Notes on Chatgpt Search: Better than Perplexity?
After much speculation, OpenAI launched the Chatgpt Search feature. It can now search the Internet based on your query and find relevant content with links to the sources in the Chatgpt app. OpenAI strongly believes generative web search is the next big thing and has the potential to disrupt Google’s monopoly on search. At the same time, it takes on existing players like Perplexity. I feel it’s more of a threat to Perplexity and similar products than Google search.
This article discusses the Chatgpt search in detail, provides a comparative overview with Perplexity, and discusses its current status and prospects.
What did he mean by that? 🤔
TL;DR
- OpenAI’s Chatgpt search is the evolution of the Searchgpt prototype, powered by a fine-tuned version of GPT-4o.
- For real-time searches, Perplexity is much better than Chatgpt Search.
- Chatgpt Search can access your IP and ISP details. This gives additional information to provide localised responses.
- Google search is still undefeated for product searching.
- Google’s Q3 earnings clearly show that GenAI search has not significantly impacted.
- The masses are still unaware of GenAI Search products; however, the growth in adoption is insane.
Chatgpt search as the Product
As you may already be aware, Chatgpt could always search the web for answers. However, the implementation always appeared half-hearted, but this time, it looked like a complete product. If you were unaware, OpenAI launched a prototype project in July called SearchGPT, and this time, they implemented the improvised version right inside the Chatgpt.
However, it is more than just LLM paired with an API to access the internet. As per OpenAI
The search model is a fine-tuned version of GPT-4o, post-trained using novel synthetic data generation techniques, including distilling outputs from OpenAI o1-preview. ChatGPT search leverages third-party search providers, as well as content provided directly by our partners, to provide the information users are looking for.
This aptly explains the superior search results. The base model is GPT-4o, which has been fine-tuned using synthetic data from the o1-preview model. Chatgpt also collects information using Bing as the search engine.
But how good is it, and can it replace Google search and Perplexity?
search is my favorite feature we have launched in chatgpt since the original the launch!
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 31, 2024
it has probably doubled my usage over the past few weeks. https://t.co/alD11AwUUb
Chatgpt Search Vs. Perplexity
If any company directly rivals the new Chatgpt search, it is Perplexity. It has been the pioneer of generative AI search and has been in the game for the last two years. Now, with this launch, they are going to face some heat.
The masses haven’t heard of Perplexity yet.
Chatgpt already has 200 million active weekly users and over 10 million paying subscribers. At the same time, Perplexity has 15 million monthly users, an increase of 50% from last year.
Interestingly, the use of Perplexity has surged following the release of ChatGPT’s search feature.
This is interesting as OpenAI has now validated the GenAI Search as a product, and more people are discovering Perplexity as a valid alternative.
But is it truly the superior product, or just the final glow before the light fades? So, let’s briefly compare both search apps.
Real-time data
One of Chatgpt search’s most marketed features is real-time data. At any given point, users can access real-time data about any event.
#1. Stock/Crypto data
Many people hop from app to app to gather financial data, and this is one of the niches where GenAI search can succeed over the traditional search. So, let’s see how both of the apps fare.
I asked both of them to get me the current Bitcoin price.
Chatgpt Search
While Chatgpt could create a graph of the Bitcoin price, it is not real-time and probably depends on the same search results as any other query.
Perplexity
Perplexity is miles ahead in this. The render is clean, more detailed, and, most importantly, real-time. You can even see the stats changing on the screen.
There is no comparison between these two on this front. Perplexity is hands down better.
Let’s make it more challenging by comparing the Bitcoin and Nvidia data for the last five years.
Chatgpt Search
This could have been better. The data and plots needed to be more accurate.
Perplexity
Perplexity was much better here as well. The chart is real-time, interactive, and neat.
The chart is accurate and has most of the information that you need. You also get a nice analysis of the data points. In the last five years, you can observe that Nvidia has performed much better than Bitcoin—all thanks to Chatgpt. 😅
#2. Weather Update
Weather is also a common search category. Even I often search for weather forecasts, so I would like to use this feature myself.
