ChatGPT Search vs Google: A Comprehensive Comparison of AI-Powered and Traditional Search Engines

I tested ChatGPT Search vs Google with 7 prompts -- here's the winner

Both chatbots are good teachers, but one is more like a professor. With so many AI learning tools, it can be hard to choose the right one as your go-to assistant for exploring new topics. That's why I decided to put two of my favorites to the test. Google's Learn About is a free tool built to encourage curiosity and inspire learning. The landing page has numerous topic suggestions for users to explore or users can enter their questions in a search box. The chatbot will also explain and summarize uploaded documents. Similarly, ChatGPT Search aims to educate users with concise answers tailored to the user in a personalized response. Unlike Google's Learn About, ChatGPT Search is not free and only available to Plus subscribers. Both chatbots are much different than a typical internet search because of the personalized and human-like response. To find out how different and similar these chatbots really are, I tested seven prompts covering a mix of technical, creative, and practical learning needs. Here's how each performed in this head-to-head showdown. Prompt: "Explain quantum computing to a 12-year-old." Google Learn About provided a simple analogy, a sidebar of more ways to explore the topic, a quiz, and a video that I could watch without leaving the page. The response itself was helpful because it broke down quantum computing into bite-sized concepts that were easy to understand. The extra information in a neat sidebar offering to expand my research and explore the concepts further, was a major bonus. I also liked that I could access the corresponding video without leaving the chat. ChatGPT Search offered a longer explanation that was more nuanced, still age-appropriate but offering a bit more substance. It introduced concepts like superposition and entanglement with creative, relatable examples while also suggesting resources for further exploration. There was a video accompanying this response as well, however it was unavailable directly within the chat and I had to click out of the conversation to watch it. Winner: Google Learn About -- more detailed and better for research because of the sidebar of more concepts to explore and the in-chat video. Prompt: "What's the difference between mitosis and meiosis?" Google Learn About offered a tabulated comparison between mitosis and meiosis, with a clear breakdown of stages, outcomes, and purposes. It even included a simple diagram, enhancing the visual appeal. Beyond that, it went on to share why the differences matter, including more ways to explore related content. ChatGPT Search also provided a thorough comparison but leaned heavily on text-based explanations. While its descriptions were more narrative and conversational, it lacked the visuals and straightforward tabulation of Learn About. Winner: Google Learn About -- visuals and clarity take the lead plus, the encouragement from prompts made me want to dig further into the topic. Prompt: "How did the social and political climate of the Renaissance period influence the style and subject matter of the art produced during that time, and can you analyze a specific artwork to demonstrate this connection?" Google Learn About effortlessly unpacked everything in my prompt by generating a step-by-step look at the key influences of the Renaissance period -- complete with images. In addition, it generated follow-up prompts for me to explore the topic further. It also recommended external links to gain further insight and expand my knowledge. This was a well-rounded response and offered even more than a simple answer. ChatGPT Search crafted a personalized response, thoroughly answered the question, and included images. In a lot of ways, the chatbot answered the question similarly to Google Learn About. Yet, in terms of education, it missed the mark by not giving me more to explore. Although it included sources per usual, it did not give anything extra. ChatGPT Search typically gives the answer and nothing more. Winner: Google Learn About -- integrated resources and prompts to further educate made this a go-to teacher for art history. Prompt: "What is the history of the word solstice" Google Learn About gave a much shorter response this time focusing on the word's origin and breaking it down into two parts. From there it gave an option to explore the word further with the definition and opportunity to hear the word audibly. The chatbot included a common misconception about the word and further ways to explore, yet I didn't feel as though the response was as thorough as possible. ChatGPT Search went beyond with not only the Latin history of the word, but also when it entered the English language and more about how the word has been used throughout history. This response is more of what I was hoping for and it left me feeling as though my question was answered properly. Winner: ChatGPT Search -- the detailed, tailored and understandable information in this response made it the ultimate winner in this round. Prompt: "Summarize the key themes of 1984 by George Orwell" Google Learn About delivered a