. SearchGPT combines the power of our AI models with information from the web to give you fast and timely answers with clear, relevant sources.”
So is SearchGPT a competitor to Google? The more appropriate question is whether ChatGPT is building towards disrupting the entire concept of organic search.
Google has done a fair job of exhausting and disenchanting users with ads, tracking and data mining of their personal lives. So it’s not unlikely that a more capable version of ChatGPT could redefine how people get answers.
BrightEdge’s research discovered that SearchGPT’s strength lay in facilitating credible research. It makes even more sense with the understanding that SearchGPT is currently planned to be integrated into ChatGPT, not as a competitor to Google, but as a competitor to the concept of organic search.
Takeaways: What SEOs and Marketers Need to Know
The key takeaways from the research can be broken down into five ways SearchGPT is better than Google AIO and Perplexity.
1. Various authoritative sources.
The research shows that SearchGPT consistently shows answers from authoritative and trustworthy sources.
“Its knowledge base spans academic resources, specialized industry platforms, official government sites and reputable commercial websites.”
2. Comprehensive response
BrightEdge’s analysis showed that SearchGPT provides comprehensive answers on any topic, simplifying them into clear, understandable answers.
3. Proactive query interpretation
This is really interesting because the researchers discovered that SearchGPT was not only able to understand the user’s immediate information needs, it answered questions with an expanded breadth of coverage.
BrightEdge explained it like this:
“Its initial response often incorporates additional relevant information, illustrative examples and real-world applications.”
4. Pragmatic and practical
SearchGPT tended to provide actionable answers that were good for ecommerce search queries. BrightEdge noted:
“It often provides specific product suggestions and recommendations.”
5. Broad subject matter expertise
The research paper noted that SearchGPT correctly used industry jargon, even for esoteric B2B search queries. The researchers explained:
“This approach appeals to both general users and industry professionals.”
Read the research results on SearchGPT here.
Featured image by Shutterstock/Khosro