In 2024, OpenAI announced a multiyear licensing deal with Condé Nast. This indicates that content from magazines such as Vogue, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, Wired, Bon Appétit will be displayed within ChatGPT and its “SearchGPT” prototype.
Other publishers to team up with OpenAI include Associated Press, Axel Springer, The Atlantic, Dotdash Meredith, Financial Times, LeMonde, NewsCorp, Prisa Media, TIME and Vox Media.
So what’s the deal about “SearchGPT”? I asked ChatGPT to tell me about itself 🙂
OpenAI hasn’t officially released “SearchGPT” publicly. In itself, the name implies a product that combines AI-powered conversation (like ChatGPT) with real-time internet search capabilities.
“SearchGPT” will likely:
- Answer questions using both AI and up-to-date search results.
- Link to sources and prioritize licensed or trusted content (like from Condé Nast publications).
- Behave more like a search engine hybrid, but with a conversational style.
How can small business owners get their content on SearchGPT?
While SearchGPT’s requirements are very similar to Google Search with its focus on Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) content, there are some differences.
According to CXL.com, traditional search is transactional. You type “best CRM tools,” skip ads, avoid lists, skim links, maybe click one.
In search engines like ChatGPT, people type paragraphs and ask for context. They’re not typing “best CRM 2025.” They’re asking, “What’s the best CRM for a 50-person B2B SaaS with a long sales cycle targeting Marketers in the US?”
So your content should:
- Focus on becoming an authority, who is mentioned, linked to or cited in several spaces.
- Feature in-depth, helpful articles related to your business specialties.
- Cite reputable sources.
- Be easily scannable, using headings, bullet points and FAQs.
- Be relevant to what your customers need to know. The more your content mirrors how people talk, the more likely it is to be picked up by SearchGPT.
Other tips:
- Use tools like “People Also Ask,” Google Trends, or Answer the Public to find common questions in your industry, then write content that directly addresses them.
- Check your website speed. According to Semrush, search engines prioritize websites that load (display their content) within 1-4 seconds.
When will SearchGPT launch?
With that big lead in, you’d expect that SearchGPT will be launched pretty soon. Not so!
It appears that ChatGPT is not planning a separate search engine. Instead, the “SearchGPT” prototype is an evolution of improvements to ChatGPT. It will not be a separate new platform.
Technically, you can use SearchGPT via ChatGPT. Simply type in a question in its search feature to get your questions answered, with sources included.
Users should continue to expect improvements to GPT itself, instead of a separate platform being created.
Since 2024, ChatGPT’s new capabilities are:
- Real time internet access: SearchGPT/ChatGPT, can now retrieve up-to-date information from the web. Unlike previous iterations, it can now answer questions about current events, weather, etc.
- Ability to provide answers with sources: With reputable links, users can now dig deeper into their research.
- Friendly follow ups: ChatGPT is conversational. It remembers context from previous queries, and is more interactive than a traditional search engine.
- No advertisements: The free version of ChatGPT does not use ads.
- Highlighting content from trusted publishers: With its licensing deals, OpenAI is now able to provide attribution to publishers, which will ensure that high quality content is provided to users.
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Source: https://openai.com/index/searchgpt-prototype/
Photo: Levart_Photographer | Unsplash