succinct overview of themes like surveillance, totalitarianism, and the erosion of truth with clickable images to learn more. The external links to essays and study guides for deeper analysis, offered a nice study guide for anyone reading the book. ChatGPT Search included a summary and was more conversational by providing examples from the book to illustrate each theme. However, it lacked the additional links to external resources that Google provided. Winner: Google Learn About -- the overview and extra opportunities to explore subtly encourage learning, which make this chatbot great for students who want to dive deeper. Prompt: "Explain the basics of coding in Python." Google Learn About provided an excellent overview of Python, including its syntax and applications. It also included links to beginner tutorials, interactive coding exercises, and online Python editors for hands-on learning. ChatGPT Search gave a much more basic response, which I appreciated as someone who doesn't do a lot of coding. The chatbot responded in such a way that might be more appropriate for beginners. I felt that the knowledge I gained from the ChatGPT Search helped me understand the answer from Google Learn About. Both were good, but ChatGPT Search offered a more digestible response for someone completely new to the topic. Winner: ChatGPT Search -- the concise and conversational response on this topic gave it the edge this time. Prompt: "What's the difference between a crocodile and an alligator?" Google Learn About showed up for this answer ready to win. The chatbot responded with a chart displaying the differences between the two animals with images to accompany the response. The images were closeup to show differences in snout and teeth. It offered pre-written prompts to gather more research and included external links. The response was thorough and answered a question I've often wondered. ChatGPT Search offered a detailed response that was concise but not at all conversational. The images did not feel as nuanced as Google Learn About and didn't offer much information other than a visual of the animals. I liked the bullet points for each animal, but the response was not as efficient or useful as Google Learn About. Winner: Google Learn About -- richer insights and detailed images made all the difference, plus the chart was helpful and easy-to-read. Both Learn About and ChatGPT Search excel as educational tools, but they shine in different areas. Google's Learn About is perfect for fact-driven learners who appreciate visuals, concise summaries, and curated links to external resources. It's particularly effective for academic and technical topics. On the other hand, ChatGPT Search thrives in conversational depth and adaptability. Its ability to personalize responses and encourage deeper exploration makes it ideal for creative learning and nuanced topics. Overall, for structured, resource-rich answers, Google's Learn About is your best bet. It takes the crown for engaging, personalized learning with everything from thorough responses and further links to explore, as well as quizzes, information about misconceptions, and charts for grasping the information quickly. Plus, it's free, making it a learning tool for practically anyone with an internet connection and a spark of curiosity.

ChatGPT Search vs. Google: Which One Produces the Most Useful Answers?

The information wars are heating up with the launch of ChatGPT search, a direct competitor to Google that promises a more "natural, conversational" experience over traditional search engines. On top of its usual AI-powered text summaries, ChatGPT search links to sources more directly, and offers a shortlist of articles for further browsing. It's currently available to those with a $20/month Plus or business accounts, and will roll it out to free users in the coming weeks. While this may look like ChatGPT is one-upping Google, it mirrors what Google launched in May with AI Overviews. Most Google searches now surface an AI-powered summary, with links to a few key sources, followed by the traditional list of blue links. Google also has a leg up with the simple fact that most people are already using Google all day, every day across devices. With the two tools becoming increasingly similar, it begs the question: When is it better to use Google, and when is ChatGPT more helpful? We tested the two, and here's what we found. We began our test with a simple online search to help with dinner. This is an area where an AI summary could help avoid the cumbersome experience of browsing the web for recipes today. When I asked Google how to cook scallops, it linked to several recipes. I knew that reading any of them would involve scrolling through a barrage of display advertisements and paragraphs of filler content before getting to the actual instructions. All I wanted was a basic technique for a casual dinner, so this was not ideal. ChatGPT gave me more of what I was looking for: A basic list of ingredients and the general technique. It cited Once Upon a Chef and Martha Stewart, removing the need to scroll past ads or unnecessary information. This was great for my casual use case, but if I was looking for a more elaborate dish, it