ChatGPT Search Challenges Google's Dominance: A New Era in Web Search

You can make ChatGPT your default search engine in Chrome. Here's how

Are you ready to immerse yourself in everything ChatGPT Search has to offer? This quick trick may be for you. The biggest benefit of using an AI chatbot is being able to input and receive conversational queries. Combine that with real-time access to the Internet, and you have a more efficient search engine. That's exactly what ChatGPT Search is -- and now you can make it your default search engine. With ChatGPT Search, your results look similar to those of the standard ChatGPT chatbot. The major differences are that it includes in-line citations to websites, a button that says "sources," which, when clicked, will populate a long list of links on the right, and a couple of search result links underneath the answer. Also: ChatGPT has officially replaced Google Search for me - here's why ChatGPT Search can be accessed through the regular ChatGPT interface as long as you are a ChatGPT Plus or Teams subscriber or were on the waitlist for SearchGPT. If you have access to ChatGPT Search and are ready to commit to always using ChatGPT instead of Google, you can do so by installing the free Chrome extension. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman calls the feature "really good" and encourages users to subscribe to ChatGPT Plus, which costs $20 per month and comes with other perks such as the new Voice Mode, Canvas, and unlimited image generation, and download the Chrome Extension. If you are ready to make the switch, it's easy. All you have to do is visit this link, which will take you to the ChatGPT Search page on the Chrome web store. If you are already in ChatGPT, you can also click on your profile in the upper right-hand corner and click on the option "Download Chrome extension," which will take you to the same page. Then, click "Add to Chrome." Once you do, a ChatGPT Search pop-up will appear, letting you know that the extension will "Read and change your data on all chatgpt.com sites." Click "add extension" on the pop-up to finish the process. Also: The best AI search engines: Google, Perplexity, and more After you do so, your Chrome interface will look the same; however, when you enter something in the search bar, you will see that it is redirected automatically to ChatGPT Search. For example, I entered "ZDNET," and the results below came up. Some use cases where SearchGPT excels are when working on a research paper or project that involves examining many newer topics. It can break down the material in a much simpler way to understand and narrow down the number of links you have to sift through. However, for some prompts -- such as anything shopping-related -- Google is still the best alternative. For example, when I entered "Best coats for winter," the ChatGPT results populated a list of jackets with links to the websites that recommended them -- see below. I prefer to see clickable links to the sites so that I can visit the sites myself, see the prices, and browse on my own. For that reason, I think the Google Shopping experience is better suited for shopping queries. A possible workaround is turning the ChatGPT extension on and off, depending on your current search needs. Yes, this is an extra step, but it's a simple one: Simply click on the extension next to your search bar, click on manage extension, and toggle it off. Should you keep ChatGPT on by default and turn it off for specific queries where Google is preferred, or the other way around? That depends on your particular needs. I'm keeping Google as my default search engine because, daily, I rely on a traditional search engine results page for my job. However, I'm not uninstalling the extension because I find it helpful, especially in situations where I want to learn more about a subject, as ChatGPT answers conversationally and saves me time from skimming multiple articles. I will toggle it on before these deep-dive sessions. Also: I changed 5 ChatGPT settings and instantly became more productive - here's how If you are already a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, you may as well take advantage of the extension to try it out since it is free and offers a glimpse of the future of search engines. Even though search engines have remained relatively untouched for decades, with Google being the undisputed leader, they are now at a turning point. All search engines -- brand-new AI tools like Perplexity or ChatGPT Search and traditional search engines like Google or Bing -- are becoming AI-infused to some degree. If you are a ChatGPT user, the extension is a good way to dip your toes in the future.

How to Set ChatGPT Search as Your Default Search Engine

OpenAI released ChatGPT Search recently which uses AI to curate and summarize the latest and relevant information from the web. With the announcement, OpenAI also unveiled a Chrome extension that changes the default search engine to ChatGPT Search. The best part is that it works not just on Chrome, but on any Chromium-based browsers including Edge, Brave, Opera, and more. I installed the ChatGPT Search extension on my Chrome browser and here is how you can do it too. I tested ChatGPT Search over the weekend and replaced Google Search entirely. Frankly, I wanted to switch back to traditional Google Search by the end of the week. While ChatGPT Search is good for queries where you wish to ask follow-up questions and gain more knowledge, I generally use Google Search to look up information quickly. I don't want a long passage on what the weather is going to look like over the coming days. Apart from that, Google's rich knowledge graph and infographics integrated into search let me glance over key details within seconds. ChatGPT Search takes some time to generate answers using an LLM which adds to an ineffective search experience. Next, most users perform navigational searches on Google where they simply type "Facebook login" or "YouTube" to open specific websites. In these types of queries, ChatGPT Search feels like a letdown. Also, local searches like "pharmacy near me" or "cafe near me" don't work as well as Google Search. Google has a massive index of data from Google Maps, Flights, Hotels, e-commerce websites, and more. This allows Google to offer a rich search experience. It also has to do with user behavior that Google has shaped over many years. Anyway, what do you think about ChatGPT Search? Let us know in the comments below.

ChatGPT Search Made Me Quit Google For Good

OpenAI finally made ChatGPT Search available publicly this month and also released a Chrome extension that allows you to set ChatGPT search as your default search engine. Over the last week or so, I've used ChatGPT Search almost exclusively, and in almost every case -- with one very big exception -- it was a far better experience than Google. Look, Google search is probably the most useful software code ever written. It made the internet useful in ways that nothing else ever has. It is also, quite possibly, the most brilliant business idea ever. People tell Google exactly what they are looking for, and advertisers pay Google to show their ads as answers. It's also terrible. Google Search is a mess -- mostly because the company's incentive is just to find more ways to show you more ads and less content that will make you click away from Google. As a result, the links for what you might actually be looking for are buried below paid ads and what Google calls "AI Overviews."