SearchGPT announced 25th July 2024
In the constantly evolving world of digital marketing, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has just announced SearchGPT, a groundbreaking AI-powered search tool set to revolutionise how we find information online. This tool promises to deliver precise, direct answers, transforming the way users interact with search results. Here’s everything you need to know about SearchGPT and how it will impact your SEO strategy.
What is SearchGPT?
SearchGPT is a new AI-powered search tool developed by OpenAI. It is currently a protoype and only accessible to a small group of users and publishers who are doing extensive user-testing to work out the viability and kinks, in particular around ecommerce and local searches.Â
Unlike traditional search engines that provide a list of links, SearchGPT synthesises information to deliver direct, accurate answers to user queries. This innovative approach aims to save time and enhance the search experience by acting more like a knowledgeable assistant than a conventional search engine (TechRadar) (Windows Central).
Key Features of SearchGPT
Direct and Accurate Answers: SearchGPT provides precise responses, eliminating the need to sift through multiple links. This feature is designed to enhance user satisfaction by delivering exactly what users are looking for in a conversational manner (TechRadar) (Windows Central).
Conversational Interface: The tool supports natural language queries, allowing users to interact with it as they would with a human assistant. This shift towards conversational search is expected to change user behaviour significantly (Windows Central).
Real-Time Information: SearchGPT offers real-time updates, ensuring that users receive the most current information available. This capability is particularly valuable for news, trends, and time-sensitive queries (Windows Central).
How SearchGPT Will Impact SEO
With the introduction of SearchGPT, businesses must adapt their SEO strategies to remain competitive and visible in this new search paradigm. Here are some key adjustments to consider:
Focus on High-Quality Content:
- Comprehensive and In-Depth: Ensure your content is thorough and well-researched, addressing user queries comprehensively. High-quality content will be prioritised by SearchGPT (TechRadar) (Windows Central).
- Authoritative and Trustworthy: Cite credible sources to build trust and enhance your content’s reliability.
Optimise for Conversational Queries:
- Natural Language Processing (NLP): Adapt your content to include natural language and conversational phrases. This involves understanding and implementing NLP techniques (Windows Central).
- FAQ Sections: Include FAQ sections on your website to directly address common questions.
Structured Data and Schema Markup:
- Use Schema Markup: Implement structured data to help SearchGPT understand and categorise your content more effectively. This can enhance your visibility in search results (TechRadar).
- Rich Snippets: Optimise for rich snippets by highlighting key information such as reviews, ratings, and event dates.
Content Freshness and Updates:
- Regular Updates: Keep your content up-to-date with the latest information. SearchGPT is likely to prioritise recent and relevant content (Windows Central).
- Timely Content: Publish content that addresses current trends and news in your industry.
User Experience and Engagement:
- Improve Page Load Speed: Ensure your website loads quickly to provide a better user experience, which can indirectly influence your ranking and visibility in SearchGPT results.
- Mobile Optimisation: Optimise your website for mobile devices, as a significant portion of searches are conducted on mobile.
Authority Building:
- Backlinks and Mentions: Build backlinks from reputable websites and aim to be mentioned in authoritative industry publications. SearchGPT will likely favour content from well-linked and frequently referenced sites (TechRadar).
- Expert Contributions: Include expert contributions and guest posts from industry leaders to enhance the credibility of your content.
Interactive and Multimedia Content:
- Use Multimedia: Incorporate images, videos, and infographics to make your content more engaging and informative.
- Interactive Elements: Use interactive tools like calculators, quizzes, and tools that provide added value to users and can be directly integrated into search responses.
The Potential Impact on Google
SearchGPT’s innovative approach could significantly alter online search behaviours. Users may shift towards preferring direct answers over traditional search result pages with time, challenging Google’s dominance. This new dynamic underscores the importance of adapting your SEO strategy to stay ahead.
But in our opinion, and based on the structure of results delivered within SearchGPT, we expect to still see consumers clicking through and shopping around via websites, at least for years to come. Users still want to ensure they’re getting the best information/price/value when searching online.
There’s also a big issue with OpenAI’s profitability, with an estimate of an expected loss of $5 billion this year alone. Researching, generating and maintaining AI is no cheap business and they are yet to deliver a clear plan for revenue generation via their tools. Currently Microsoft is providing large subsidies to keep them on track – but how long that will last is anyone’s guess.
This puts a big question mark on SearchGPT’s (and OpenAI’s) staying power in the market).Â
Final Thoughts
Though we are very excited by the prospect of SearchGPT and plan to stay up to date as it rolls out, including incorporating it into standard SEO campaign targets, we’re also mindful of getting too ahead of ourselves.Â
SearchGPT provides direct competition to Google and Bing, which means we can expect to see innovation on their parts to remain relevant, and they also have the $ to do so. Even with a plethora of issues and headlines surrounding Google at present, we’re confident they will continue their own R&D to retain marketing leadership.
If you need help updating your SEO strategy to align with the capabilities of SearchGPT, our team is here to support you. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business thrive in this new era of search.
