ChatGPT Search: The Evolution of AI-Powered Information Retrieval

What is ChatGPT: everything you should know about the AI chatbot

With more than 400 million monthly users, ChatGPT is the most popular of all AI chatbots. Trained on huge amounts of data, it can process written prompts and generate contextual answers which feel like you're chatting to a human in real time. Based on a Large Language Model, the AI bot is evolving all the time. In its latest iteration, ChatGPT is capable of answering in-depth questions, helping with website code and even generating images. New features are being added all of the time, so read on to find out what ChatGPT can do and why it's worth using. This article was correct as of February 2025. AI tools are updated regularly and it is possible that some features have changed since this article was written. Some features may also only be available in certain countries. When it launched in November 2022, ChatGPT signalled a new era for artificial intelligence. Developed by OpenAI, the AI chatbot became a hugely popular tool almost overnight. Much of the appeal of ChatGPT lies in its use of natural language. Built on Large Language Models, it's able to understand human queries written as plain text prompts and generate conversational responses. In March 2023, OpenAI announced GPT-4, the latest version of its language model. This iteration is multimodal, meaning it can process text, images and audio. Apps running on GPT-4, including ChatGPT, are also better able to process the context of queries and produce more accurate, relevant results. The result is a chatbot that can be leveraged for a wide range of queries, with answers rendered quickly and accessibly. The full capabilities of ChatGPT are still being explored by its millions of users. Almost any query that can be phrased and answered using written words can be addressed - or at least attempted - by ChatGPT. Its remit can be summarized as language-based tasks, whether that language is English, foreign or computer code. ChatGPT can create computer code from natural language instructions or troubleshoot existing code. It can write a wedding speech for you or re-write your draft in a way that flows better. It can create personalized workout plans, generate business ideas and even act as your therapist. The introduction of ChatGPT search unlocks the ability for users to get a summary of answers to a specific query sourced from the web, while integration of OpenAI's DALL-E 3 text-to-image model means all ChatGPT users can also ask the chatbot to generate images from prompts. As powerful as it is, ChatGPT still has limitations. Chief among them is fact-checking. Famously, the chatbot's responses are not always accurate and it's known to hallucinate facts. OpenAI says that ChatGPT "may be inaccurate, untruthful, and otherwise misleading at times." ChatGPT is also subject to a number of guidelines and ethical restrictions. The AI chatbot tries its best to avoid explicit, violent or discriminatory content. It won't engage in political discussions, nor will it offer legal, medical or financial advice on an individual basis. OpenAI also emphasizes that the generative chatbot cannot show empathy or engage with real emotions. Nor will it promote anything relating to self-harm. ChatGPT is available for free, but there are also two paid tiers for individuals, as well as Team and Enterprise plans for organizations. For free, users get access to OpenAI's GPT-4o mini model, plus limited access to GPT-4o and o3-mini. They can also use ChatGPT search to access results informed by real-time data from the web. Hitting the 'Reason' button on a query gives you limited access to the ChatGPT o1 model. You get a limited number of images from DALL-E. Plus costs $20 (about £16 / AU$30 ) per month and unlocks a number of additional features, including access to multiple reasoning models, ChatGPT's advanced voice mode and limited access to Sora, OpenAI's video generation model, as well as more images with DALL-E. The Pro tier will set you back a much more significant $200 (about £165 / AU$325) per month. Designed for advanced users, it unlocks deeper capabilities for every tool in ChatGPT's arsenal, including unlimited access to the latest reasoning models and extended Sora access for generating AI video. The Team option is priced at $25 (about £19 / AU$38) per user per month and allows users to create and share custom GPTs within a workspace. ChatGPT can be accessed through its web interface at chatgpt.com using almost any browser. For a while, this was the only way to use the chatbot. However, you can now download official iOS and Android apps for free, as well as a desktop app for macOS and Windows. The interface and features are broadly consistent, but the mobile apps come with the added benefit of being able to engage in a voice conversation with ChatGPT, by tapping the audio icon next to the text input field. Based on our extensive hands-on experience with ChatGPT, it's a powerful tool with a lot of uses. Its conversational interface makes it easy for almost anyone to interact with the chatbot, whether you're asking it to summarize a report or generate an image. The quality of its responses often depends on the wording and context of the prompt, which can vary significantly. The paid experience is faster and more accurate than the free tier, turning up better quality responses across a range of queries and topics. That said, it's still vulnerable to factual inaccuracies and hallucinations, while data sourced from the web isn't necessarily the most up-to-date. As a fact-checking tool, ChatGPT still can't be relied upon. As a shortcut for everyday queries or a way to turbocharge your workflow, though, ChatGPT has plenty of potential. Leveraged in the right way, it's a very powerful tool. You want to use a capable chatbot From writing content to generating website code, ChatGPT is a hugely capable tool that allows you to get a lot done simply by writing your queries in natural human language. You want a lot of features for free Recent updates mean ChatGPT's free plan now includes access to ChatGPT search and image generation using OpenAI's DALL-E 3 model, meaning you can get a lot done without a paid subscription. You need completely accurate information Even with real-time web access enabled, ChatGPT is prone to responding with factual inaccuracies. Results need to be cross-referenced with reliable sources before they can be relied upon. You don't want to pay for the best features The free tier is fine for casual users, but if ChatGPT is built into your workflow, you'll need to pay for a subscription to unlock the faster processing and greater reliability of the latest models.