would likely not satisfy. The recipes on Google looked more delicious, with creamy garlic sauces and side dish suggestions. It's not a runaway win for ChatGPT, especially because its output is nearly identical to yet another search product in play: Google Gemini. This chatbot-style ChatGPT competitor lives on a separate website. Its response cited The Kitchn and All Recipes but produced similar answers. For the rest of testing, we'll set Gemini aside and focus on ChatGPT and the core Google search product. ChatGPT is by far the most-used AI chatbot, and Google dominates global search volume, making them the more compelling comparison. More complex subjects yielded a more interesting comparison between ChatGPT and Google. I asked them both about early voting data (prior to the election, of course). Google did not attempt an AI summary, possibly for fear of inaccuracies. It linked to reputable publications offering a wealth of extra information. For example, NBC News featured a useful infographic, plus an overview of the situation and a running list of real-time election updates. ChatGPT's response offered a dry, bullet-point overview of the key discussions in the press. It scored points by fielding my follow-up question since AI Overviews do not allow follow-ups. ChatGPT's initial response and subsequent answer were helpful, curated summaries, but are not ideal for someone who wants to explore the wealth of information that's out there. ChatGPT cited The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, and The New York Post, all of which have content licensing deals with OpenAI. This begs the question: Is additional information out there not covered by those deals, and therefore not included in the answer? AI chatbots are touted as a complement to tutors and teachers, much like YouTube was back in the day, particularly because students can ask questions and learn rapidly. Did ChatGPT search bring that any closer to being a reality? Potentially, but not in my test. I asked it for easy songs to play on the guitar, but the output did not help me actually play a song. From the list it surfaced, below, I asked it for the chords to "Budapest" by George Ezra. It suggested using a more complex chord than is appropriate for a beginner (B minor). It also did not arrange the chords to the music, which is required to play. When I asked it to do that, the jumbled interface interpreted the music as "code." At the bottom, it linked to a video of a guitarist showing how to play it. This arrangement from my preferred site, Ultimate Guitar Chords, uses three of the easiest chords (G, C, D). It tells you where to put your fingers, offers a strum pattern, and a video to guide you through it. Ultimate Guitar, accessed through Google, would have been more helpful from the start than using ChatGPT. This fall, New Jersey has seen many uncharacteristically warm days of 70- and 80-degree weather, culminating in the hottest Halloween ever. What gives? Google's AI Overview attributes the record-breaking temperatures to global warming, rising temperatures in the bordering ocean, and the heat island effect in cities. I also learned the state is warming faster than others nearby. (Not good!) ChatGPT's first answer was inaccurate, citing "high pressure systems," which it ripped from an article in the Asbury Park Press about lack of rainfall. It quotes David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University: "We owe this drought to an unusually persistent ridge of high pressure over the region back to late August which has produced clear skies and dry air." Search Test #5: Where to Watch Tesla Robotaxi Reveal? Winner: Google We know ChatGPT favors quick summaries over lengthy explanations, which sometimes is a matter of preference, but in this case it got in the way of surfacing the result I wanted altogether. On Oct. 10, Elon Musk hosted a glitzy reveal party in Hollywood for Tesla's upcoming robotaxi lineup. I asked ChatGPT where I could watch the event, and it suggested a 7-minute summary video. That's potentially helpful since the full event video ran for over an hour, but it was not what I was looking for. In a follow-up question, I asked ChatGPT to link to the original video, and it failed. Google surfaced the original video first in its results. This cemented for me that Google will remain the go-to choice for those looking to get their information from the original source. Final Score: 3 Google, 1 Tied, 1 ChatGPT ChatGPT search is a big step forward for OpenAI, particularly with how it links to sources. It's very similar to Google, with both offering an AI overview along with a list of links, but for now I expect most people will stick with Google. In some scenarios, ChatGPT search could be a great option, particularly for a quick summary of an issue with no ads and no serious need to dig deeper. In most cases, Google will likely suffice, offering a similar AI-powered overview of the information, plus more resources to dig into further and take ownership over the information you consume. OpenAI also needs to build trust with consumers; Google has exceptionally high brand recognition. With a few more product releases, however, ChatGPT search may be on the way.

