OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Search: A New Era of AI-Driven Web Browsing

How to Set New ChatGPT Search as your Browser's Default Search Engine

OpenAI have this week started rolling out it's new ChatGPT Search engine providing real-time online search capabilities within the ChatGPT AI. This new functionality provides a new competition to Google search and at the moment provides an ad free way to research quickly and efficiently. If you would like to make the new ChatGPT Search your browser default search engine, it sounds easy as installing a Chrome extension. Integrating ChatGPT as your default search engine in Chrome can significantly enhance your browsing experience by providing AI-driven insights directly from the URL bar. This guide outlines the steps to set up and optimize ChatGPT for seamless and efficient searches, offering a blend of AI-generated responses and traditional search results. To begin, download the Chrome Extension that enables ChatGPT as your default search engine. This tool allows users to conduct searches directly from the browser's URL bar, simplifying the process. Once installed, typing a query into the URL bar will automatically initiate a ChatGPT conversation, delivering AI-generated responses. This integration transforms the way users interact with search engines, providing a more intuitive and interactive experience. With ChatGPT integrated into your browser, users can enjoy a streamlined search experience. If traditional search results are preferred, simply use the command "!g [your query]" in the URL bar to redirect your query to Google. This flexibility allows users to choose between AI insights and conventional search engine results, catering to diverse preferences and needs. ChatGPT enhances search results by including images and clickable citations, making it easy to verify sources. Inline citations provide direct links for further exploration, making sure comprehensive access to information. This feature not only enriches the search experience but also promotes transparency and credibility by allowing users to trace the origin of the information provided. Currently, the ChatGPT search feature is available to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and SearchGPT waitlist users. Plans are underway to extend this feature to ChatGPT Edu, Enterprise, and Free users, broadening access to this advanced search capability. This expansion aims to provide widespread access to access to AI-driven search tools, making them available to a wider audience. ChatGPT's search functionality is accessible via chatgpt.com and through both desktop and mobile applications. This ensures users can perform web searches efficiently, receiving timely answers complete with source links for verification and further reading. The availability across multiple platforms enhances user convenience and accessibility. The integration involves sharing disassociated search queries with third-party providers like Bing. General location information is also collected to enhance search result accuracy, making sure relevant and precise information is delivered to users. This approach balances the need for personalized search results with privacy considerations, maintaining user trust. Users can initiate searches through chatgpt.com or use search shortcuts for quick access. The option to regenerate GPT-4o responses is available, offering enriched content and varied perspectives on queries. This feature encourages exploration and deeper understanding by presenting multiple viewpoints. It's important to note that search queries are subject to the usage limits of the ChatGPT plan, particularly the 4o usage restrictions. Users should be mindful of these limits to manage their search activities effectively. Awareness of these constraints helps users optimize their search experience without exceeding their plan's limitations. Setting ChatGPT as your browser's default search engine via a Chrome Extension offers a robust and flexible search experience. By combining AI-driven responses with traditional search capabilities, users can enjoy a comprehensive and efficient search process. This integration represents a significant step forward in the evolution of search technology, providing users with a powerful tool to navigate the vast expanse of online information. To learn more about the new ChatGPT search engine and how to use it over on the official OpenAI website.

OpenAI's new ChatGPT Search Chrome extension feels like a search hijacker

OpenAI's new "ChatGPT search" Chrome extension feels like nothing more than a typical search hijacker, changing Chrome's settings so your address bar searches go through ChatGPT Search instead. Yesterday, OpenAI launched its new AI search product "ChatGPT Search," which provides real-time answers to conversational searches on the platform. "ChatGPT can now search the web in a much better way than before," said an OpenAI announcement. "You can get fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources, which you would have previously needed to go to a search engine for. This blends the benefits of a natural language interface with the value of up-to-date sports scores, news, stock quotes, and more." "ChatGPT will choose to search the web based on what you ask, or you can manually choose to search by clicking the web search icon." The feature is being tested first with ChatGPT Plus and Team users, with plans to roll it out to everyone over the coming weeks. As part of the release, OpenAI released a Chrome browser extension called "ChatGPT search." The Chrome Web Store page transparently says the extension makes ChatGPT the default search engine when searching from the Chrome address bar, pushing all searches through the "https://chatgpt.com/?q=" URL. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hyped up the extension on X yesterday, stating that everyone should get ChatGPT Plus and install the extension as it is "really good." However, as pointed out by cybersecurity researcher Tal Be'ery, there is not much to this extension. All it does is modify the Chrome address bar search to use ChatGPT Search, making it feel like any garden-variety search hijacker commonly found on the Chrome Web Store. Chrome extensions always come with a risk, and while this one is harmless, there is nothing to stop the developers from introducing new privacy-concerning features in the future. However, if you wish to use ChatGPT Search without installing the extension, you can create a new search engine in Chrome to send your searches to ChatGPT. To do this, click Settings > Search engine > Manage search engines and site search. Then scroll down to "Site Search" and click the Add button. You will now be shown a dialog asking to fill in some information to create a search shortcut. For our ChatGPT search shortcut, we used the following information: Once you have saved the shortcut, click the three vertical dots next to the newly created ChatGPT Search and select Make default. This will move the new search option to the top list of search engines. Now, when you click on the address bar, type your search query, and press enter, it will send the request to ChatGPT, which will answer your query. Overall, while there does not seem to be any risk to using the ChatGPT Search extension, there is also no real value to it when you can just create a shortcut. Furthermore, adding too many extensions to Chrome only causes the browser to utilize more resources and potentially cause conflicts, making it better to keep them at a minimum.