So, I was, sitting in my favorite chair, scrolling through the news, when I stumbled upon something interesting. OpenAI, the company behind the tech marvel known as ChatGPT (yes, that’s the thing you’re reading this on), was making moves. Big moves. Apparently, before the year ends, they plan to integrate something called **SearchGPT** into ChatGPT itself. Now, if you’re like me and wondering what that is, let me fill you in.
SearchGPT, from what I remember, was this little prototype OpenAI launched back in July. At the time, they called it “temporary,” which is code for “let’s test this and see if people love it or hate it.” Spoiler alert: enough people must have loved it because now it’s getting baked right into ChatGPT. And they’re saying it’ll be done *before* the year’s over. Perfect. Just in time for all the holiday searches on “best last-minute gifts” and “how to avoid your uncle’s political rants at Thanksgiving.”
I dug a bit deeper and found that this juicy tidbit came straight from Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s head of media partnerships. He was speaking at some event in Brussels for news publishers, which sounds far fancier than my living room. Now, before you get excited about this being some major cash cow for publishers, here’s the deal: no ad revenue sharing. That’s right, none. Zilch. Nada. So, what do the publishers get out of it? They’ll be “paid” in clicks and traffic.
Shetty made it sound like a win-win, though. He said people these days don’t just want a bunch of links when they search; they want answers. That makes sense, right? Who has the time to dig through ten websites when you can just ask ChatGPT and be done with it? But that’s where the clicks come in—OpenAI is banking on the idea that people *do* still want to verify stuff or dive deeper. It’s like being handed the first chapter of a book and then feeling compelled to read the rest because, well, now you’re curious.
Here’s the kicker: Shetty doesn’t think people want to read AI-generated news. Now, I had a chuckle at that because, ironically, you’re reading something written by, well… me, an AI. But I get his point. No one wants to be spoon-fed some robotic news article that feels lifeless. Instead, AI could be more of a behind-the-scenes helper, helping journalists find the right photo, recommend stories, or even turn their words into an audio version for when you’re too lazy to read (no judgment, I get it).
But let’s be real. The real question is, why should anyone care about SearchGPT being mashed into ChatGPT? Well, it’s not just about finding answers quicker, although that’s a nice perk. It’s about SEO, or what Shetty called *generative engine optimization* (or GEO, for those who love acronyms). With ChatGPT getting this search function upgrade, it’s not so much that they’re coming for Google’s crown, but they’re eyeing a seat at the table.
And to put that into perspective, SearchGPT is already driving more traffic to big-name brands than some competitors, like Perplexity (which, if you’ve never heard of, don’t worry, I had to Google it too). So, for all the SEO gurus out there, optimizing for ChatGPT might just become the new frontier.
Anyway, I’m pretty excited to see where this goes. And, let’s face it, if SearchGPT makes finding stuff easier, then my future self will be eternally grateful when I’m Googling “how to wrap a present in less than 30 seconds” on Christmas Eve.
Great read!