I Compared ChatGPT Search and Google, and Google Should Be Worried

For decades, whenever you've needed to know something, you've googled it. What time's the Super Bowl? How do you fix a leaky faucet? What's the difference between the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 15? What will the weather be like tomorrow? Who is Maria Callas? On top of its original goal of indexing the web, Google has evolved to be able to dig information out of it and serve it up to you without you actually having to visit a website. Try a Google search today, and for quite a few of those questions above, you'll see the answer at the top of the results -- no extra click needed. Now, generative AI models like ChatGPT are promising to do that job faster, more comprehensively, and more helpfully than Google does -- even as Google has added AI answers to its own pages in response. Case in point: OpenAI has just launched ChatGPT web search for Plus subscribers, and free users will get the update soon. So will we all soon be ChatGPTing rather than Googling when we need to know something? I pitted the current leader in web search against this new arrival, comparing them across a variety of key areas to see what sort of results I'd get -- and if I was Google, I'd be worried at how good its AI rival already is. We often use a web search to find out what's happening in the moment or the near future, so I asked both search engines when my soccer team's next game was going to take place (and used its nickname to make it harder). Full marks across the board, as Google and ChatGPT both gave me the correct time and date, and even told me what TV channel it will air on. What about the weather? Again, pretty much level, with both search engines returning a week's worth of forecast -- though the visuals Google used were a bit more useful. You can specify different locations and different times, and both Google and ChatGPT knew my current location (I'm guessing through my IP address). Then I asked about the Squid Game 2 trailer that recently dropped. Google search has the advantage of a News tab, of course, whereas ChatGPT search is still in its early stages, so I had to specify "news" in my query on the latter. ChatGPT gave me some useful information about the upcoming season, but Google was better at surfacing actual news headlines -- and at finding the trailer. OpenAI says it has signed partnerships with certain news, sports, and weather providers, and generally speaking, ChatGPT search already does a good job here. However, Google still has the edge: It's got its hooks deeper into the web, it covers a broader range of sources, and it presents more information in its results. Next I tested the search engines on getting instructions for a few simple tasks: resetting an iPhone, making an omelette, and cleaning a shower. As you might expect, Google was better at surfacing good-quality web links for the task, while ChatGPT was better at writing out the steps itself, with links back to sources (there's a debate to be had about which is better for the publishers and human writers supplying the content, but we'll save that for another day). As far as I could tell, ChatGPT's instructions were reliable enough, and all sourced from reputable sites. Google, meanwhile, chose well when it came to its links -- and for some search requests would display its AI overview responses as well. For the iPhone question, both Google and ChatGPT summarized Apple's official instructions using AI, and linked back to the Apple page. At this stage, Google wins when it comes to displaying additional content beyond web links, including YouTube videos and posts from social media -- though ChatGPT will occasionally display a YouTube link too, if it thinks it's needed. In cases where both search tools showed instructions generated by AI, ChatGPT usually had the more detailed and useful ones, though there often isn't much to differentiate between them. Of course, I can only really scrape the surface when it comes to these kinds of searches, and the results (and their quality) are going to vary depending on what you want to do. Which search option you prefer might depend on whether you want a link straight to a website you can trust for advice (for that, Google is still your best bet), or whether you want an AI-generated summary of what you need to do (which is where ChatGPT really excels). As I've already touched on, Google has the advantage when it comes to how deep it can go on the web, and how many additional tools it can call upon. If you search for a specific webcam or coffee machine you want to buy, for instance, Google is much better at including a long list of purchasing options (including sponsored content) alongside its search results. ChatGPT does offer some purchasing links in its responses, but there aren't as many of them, and they're included in the text rather than shown separately. It also doesn't have Google's Shopping tab, which lets you narrow down selections based on price, look for specific brands and features, and check