I Compared ChatGPT and Google Search and Google Should Be Concerned

Posted on November 8, 2024 by resourcefulman

For decades, whenever you needed to know something, you Googled it. What time is the Super Bowl? How to fix a leaking faucet? What is the difference between iPhone 16 and iPhone 15? What will the weather be like tomorrow? Who is Maria Callas?

Beyond its original purpose of indexing the Internet, Google has evolved to be able to extract information from it and provide it to you without having to actually visit a website. Try a Google search today and you’ll see the answer to many of the questions above at the top of the results – no extra clicking required.

Now generative AI models like ChatGPT promise to do the job faster, more completely, and more efficiently than Google, even though Google has responded by adding AI responses to its own pages . Case in point: OpenAI just launched ChatGPT web search for Plus subscribers, and free users will receive an update soon.

So will we all soon be using ChatGPT instead of Googling when we need to know something? I pitted the current web search leader against this new entrant, comparing them across a variety of key areas to see what kind of results I’d get—and if I were Google, I’d be worried about how good its AI competitor was. is.

News, sports, weather

ChatGPT works well with sports scores and matches. 1 credit

We often use web searches to find out what’s going on currently or in the near future, so I asked both search engines when my soccer team’s next game was (and used their nickname to make it harder). Top marks across the board as Google and ChatGPT gave me the correct time and date and even told me what TV channel it would be airing on.

What about the weather? Again, almost on par: both search engines return a weekly forecast, although the visuals Google used were a little more helpful. You can specify different places and different times, and both Google and ChatGPT knew my current location (via my IP address, I’m guessing).

Google can also provide a lot of sports information. 1 credit

Then I asked about the Squid Game 2 trailer that came out recently. Of course, Google search has the benefit of a News tab, whereas ChatGPT search is still in its early stages, so I had to specify “news” in my query for the latter. ChatGPT gave me some useful information about the upcoming season, but Google did a better job of displaying actual news headlines and finding the trailer.

OpenAI says it has signed partnerships with some news, sports and weather providers, and generally speaking, ChatGPT search already works well here. However, Google still has the advantage: it penetrates deeper into the web, covers a wider range of sources, and provides more information in its results.

Tips and Guides

ChatGPT will confidently tell you how to do something. 1 credit

I then tested search engines for instructions for a few simple tasks: rebooting an iPhone, making an omelet, and cleaning the shower. As you might expect, Google was better at finding quality web links for this task, and ChatGPT was better at recording the steps themselves with links to sources (there is debate about which is better for publishers and users). human writers providing content, but we’ll save that for another day).

As far as I could tell, the ChatGPT instructions were fairly reliable and taken from reputable sites. Meanwhile, Google made smart choices when it came to links and also displayed AI review answers for some search queries. For the iPhone, both Google and ChatGPT have summarizedApple’s official instructions for using AI and provided a link back to Apple’s page.

Google still prefers links for many guides and tips. 1 credit

At this point, Google wins when it comes to displaying additional content beyond web links, including YouTube videos and social media posts, although ChatGPT will sometimes also display a YouTube link if it deems it necessary. In cases where both search tools displayed AI-generated instructions, ChatGPT typically provided more detailed and useful instructions, although there was often not much difference between the two.

Of course, I can only scratch the surface of such searches, and the results (and their quality) will vary depending on what you want to do. Which search option you prefer may depend on whether you want a direct link to a website you can trust for advice (in which case Google is still the best choice), or whether you want an AI-generated summary of what you need to do (this is where ChatGPT really excels ).

Shopping

ChatGPT has some maps and places capabilities. 1 credit

As I said before, Google has an advantage when it comes to the depth of its penetration of the Internet and the number of additional tools it can use. For example, if you’re searching for a specific webcam or coffee machine you want to buy, Google is much better at including a long list of purchase options (including sponsored content) next to the search results.

ChatGPT does offer some shopping links in its answers, but there aren’t many and they are included in the text rather than shown separately. It also doesn’t have Google’s Shopping tab, which lets you narrow your choices by price, search for specific brands and features, and check user reviews.

Google Search can get some help from Google Maps. 1 credit

Finding a place to go

It’s the same story with places: ChatGPT can try to search for “cafe near me” and it gave me some decent answers when I asked, but it’s not Google level at the moment. For better or worse, Google knows a lot more about me, and that can help when it comes to figuring out what places I like and where I’ve been before.

Google Search can easily link to Google Maps, which helps when viewing reviews or getting directions to somewhere. ChatGPT Search provides links to sites like TripAdvisor for reviews and actually opens Google Maps if you need directions to somewhere. While I was impressed by how much shopping and map information ChatGPT already has access to, I’ll still be using Google for these searches for the foreseeable future.

Search interface

ChatGPT’s responses are clean and clear. 1 credit

Overall, Google remains ahead when it comes to finding information on the Internet, which is not surprising: it has been around since the late 90s and has taken a long time to perfect its craft. However, ChatGPT is impressive in how clean and simple its interface is – and when you’re used to Google search results filled with ads and SEO gimmicks, it’s quite a refreshing change.

Of course, ChatGPT web search is just getting started. OpenAI can afford to roll out a sleek, user-friendly interface now and worry about making money and advertising later. But in terms of how it looks and works so far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well it clears up all the noise of the Internet, providing answers without any fuss or clutter.

Google can struggle with complex search queries and questions. 1 credit

Final Verdict: ChatGPT is surprisingly good.

For complex, multifaceted searches, ChatGPT may be better than Google. When I asked, “Which REM record was the most problematic to produce?” ChatGPT gave me the correct answer ( “Fables of Reconstruction “) and reasons, while Google sent me to pages talking more generally about REM’s worst record. ChatGPT also makes it easy to ask follow-up questions.

I also like the way ChatGPT presents its sources: the links are there if you need them, but are displayed discreetly and help guard against hallucinations (which, frankly, are still a problem ). While I don’t plan to stop Googling anytime soon, I’ll definitely be using ChatGPT regularly for certain types of queries, and there’s no doubt that an AI-powered bot has the potential to change the way people search for information on the Internet—Google is already doing that. is quickly trying to prepare for this with its own AI offerings .

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