What is ChatGPT search: everything you need to know about the AI search tool

ChatGPT search is an AI tool which makes it easier to find accurate answers online. Combining the conversational smarts of OpenAI's chatbot with real-time web results, it's designed to enhance your search experience. Recent survey data shows that people are increasingly swapping traditional search engines for AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT search. Available for free, ChatGPT search could change the way you look for information. In fact, you might never Google again. Here's how you can use ChatGPT search to upgrade your browsing. This article was correct as of February 2025. AI tools are updated regularly and it is possible that some features have changed since this article was written. Some features may also only be available in certain countries. ChatGPT search is an AI-enhanced search tool built around OpenAI's popular chatbot. It combines the conversational reasoning of ChatGPT with real-time results drawn from multiple sources on the web. This means you can ask it questions using natural language and get in-depth, contextualized answers with cited online sources. Previously, ChatGPT was only able to draw on information available up until September 2021. This limitation was lifted in May 2023, when ChatGPT was given unrestricted access to the internet, allowing it to draw on contemporary data. In October 2024, OpenAI further capitalized on this connectivity, launching ChatGPT search as an addition to its chatbot. This was initially available only to paid subscribers, but is now available to everyone, even if they're not signed in to an OpenAI account. You can use ChatGPT search for any search query. Unlike a standard search engine, it doesn't simply return a list of links. Ask ChatGPT search a question and the tool will pull current information from web-based sources to give you a comprehensive answer that's summarized in the context of your question. Citations give you links to the source websites, while rich content will be pulled in where relevant, such as photos, directions and YouTube videos. Part of ChatGPT search's appeal is that it draws upon the conversational smarts of OpenAI's chatbot. That means you can reply to initial results in a human way, without having to restate your initial query. Say you ask ChatGPT for restaurant recommendations in your local area. You can follow up simply by typing, "what about bars?" The tool can also be used to generate up-to-date news summaries and product recommendations, with the benefit that it cross-references different sources. If you're using ChatGPT search through the mobile app, you can also search for answers using your voice. Despite citing sources, ChatGPT search isn't foolproof. Like any search engine, it can't vouch for the accuracy of the websites it links to. Summaries generated by the tool can also misinterpret or oversimplify information, which limits its efficacy for highly specialized or technical queries. The performance of ChatGPT search is also limited to relatively surface-level analysis. It's not an in-depth research tool. For that, OpenAI has recently introduced Deep Research, which is currently available only to Pro users. ChatGPT search is now available for free, even if you don't have an OpenAI account. Taking out a paid ChatGPT subscription can enhance how the search experience integrates with OpenAI's chatbot. These upgrades don't directly improve the ChatGPT search tool itself, but do increase the performance of the underlying chatbot. ChatGPT search is integrated into OpenAI's chatbot, which means you can use it wherever you can access ChatGPT. That includes the web-based platform, as well as the desktop apps for Windows and macOS. You can also use ChatGPT search on your mobile device with the dedicated smartphone apps for Android and iOS. These feature the option to search with your voice. In addition, there's a ChatGPT Chrome extension. This allows you to use ChatGPT search by typing into the address bar. You can about how to install it here. Several members of the TechRadar team have used ChatGPT search extensively and their feedback is pretty conclusive: almost all prefer using the AI-powered tool to classic search engines. In this comprehensive write-up, we praised how fast, accurate and clean ChatGPT search is in practise. We also appreciated its contextual awareness within the conversational dialogue, noting how the tool is able to continue handle further queries within the same thread. We didn't come across any glaring inaccuracies, either. That said, in our comparison of ChatGPT search and Perplexity, we found that OpenAI's solution didn't offer the same level of detail or depth in the presentation of information as Perplexity. You want to detailed, cited search summaries Unlike traditional search engines, ChatGPT search doesn't just return a list of links. Instead, it gives an in-depth written response based on a number of online sources, summarized in the context of your query. You want a conversational search experience Built into OpenAI's chatbot, ChatGPT search allows you to find detailed answers from the web through conversational dialogue. That includes the ability to submit follow-up queries within the same thread, written in natural language. You need infallibly accurate information While ChatGPT search draws on several web-based sources, it's results aren't guaranteed to be factually accurate. Data is only as reliable as the websites it's taken from, while summaries can sometimes oversimplify nuanced information. You need to conduct expert research ChatGPT search isn't designed to conduct detailed research into niche subjects. Its contextual summaries may lack the depth of interpretation or range of citations required to meet robust research standards.