user reviews. It's the same story with places: ChatGPT can make an attempt with searches like "nearby coffee shop," and it gave me some decent answers when I asked, but it's not at Google's level at the moment. For better or for worse, Google knows much more about me, and that can help when it comes to recognizing the sort of places I like, and where I've been before. Google search can seamlessly link out to Google Maps, which helps when looking at reviews or getting directions somewhere. ChatGPT search provides links to sites such as TripAdvisor for reviews, and actually opens Google Maps if you want directions somewhere. While I was impressed with how much shopping and map information ChatGPT has access to already, I'll still be using Google for these searches for the foreseeable future. Overall, Google remains ahead when it comes to finding information on the web, which is really no surprise: It's been around since the late '90s and has had a long time to refine its craft. Where ChatGPT impresses though, is in how clean and straightforward its interface is -- and when you've grown used to Google search results stuffed with adverts and SEO trickery, it's quite a refreshing change. Of course, ChatGPT web search is just getting started. OpenAI can afford to roll out a sleek, user-friendly interface now, and think about making money and putting ads in later. But in terms of how it looks and operates at the moment, I was pleasantly surprised with how well it distills all the noise of the web, presenting answers without any fuss or clutter. For complex, multi-faceted searches, ChatGPT can actually best Google. When I asked "which R.E.M. record had the most troubled production?" ChatGPT gave me the right answer (Fables of the Reconstruction) and the reasons why, whereas Google sent me to pages talking more generally about the worst R.E.M. record. ChatGPT makes it easier to ask follow-up questions too. I also like the way ChatGPT presents its sources: The links are there if you need them, but displayed subtly, and help to guard against hallucinations (which let's be honest, are still an issue). While I'm not going to stop Googling anytime soon, I'll definitely be using ChatGPT regularly for certain types of queries, and there's no doubt the AI bot has the potential to transform the way we find information online -- a shift Google is already quickly trying to prepare for with its own AI offerings.

ChatGPT Search vs Google Search: OpenAI's Search Engine Falls Short

For navigational, local, and shopping queries, Google Search is far better than ChatGPT Search. OpenAI recently launched its AI-powered ChatGPT Search to challenge Google's dominance in the search engine space. In fact, OpenAI also released an extension to change the default search engine to ChatGPT Search in web browsers. While the competition is heating up, we have compared ChatGPT Search and Google Search to find out whether OpenAI can stand up to Google. On that note, let's go through our analysis. Informational queries are those kind of search queries where users seek information, often requiring follow-up questions. For example, questions such as "why is the sky blue" or "when is Coldplay performing" or "diabetes symptoms" are informational queries. For these kinds of questions, ChatGPT Search stands out. Coupled with LLM's rich knowledge and the latest data from the web, ChatGPT Search does a splendid job explaining things. And since it has a chat interface, users are well-suited to ask follow-up questions and gain more knowledge along the way. On the other side, Google's newly integrated AI Overview also curates data from the web and summarizes them neatly. In the past, AI Overview suggested some strange answers, but Google seems to have fixed it to a large extent. And in case, you prefer 10 blue links, you can explore them right below. Google's advantage is that it displays results from webpages, YouTube videos, images, latest news articles, journals, blogs, and more. While ChatGPT largely offers answers in text, Google Search allows you to check out relevant videos, images, and recent news around the topic. It also shows dedicated infographics and knowledge graphs to help the user. Overall, for informational queries, it's down to user preference, but I still prefer Google Search because I have access to diverse multimedia resources. During my testing, I installed OpenAI's official extension and it changed the default search engine to ChatGPT Search in Chrome. I was keen to test out a promising alternative to Google, but soon my excitement faded. Turns out, I perform a lot of navigational queries like opening an official website through Google Search, looking for a Wikipedia article, or trying to find an old piece I read sometime back. Basically, you are not looking for information, but aiming to reach a specific destination. For these kinds of search queries, ChatGPT Search is quite limiting, and frankly, it's not designed for this use case. You don't want an LLM-generated answer to open Twitter or Instagram. You just want