OpenAI has officially begun testing SearchGPT, its long-awaited search engine. For now, access is limited to around 10,000 users and publishers, with plans to integrate its features into ChatGPT later on. The key innovation of SearchGPT lies in combining artificial intelligence with real-time web data. The system doesn’t just generate answers — it supports them with direct links to original sources. According to OpenAI, this approach allows the model to deliver fast, accurate, and verifiable responses.
The interface resembles the browsing mode of GPT-4: users start with a simple query, then receive an answer enhanced with clickable links, source listings at the end, and a side panel with related information. To collect up-to-date information, OpenAI developed a web crawler called OAI-SearchBot. It scans websites but does not gather data for model training — only for generating search results. Website owners are encouraged to allow the crawler in their robots.txt file so their pages can appear in SearchGPT results.
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Publishers are also given new tools to control how their content appears in SearchGPT. Importantly, opting out of model training won’t affect a site’s visibility in search results. OpenAI has announced plans to expand features for local and product search, aiming to make the service even more useful. Anyone interested can join the waitlist on the official website.
The launch has already sparked wide discussion. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt commented that “the search of the future shouldn’t be a copy of Google.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman echoed this, emphasizing that the company’s goal is to create a new, ad-free search experience focused on clarity and trust.
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Of course, there were some early hiccups — during the demo, SearchGPT misidentified the dates of a music festival in North Carolina, a mistake similar to one previously seen in Google Bard. Still, this marks the beginning of a new era in search technology. If you found this publication interesting and useful, and want more updates in internet marketing and SEO, subscribe to the organic traffic news category to receive alerts about new posts. And if you work in site optimization and promotion and need quality backlinks, learn how to safely buy external links — simply follow the link to access a verified database of trusted platforms for sponsored publications.
