OpenAI has officially launched ChatGPT Search, an advancement of its earlier SearchGPT prototype introduced this summer

This new feature, integrated within the ChatGPT platform, aims to deliver “timely answers” to user inquiries by pulling information from various online sources.

Utilizing an enhanced version of OpenAI’s GPT-4o model, ChatGPT Search provides users with information, images, and data such as sports scores, news updates, stock prices, and more, along with links to relevant sources. Users can ask follow-up questions to refine their search further.

The feature allows ChatGPT to automatically search the web based on the user’s queries, although there’s also an option for users to initiate a search by clicking on the new web search icon.

Attribution for responses is provided both inline and in a sidebar, crediting news organizations and other data sources with which OpenAI has licensing agreements. For instance, searching for weekend events in San Francisco may yield a summary from local news sites, and a subsequent query about restaurants will present a list of local dining options. Queries related to election results will reference established sources like the Associated Press and Reuters.

Initially, ChatGPT Search will be available to ChatGPT Plus and Team users on both mobile and web platforms, with plans to extend access to enterprise and educational customers in the coming weeks, followed by free users.

Additionally, OpenAI has released a browser extension that enables users to set ChatGPT Search as their default search engine in Chrome.

The company intends to continuously enhance the search capabilities, particularly in areas like shopping and travel, and to utilize its o1 “reasoning” models for more comprehensive research. OpenAI also plans to integrate ChatGPT Search with its Advanced Voice Mode feature and make it accessible to users not logged into ChatGPT.

However, some publishers have expressed concerns regarding AI-generated summaries like ChatGPT Search and Google’s AI Overviews, arguing that they may undermine traffic to the original sources. A study indicated that AI Overviews could negatively impact approximately 25% of publisher traffic by reducing emphasis on links to articles.

In response, OpenAI has taken feedback from publishing partners into account regarding how ChatGPT Search identifies the most relevant articles for a query, as well as how it determines summary length and the inclusion of quotations from those articles.