ChatGPT search is finally here!
I was on the waitlist since it was first announced. I got an email from OpenAI today saying that I’ll be one of the first people to try it out.
I’ve been playing around with it for the past few hours. I’m going to give you an honest review here.
ChatGPT Search — My First Impressions
Overall I really like it.
It is definitely going to pressure Google AND Perplexity to step up their games. Competition will be a great thing for searchers.
ChatGPT search is more similar to Perplexity than it is to Google.
ChatGPT search now searches several websites at once. Then it provides an AI overview of the results.
There are no ads with ChatGPT search (this is a huge advantage for users. I hate being distracted with so many Google ads)
ChatGPT Search in Action — 2 Examples
I’m going to give 2 examples where ChatGPT search is better than Google
Example # 1
I live in Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada. In the winter I like going public skating with my wife and our 7–year-old son.
The skating schedule that the city puts out is messy and a little hard to find with Google.
Here is what I asked ChatGPT search:
Give me the public skating schedule for the Gale Center in Niagara Falls Ontario for 2024/2025
Here is the answer I got:
Gale Centre Public Skating Times:
Saturday: 6:00 PM — 8:00 PM (No skating aids permitted)
Sunday: 2:00 PM — 4:00 PM (Skating aids permitted)
Cancellations:
September: 21, 22
November: 2, 3, 16, 17, 30
December: 14, 15, 28, 29
January: 5, 18
February: 8, 23
March: 1, 2, 8, 15, 22
April: 5, 12, 19, 20, 26, 27
Ok, not bad. At least that is easier than finding a link on Google and then searching around for the same information.
But this next step is where the power of ChatGPT search really beats Google.
I don’t like seeing the list of cancelations. It makes it hard to know when there is skating available. I’d rather see just a list of days that do have skating.
I asked ChatGPT search for only the dates when skating is available. Here is what I got:
Saturdays (6:00 PM — 8:00 PM, No Skating Aids Permitted):
September 2024: 7, 14, 28
October 2024: 5, 12, 19, 26
November 2024: 9, 23
December 2024: 7, 21
January 2025: 11, 25
February 2025: 1, 15
March 2025: 29
Sundays (2:00 PM — 4:00 PM, Skating Aids Permitted):
September 2024: 8, 15, 29
October 2024: 6, 13, 20, 27
November 2024: 10, 24
December 2024: 8, 22
January 2025: 12, 19, 26
February 2025: 2, 9, 16
March 2025: 9, 16, 23, 30
April 2025: 6, 13
It is much easier to read it like this than it is to look for all the cancelations.
I could even put this on my Google calendar directly if I wanted.
The point is that ChatGPT search can find an answer, and then reformat it in a way I’d prefer.
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Example # 2
I wanted to find out some information about a stock I own.
I first asked ChatGPT search:
What does TD Bank stock pay in dividends in Canada?
By the way, Google could easily tell me this too. But the next part is the impressive part.
ChatGPT said:
As of October 31, 2024, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) pays an annual dividend of C$4.08 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of approximately 5.30%.
TD distributes dividends quarterly. The most recent ex-dividend date was October 10, 2024, with a payment of C$1.02 per share
Here is the cool part.
I then asked ChatGPT:
How much would a $12000 investment be worth after 3 years, if I reinvest the dividends every quarter, and the stock price doesn’t change?
ChatGPT said:
Note: I’ll do a screenshot because I can’t write math symbols properly in this article
Do you see why this is a big deal?
This is a calculation that ChatGPT is making. It isn’t searching for anything anymore.
ChatGPT is taking the information that it searched, and then using math and reasoning to figure out the answer to my question.
The answer to the question I asked isn’t on the internet.
It needs to be calculated.
This is power of search plus a large language model together.
In what ways is Google still better than ChatGPT search?
Google isn’t done yet.
When you search Google, you often get millions of search results.
ChatGPT search is only searching a few websites for each search.
If the answer you are looking for isn’t in one of those top few search results, then ChatGPT either won’t know the answer or will make something up (halucinate).
Google has had decades of perfecting its algorithm for search.
Google knows how to rank websites and prioritize information better than any other search engine.
It will take a monumental effort for ChatGPT to get as good as Google at the “search” part. This won’t happen anytime soon.
Which is better then, ChatGPT search or Google?
It really depends on your use case.
The short answer is that you should still use both Google and ChatGPT search.
ChatGPT search is better than Google if the search result you are looking for is relatively easy to find.
Google is better than ChatGPT search if you are trying to find some obscure information, that isn’t easily found in the top few search results (this happens much more often than you think).
In short, Google is still better at “search”, but ChatGPT search is better at putting the search results together and synthesizing them into a good answer.
I’ve been going all in with AI lately.
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