Guide to SearchGPT

Have you heard all the talk about SearchGPT and you’re wondering what all the fuss is? Then you’ve come to the right place.

This new feature from OpenAI uses its AI models to give users swift, up-to-date, and relevant answers.

It certainly sounds promising so far, and it has the potential to shake up the digital marketing world. 

With a new way for consumers to search without relying solely on Google, marketers need to pay attention and find new ways to optimize for searchers.

I’m here with some fresh strategies you can introduce so you’re prepared once SearchGPT becomes mainstream. 

Key Takeaways

• SearchGPT uses AI models and real-time information from Bing’s live feed to provide fast, recent answers. 
• The way consumers search is changing and recent and emerging technologies mean marketers must take a Search Everywhere Optimization approach, where you optimize all your online platforms outside of the regular search engines for more visibility and to help searchers find you.
• It aims to make finding relevant information faster and easier by enhancing conversational capabilities.
• SearchGPT responses include clear attribution and links to the information source, allowing users to engage with more results quickly. 
• The potential for SearchGPT to directly and indirectly change the digital marketing world is significant, and marketers need to look at different ways to format and optimize content, such as adding summaries for AI to cite.

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• What is SearchGPT?
• Initial Impressions of SearchGPT
• How You Can Adapt To SearchGPT
  • Understand Large Language Model Optimization
  • Focus on Comprehensive, Quality, Up-To-Date Content
  • Acquire Mentions and Reviews
  • Structure Content For Digestibility
  • Follow Technical SEO Best Practices
• SearchGPT: Where Will Search Go Next?
• FAQs
• Conclusion

What is SearchGPT?

SearchGPT is a recent, temporary prototype from OpenAI (the same team behind ChatGPT).

It improves search functionality by blending AI-powered conversational abilities with real-time web information. It credits its sources and aims to give users accurate answers.

Rather than a list of results like you’d see on Google or Bing, it has a conversational, minimalist interface, which pulls together results from various resources. This gives users direct answers from the tool for a seamless, streamlined online search experience.

For the end user, it should allow more interactive and personalized user experiences.

Features include publisher collaboration, allowing it to offer quality content from well-known sources, although not every publisher wants to join. It pulls its results from Bing’s Live feed, so remember to optimize for that, too.

OpenAI launched SearchGPT for a limited number of users and publishers. The initial launch was ad-free, and the waitlist is currently closed.

OpenAI plans to add the best features of SearchGPT to ChatGPT in the future.

SearchGPT vs Traditional Search Engines

Traditional search engines rely on keywords and treat each search as a standalone question. SearchGPT takes a different approach. Its AI features understand context and natural language, which makes it more intuitive and perfect for diving into research and fact-checking.

A study from BrightEdge found that SearchGPT enables conversational flows and prompts searchers to enter further questions, allowing users to narrow their search and discover new information. For example, you could ask it, “How to find the best value small business loan?” and follow up by asking questions about what you need to do to qualify for the loans or a list of companies offering loans to new start-ups.

It also:

• Gives multi-faceted answers.
• Has complex reasoning. For example, you can get practical and real-life examples for more actionable content.
• Uses images and infographics, making answers easier to understand.
• Specializes in complex, in-depth answers.
• Takes answers from different platforms, including niche platforms and government sites.

In contrast, Google AI Overviews emphasize brevity, practical use cases, and current trends, and have limited images.

Initial Impressions of SearchGPT

Research from BrightEdge suggests SearchGPT provides more detailed responses than Google AI Overviews.

If you’ve got a question that needs an answer, SearchGPT can be the best option, but Google remains the go-to for finding specific information or a website where you can find more information.

But like any AI tool, it’s not great at everything.

The most significant issues for SearchGPT are accuracy and recency. If you know anything about AI, you know it’s prone to hallucinations or inaccuracies; You’ll need to accept that it doesn’t guarantee accuracy.

It might not be able to find the latest information either, such as finding information about a new product launch a few hours before it goes live.

Can SearchGPT Overtake Google?

In short, no, but it may have its own niche.

Google still dominates search with a satisfaction score of 81 in a recent American Customer Search and Social Media Survey, and SearchGPT is unlikely to unseat it. 

Let me break it down.

SearchGPT operates differently than Google. It’s integrated into ChatGPT, not a separate search engine, and can’t crawl the web like Google. 

It also won’t outpace Google in local search. Google has tons of data that SearchGPT can’t tap into yet. 

Check out how much information I get when I search Google for “Macy’s New York”:

It offers rich snippets for tours in New York, information about the size and history of Macy’s, times when the store is busy, links for directions, and, of course, the ‘People also ask’ section. 

That doesn’t mean that the two can’t work together, though.

SearchGPT has a lot of complementary and unique functions to traditional search engines, such as:

• A broader and deeper scope of information.
• A real-time feedback system that lets the platform learn and improve based on what users say.

That said, one thing that might hold SearchGPT back is privacy or data concerns. People are super picky about sharing their information, especially in the early stages when they might not fully understand how the platform will use their data. 

While SearchGPT isn’t here to dethrone Google, that doesn’t mean it lacks unique strengths. Think of it as a fresh way to increase your content’s visibility.

How You Can Adapt To SearchGPT

People’s search habits constantly evolve, and SEOs and businesses must keep up with these changes. 

New AI search tools don’t spell the end for SEO, as consumers will always turn to the internet for information — they’ll just do it in new ways, like through social media or AI tools.

Businesses still need to focus on visibility, no matter their platform. I like to call it “search everywhere optimization.” Basically, it means adjusting your digital marketing strategies to boost your chances of showing up in any type of search, including SearchGPT results. 

Below are some steps you can take to do that.