Chatgpt Search
This is somewhat generic but one of the most used use cases. So, let’s test it out. I asked about today’s weather and got a nicely formatted response.
This was a bit surprising, not because of beautifully rendered accurate results but because it got my locations correct when the original prompt did not mention it.
Does Chatgpt know my IP address?
So, digging deeper, I found that Chatgpt collects your location information, presumably from your IP address. It also shares it with third-party OpenAI partners to provide location-optimized results, as mentioned on this page.
So, I asked it to share my IP and ISP to see if it knew my IP, and It was able to answer correctly.
I was curious, so I asked how it knew my IP address directly, and it flat-out refused to tell me that it knew my IP address and ISP details.
It said it used third-party websites to access my IP, but how could that be possible? Even if it uses these sites, it should be able to see the IP of the data centre, not mine.
However, I dug even further and asked it to find the best restaurants near me. This was to ensure that it knew my exact address in the city. Turns out it is not the case.
It knows the city I am in but not my exact location. Like Google, there may be an opt-in feature to get highly personalized search results for an enhanced user experience.
Surprisingly, it does not access the IP when in Incognito.
Perplexity
I tried the same on Perplexity, but it does not collect the IP and related information. However, it hallucinates and outputs a random address.
Perplexity does not collect user data, so it defaults to San Francisco when asked for weather without the place details.
However, the render is clean, beautiful, and interactive. An opt-in feature for Perplexity can improve the overall user experience.
Verdict
- Perplexity is hands down a better product for real-time data as long as location isn’t involved.
- Perplexity can give real-time financial updates in a nicely rendered, interactive frame.
- Chatgpt search can access your IP. Hence, it is better than Perplexity for searches that needs location data.
Searching Products Online
One of the most popular use cases of Search engines is finding products you want to buy, and Google dominates this space.
However, can these freshies challenge the current king? Let’s make a comparison.
So, I asked them to find me the accessories and clothing for an Indian wedding for men, and these are the responses.
OpenAI Search
I like how it explains all the nuances of Indian weddings and clothing. I would not use it to find a product that I will buy.
However, it has its uses, and that is when you need someone to recommend you. It also recommended some nearby stores on the map.
Perplexity
Let’s see how good Perplexity is.
This time, I liked Perplexity’s response more than Chatgpt’s. It had additional information about trending styles and tips, which I found helpful, but this was a subjective choice.
Verdict
- If you aim to find a specific product, Google is undoubtedly the best choice.
- For general product recommendations, either search app can be used based on your preference.
- Both apps function similarly in providing recommendations.
- However, with OpenAI’s location access, it can offer localized recommendations, suggesting nearby places to find the product.
What does it hold for the future of search?
There’s widespread online speculation about the future of search, with many predicting that Google’s dominance as a search engine may be waning owing to Google’s perceived inaction. But how true is it?
Google recently shared its Q3 earnings, and search revenue is massive. Google’s revenue from search alone was $49.4 billion in the September quarter, up 12% year over year. The trend seems consistent over the past few quarters.
Generative AI search is still in its infancy. As the post below says, the average search volume is less than 6% of Google’s. Despite Perplexity’s 1600% growth, it’s still unable to reduce Google’s search volume.
即使是风头最劲的 ChatGPT 每月的问询量也不到 Google 检索量的 6%，用户惯性巨大。过去两年中，最成功的套壳应用 Perplexity 实现了五千万的 ARR，年对年收入增长 1600%，但问搜索量对比巨头可以忽略不计。。现在 ChatGPT 内建 Search 能力，继续通过用户习惯和覆盖量压制后来者，而且 Perplexity… pic.twitter.com/eMpjCfMp32
— indigo (@indigo11) November 3, 2024
Is it too early to call in the game?
Yes, we are in the first leg of AI-powered applications and declaring the winner or loser will be a mistake. Even Google has started integrating AI overviews in searches, and from their earning call post, they are serious about GenAI search.
GenAI search is still far from reaching the mainstream, but people are beginning to explore these tools. As we’ve discussed, Perplexity and ChatGPT Search can outperform traditional search for many use cases—and sometimes, the reverse is true.
