Hatch Communications
Hatch Communications
Hatch Communications

Thought Leadership

Can SearchGPT Truly Challenge Google?

by Aimee Crossland

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Since OpenAI announced Chat GPT in 2022, the AI generator has become a household name, everyone’s heard of it, whether they use it regularly or not.  

Since then, the search landscape has undergone a refresh, with Google launching its Generative AI Overviews which aim to answer search queries more accurately, while offering multiple features like follow up questions, quick answers and even searching through video uploads.  

But with change comes challengers, and OpenAI have taken one step closer to defining themselves as a search provider.  

It’s been quite contentious as to whether ChatGPT operates as a search engine, due to its lack of crawling, indexing and ability to retrieve information from across the web, but with the promise of SearchGPT, the question mark hovering over OpenAI is disappearing. 

Currently in prototype phase, SearchGPT will look to combine the functionality of ChatGPT (think conversational search) while introducing a real time element to share up to date information from across the internet all while providing links to relevant sources.   

Ultimately, it’s here to take on the big players in search, but how will it stand out and what impact will it have on digital PR?  

 We want answers fast, but we want the right answer more 

Generative AI offers users the opportunity to get direct answers to highly specific search queries. Through combining information from multiple sources across the web, users can expect to get the exact information they’re looking for, neatly wrapped up.  

Google will be introducing the follow up question aspect to their functionality, but as ChatGPT is already known for its conversational abilities, it’s possible these highly specific questions could very well move to SearchGPT.  

Credit Pexels, Michael Burrows 

How do you get your brand noticed, if the information is front and centre? 

Google Overviews currently provide a list of sources, and SearchGPT are promising to do the same. Offering a space to direct users to highly relevant places on the web. Therefore, it’s hugely important brands are still placing emphasis on creating helpful, informative and relevant content so they stand out as the go to source to these AI engines.  

SEO will play a part in SearchGPT, as they move to a crawling and indexing functionality, but it will look slightly different to the ranking system we’re used to. As such brands need to consider how they can be served as a go-to resource.  

How can Digital PR help in the world of conversational search?  

Digital PR is proven to help improve visibility of brands, and securing brand mentions through expert led commentary and highly relevant thought leadership pieces, will be key. We’ve seen through Google Overviews that authoritative sites are being served as sources, and SearchGPT will be the same. They’ve outlined how they’re committed to partnering with both publishers and creators to serve the most valuable content to users.  

Ultimately, getting your brands featured in authoritative and relevant publications will still be the go-to!  

Constantly having a finger on the pulse as to what your audience are searching for, and where, will also help determine digital PR strategies and how we can leverage this new wave of AI search.  

 

The way we search and where we search are changing, with the likes of social media platforms and now AI generators becoming the go to sources for information. It’s vital brands stay ahead of the curve and have a strong understanding of how they can own their space and drive visibility in this changing landscape.  

 

If you want to find out more about digital PR and getting your brand seen, reach out at digital@hatch.group   

Since OpenAI announced Chat GPT in 2022, the AI generator has become a household name, everyone’s heard of it, whether they use it regularly or not.  

Since then, the search landscape has undergone a refresh, with Google launching its Generative AI Overviews which aim to answer search queries more accurately, while offering multiple features like follow up questions, quick answers and even searching through video uploads.  

But with change comes challengers, and OpenAI have taken one step closer to defining themselves as a search provider.  

It’s been quite contentious as to whether ChatGPT operates as a search engine, due to its lack of crawling, indexing and ability to retrieve information from across the web, but with the promise of SearchGPT, the question mark hovering over OpenAI is disappearing. 

Currently in prototype phase, SearchGPT will look to combine the functionality of ChatGPT (think conversational search) while introducing a real time element to share up to date information from across the internet all while providing links to relevant sources.   

Ultimately, it’s here to take on the big players in search, but how will it stand out and what impact will it have on digital PR?  

 We want answers fast, but we want the right answer more 

Generative AI offers users the opportunity to get direct answers to highly specific search queries. Through combining information from multiple sources across the web, users can expect to get the exact information they’re looking for, neatly wrapped up.  

Google will be introducing the follow up question aspect to their functionality, but as ChatGPT is already known for its conversational abilities, it’s possible these highly specific questions could very well move to SearchGPT.  

Credit Pexels, Michael Burrows 

How do you get your brand noticed, if the information is front and centre? 

Google Overviews currently provide a list of sources, and SearchGPT are promising to do the same. Offering a space to direct users to highly relevant places on the web. Therefore, it’s hugely important brands are still placing emphasis on creating helpful, informative and relevant content so they stand out as the go to source to these AI engines.  

SEO will play a part in SearchGPT, as they move to a crawling and indexing functionality, but it will look slightly different to the ranking system we’re used to. As such brands need to consider how they can be served as a go-to resource.  

How can Digital PR help in the world of conversational search?  

Digital PR is proven to help improve visibility of brands, and securing brand mentions through expert led commentary and highly relevant thought leadership pieces, will be key. We’ve seen through Google Overviews that authoritative sites are being served as sources, and SearchGPT will be the same. They’ve outlined how they’re committed to partnering with both publishers and creators to serve the most valuable content to users.  

Ultimately, getting your brands featured in authoritative and relevant publications will still be the go-to!  

Constantly having a finger on the pulse as to what your audience are searching for, and where, will also help determine digital PR strategies and how we can leverage this new wave of AI search.  

 

The way we search and where we search are changing, with the likes of social media platforms and now AI generators becoming the go to sources for information. It’s vital brands stay ahead of the curve and have a strong understanding of how they can own their space and drive visibility in this changing landscape.  

 

If you want to find out more about digital PR and getting your brand seen, reach out at digital@hatch.group   

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