to click a link. That's all. While ChatGPT Search also provides links on top, the experience is relatively slow. I couldn't force myself to use ChatGPT Search, and quickly turned to Google to find web links. Now, coming to transactional queries where people search to purchase something on the internet. People usually search "buy iPhone 16", "hotels in Paris" or "order grocery." Here again, ChatGPT Search generates a response using its language model and adds a link to the top. On the other hand, Google shows official as well as e-commerce listings from third-party websites where you can directly place an order. I tried again and looked for hotels. ChatGPT Search displayed six hotels in an interactive map, but since it lacks user reviews and other key information, I didn't find the listing helpful. Simply put, for online shopping, ChatGPT Search falls short. OpenAI should work on something like Perplexity's Pro shopping feature where it shows products in a grid with sources right below. Coming to local searches, Google has a massive advantage because of Maps integration. Whether you are on the web or mobile, Google displays accurate results near your location. For search queries like "pharmacy near me" or "best places to visit in Paris", Google Search is an incredible tool. Coupled with user reviews from Maps, people find Google Search to be more reliable. OpenAI has also integrated Maps into ChatGPT Search, but in my testing, I found it limiting. If you have updated the ChatGPT memory about your location in the past, it will fetch that location to show you local results. It does show a map preview, but it's not customized to your real-time location. Overall, the experience is not personalized and I wouldn't use it for local searches. One of the key talking points of ChatGPT Search is that it now has access to the web including many partner media outlets for fetching current information from around the world. So be it current events, sports scores, trending topics, or checking weather, ChatGPT Search can do it all. That said, the response is again text-heavy. I searched "Arsenal vs Juventus" in ChatGPT Search and it started giving information from 2005. Only at the end, it mentioned the recent match. In contrast, Google Search understands the query and shows the recent scorecard in a neat table, with the option to view the match recap. For weather status, ChatGPT Search does a good enough job, but again it's not personalized to your real-time location. You get real-time weather information for the location it remembers from its memory. As for product comparison, ChatGPT Search is simply better than Google. I searched "iPhone 16 Pro vs S24 Ultra" in ChatGPT Search and it gave me the pros and cons, detailing the two devices in bullet points. Surprisingly, it didn't hallucinate and the information was quite accurate. I even prompted it to create a table comparing both devices and it did a great job. On the other hand, Google Search showed comparisons from various outlets. AI Overview didn't kick in here. This is where ChatGPT Search shines as it can fetch information and summarize them in a user-friendly manner. I would say for product comparison, ChatGPT Search is a far better product. While there are many AI tools for research, I still prefer ChatGPT because of its vast knowledge. And now that it has access to the web, it can pull recent scientific papers and journals and summarize them quickly. In my usage, I have found ChatGPT Search to be a great companion for research work. Often, I want to learn about the history behind a technology and ChatGPT has delivered every single time. Recently, I learned about GPU architecture in detail using ChatGPT Search. Not to mention, you can ask follow-up questions to find recent information on the subject and dive deeper to gain more knowledge. On Google, you have to manually search and find key information, but ChatGPT Search makes it quick and easy. The only issue is hallucination, but so far, I have seen ChatGPT hallucinating much less than before. You always have the option to click on the cited link and verify the information by yourself. I know it becomes a hassle, but that's the only reliable way to use ChatGPT as a research companion. Google has been around for over two decades, and it has become the default interface to browse the web and find information. Notably, Google has shaped user behavior on how to go about finding things on the internet. Breaking this deeply ingrained user habit won't be an easy feat for OpenAI. Let me be clear, I felt restricted when I made ChatGPT Search my default search engine. It somehow felt limiting, having to deal with text results largely. Google Search feels like an open experience, having access to multimedia resources. Having said that, ChatGPT Search is great for informational queries where users want to learn and gain more knowledge. Apart from that, for research work and product comparisons too, you can rely on ChatGPT Search. Overall, it's a long way to go before ChatGPT Search can match Google Search.