Understand Large Language Model Optimization

You’re working with a large language model (LLM), so optimize for that model. How do you make your content stand out and get picked up by AI search engines? It’s pretty simple. 

Start by learning more about natural language processing. Understanding how AI interprets language is key.

Next, build brand authority by making your content more favorable to AI models. Think about including positive reviews on your pages and providing comprehensive, helpful, and actionable content.

Focus on getting more positive brand mentions; the more high ratings you have, the better your chances of being picked up by AI models. Even having a Wikipedia page can give you extra authority in the “eyes” of LLMs.

And don’t forget to provide users with contextually relevant content that they want to engage with! (We’ll dive deeper into that next.)

Focus on Comprehensive, Quality, Up-To-Date Content

You’ve heard the “Content is King” line a million times, but more accurately now, “Content depth is now King”. Rather than producing keyword-driven content and skirting around topics, you need detailed, insightful content for increased authority and citation potential.

Not sure where to begin? Well, it always helps to keep Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines in mind.

Then, concentrate on crafting timely content that offers genuine value and is helpful for your target audience. Include:

• Expert commentary
• Citations
• Pros/cons
• Data points 

Additionally, keep an eye on new trends, use Ubersuggest for keyword suggestions, and answer questions you think searchers may have to increase your chances of being picked up by AI search engines.

You’ll also need to consider search intent (why a person is looking online). I talk about it a lot, but it’s all-important if you want to produce relevant content for searchers.

Acquire Mentions and Reviews

Now, it’s time to start building brand recognition by putting on your digital public relations cap and reaching out to journalists, influencers, and bloggers. 

Don’t forget, as I said earlier, you also need more positive brand mentions. That’s because the more mentions, the more likely AI models are to consider your content high quality.

That could be things like user-generated content reviews, comments, and forum posts. These are the types of information large language models are likely to use, so use social listening tools to discover these comments.

Another smart move is to invest more time in social media platforms, where you can encourage user-generated content, engage with customers and leads, and ask customers to leave reviews.

Also, actively reach out to customers for reviews by email once they’ve purchased and consider working with influencers for further visibility.

Structure Content For Digestibility

Many websites add key takeaways at the top of their content, and there’s a good reason for it. AI models favor structured, helpful content, so adding them can make a difference. Try including executive and closing summaries for your pieces. This can make it more likely that AI search models will highlight your content and give LLMs an easy way to grab snippets and cite you. 

Summaries also make it easier for readers to digest the main points of your piece, so they can quickly absorb what you’re saying.

Other tips for structuring content:

• Add bullets and make use of white space, like this post from my blog:

• Break up long walls of text into shorter paragraphs.
• Add headings for structure.
• Optimize content for mobile devices.
• Include images, like infographics, charts, and videos.

• Keep font sizes at 12 or more.
• Use easy-to-read fonts like Sans Serif.

Follow Technical SEO Best Practices

Technical SEO is a complex topic, so let’s keep it to a minimum by addressing some common issues. 

• First, check for any crawling and indexing issues and fix them if needed.
• Aim to keep your server response times below 500ms and optimize script execution.
• Use schema markup to structure content for better AI interpretation. 
• Keep track of your Core Web Vitals (CWVs). These measure the user experience and cover areas like page speed and stability. In case you’re in any doubt, CWVs impact your SEO, and they are a ranking factor, so you can’t afford to ignore them.

Do regular technical SEO audits by following my checklist, and complete a regular SEO audit to keep up with emerging issues.

SearchGPT: Where Will Search Go Next?

Tools like SearchGPT will change the way consumers search online. Let’s look at some of the exciting changes that could come to the future of search.

• Engagement-driven ranking: User interactions and contextual relevance are essential. If you’re creating content, think about how to use it to spark meaningful conversations and keep users engaged. 
• Content customization and personalization: AI could become a proactive assistant by suggesting content tailored for you based on previous conversations. Imagine SearchGPT including data from CRMs and other sources to personalize the search experience. For example, say you’re a start-up business looking for new funding. SearchGPT could pull sales data from your CRM system, create customer personas according to your past data, and find the previous reports and questions you’ve asked to use as a background for your presentation.
• Hybrid search experiences with visual inputs or voice commands: AI has already led to significant changes in search, but we’re moving towards even more visual, audio, and cross-media content. We might even see multimodal search output, where an avatar talks to you and answers questions.

Finally, let’s mention proactive or predictive content discovery. AI is getting smarter at predicting what a user might need next. By analyzing patterns, behaviors, preferences, and historical data, it can help you craft content that aligns with what consumers are looking for in the future.

FAQs

What is SearchGPT?

SearchGPT is a temporary prototype that uses AI and real-time web information to give users fast, accurate answers. Unlike regular search engines, it uses real-time web information from Bing’s live feed as its source for answers and allows follow-up answers for a conversational approach to search that the traditional search engines don’t offer.

How does SearchGPT work?

SearchGPT uses language models to understand user queries and answer them comprehensively. Once it becomes widely available, you can access it by logging in to your OpenAI account.

How does SearchGPT affect SEO?

Marketers must adapt to a new way of gaining visibility online and create content likely to appeal to large language models and AI-powered search options. That means writing detailed, helpful content, building brand authority, encouraging reviews, and working on getting positive brand mentions.

Conclusion

SEO is not dead, but new AI tool developments like SearchGPT mean you have to prepare for Search Everywhere Optimization.

Just like marketers have had to adjust to consumers using social media as search engines, you’ll have to do the same for SearchGPT once it’s officially launched.

Don’t let that scare you, though.

Focus on content depth, learn about large language models, and how to appeal to AI search engines.

Additionally, you need to structure your content for easier digestibility and work on gaining online reviews and mentions for authority. As always, optimize your site for SEO to increase the likelihood that AI-powered search engines will rank your site higher in search results.