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People have been using internet searches in an easy way for 25 years.
Enter a keyword or phrase and the search engine returns pages of results that are identical or conceptually consistent with the query. The results were ranked by relevance – the word that became the Holy Grail for the coveted No. 1 spot on the results page.
Marketers everywhere were shouting, “How do we become more relevant?” and “How do we rank?”
The answers would provide valuable organic – even free – traffic to your brand’s content.
Well, about a week ago the next big step in the search came. It's not really a development; Rather, it is a decentralization of the way people can find information on the Internet.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT as an AI-powered web search engine that brings real-time information directly into conversations. Starting this week, paying subscribers and people on the SearchGPT waitlist can access the new features. Free, enterprise, and education users will receive the new feature in the coming weeks.
What impact does it have on traditional search? Should this change your criticism of relevance and ranking? Are you now asking yourself, “How do we become THE answer?” and “How do we get quoted?”
Instead of turning to the chatbot to find out, we asked Robert Rose, CMI's chief strategy advisor, for his opinion. Read on or watch:
Reflection on the beginnings of the search
The beginnings of internet search centered on the giant Google. It set the standard for everything.
Have you ever wondered why Google's search results page is so ugly? Why have they never used images to break up the page or published icons to make navigation easier? Google wanted to make searches as fast as possible. Google has been emphasizing for years how reducing the file size of its logo on search results pages saves bandwidth and therefore energy consumption. That’s how big Google was.
Google's power was such that Googlewhack was a game in the early days. The Google index was so large that most combinations of words returned many results. So the game was supposed to come up with a two-word combination that would produce exactly one result.
My favorite winner? “Concerning inadequacies.”
Googlewhack ended about 15 years ago when search indexing changed.
My point is that, like the size of the universe, it is difficult to understand how comprehensive, popular, and ubiquitous Google Search has become and the impact it has on how people access information.
But AI search is increasing. Google has started integrating AI-generated overviews as part of its classic search engine page. And over a week ago, OpenAI introduced integrated web search into ChatGPT's interface.
The ChatGPT feature uses queries to determine when users can click or tap on web results. You can also trigger web searches manually. This addition closes an important competitive gap with rivals like Copilot and Gemini, which have long offered real-time access, which isn't surprising considering their companies – Microsoft and Google – are behind two of the most popular search engines.
Is this the future vision of AI search?
Does OpenAI define AI search in the same way Google did for web search? Will it be better? Is it better yet?
As a user, I have to say it's pretty damn impressive. I used the ChatGPT Chrome extension as my default search browser and did my everyday searches like “marketing news this week” and “10-day forecast for my region.” Good results were achieved.
Additionally, the “answer” appears in the window and the query is conveniently displayed on the activity tracker on the left. Sources cited in the answer appear on the right, followed by general search results.
Now this is the interesting part. As far as I can tell, three to five sources are cited and another 12 results are provided. That’s it – no page after page of results. Some may find this bad, others may find it good. One thing is for sure: if ChatGPT sticks to this format and its search gains momentum, there will be a battle royale for the 12 positions listed for a search query.
Here's the other kicker. Articles have already been published about how OpenAI finds, indexes, and ranks content for display. Spoiler alert: It's the Bing index, which makes sense given OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft. But OpenAI also uses its own indexing bot.
I noticed that the results of my search tests on Bing did NOT have the same rankings as those on ChatGPT. For example, a search for “workflow tools” on ChatGPT returned a Techopedia entry as the fourth organic result. On Bing, this result appears on page two – around the 15th entry.
When I made a subtle change to the ChatGPT query: “OK, now I’m serious. Can you tell me the really best workflow tools?” ChatGPT produced very similar results, only the order was slightly different.
However, when I changed the ChatGPT query to “I need a marketing content workflow tool – which one is best?” ChatGPT gave me different answers overall.
Welcome to the next round of search engine optimization. How do you become THE answer? How do you become ONE of the quoted answers AND how do you become a generic search result? Of course, I expect Open AI will quickly monetize this, allowing you to buy into many of these recommendations and lists.
Will AI search be easy going?
Finally, I decided to see how ChatGPT would handle a game of Googlewhack, or rather Chatwhack. I tried my old winning combination of “repulsive inadequacies” – just two words stuck together meaninglessly.
Today Google returned exactly 15 results, all related to the Googlewhack game. ChatGPT really wanted to create a response.
Instead of saying, “You're kidding” or “Come on, that's not a real word,” ChatGPT said, “interim inconsistencies likely refer to deficiencies in a legal pleading that make it vulnerable to an appeal.” In California, for example, may a demurrer challenges a complaint on grounds such as lack of jurisdiction, lack of standing, or failure to state facts sufficient to establish a cause of action…” Insufficiency.
Uh, okay.
This Chatwhack test highlights an interesting thing to pay attention to: Your biggest insights may come from the search results you don't get. What does it say when you ask for insights into a particular restaurant or ask a technical question and get 15 nonsensical results from the Internet?
Even if there are desperate answers, ChatGPT must achieve its goal of providing an answer. In some cases, these forced answers are likely to be combinations of sources that relate to one part of the query or another.
So remember that while searchers will receive an answer, it may not be the right one.
Big adventures await in search, marketing and AI – and ChatGPT could be just the tipping point that gets you there.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
