• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, August 22, 2024

SearchGPT, which leverages OpenAI's GPT-4 models that excel in complex reasoning, wants to have an in-depth conversation with you. That reasoning will support performance.

The focus remains on answers not clicks, at least for now. The search bot follows prompts, but retains the content and context of original queries and helps users to narrow searches, encouraging access to new information.

For example, when searching for "what is a good credit score," SearchGPT does the research and provides a complete answer to that question without having to conduct follow-up questions.

It anticipates those questions and spits out the answers the first time, says Jim Yu, founder and executive chairman at BrightEdge, which published The Ultimate Guide to SearchGPT on Thursday with help from BrightEdge Generative Parser, and precision insights from DataCubeX.

The report, which compares SearchGPT to Google AI Overviews and Perplexity, shows how each AI-powered engine interprets queries differently. SearchGPT prioritizes in-depth responses and citations, unlike other engines. For example, when searching for "associate degree," the answer is multifaceted. It addresses top-level facts about defines the words “associate's degree,” along with its benefits, career options, and ways to pursue the degree.

A sidebar with additional and related source links offers even more depth, supporting informed decision-making. It also often addresses multiple aspects of a query in one response, provides definitions, examples, applications, and related topics for users to glean information from and inspire their search journey.

How does SearchGPT handle high-volume shopping queries? Using the word Skirts, which returns about 120,700 searches per month, according to Data Cube X, the key information in the results include the description of components and acceptable attire for men and women, common guidelines for appropriate outfits, and clear layout with visuals and where to shop.

SearchGPT cites sources like websites, and covers main points of the concept as well as shopping options. It also provides information on business casual and anticipates users will want to shop for different parts of the outfit, and anticipates that users will want to know what is acceptable for business casual attire in a professional setting.

SearchGPT does not serve ads, at least for now, but it’s easy to see how sponsored ads could become part of the conversation between brands and consumers. It offers visuals like images and infographics in its results, something Google AI Overviews and Perplexity offers too.

Yu believes SearchGPT will incorporate OpenAI's voice-search capabilities to ask and answer questions.

And when thinking about Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI, the parent of SearchGPT, it’s clear to see how it uses Bing's live index to allow up-to-date information from diverse sources across the web.

That diverse thinking is a different step from comparing Google AI Overviews and how it prioritizes brevity and specific details that often emphasize practical use cases and current trends. Perplexity provinces concise summaries with direct, bulleted responses.

Perplexity said they are adding sponsored suggested questions to the platform in April.