Late last year, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT search, an AI-powered search experience. Sam Altman, the company’s CEO, indicated that “there is room to make search much better than it is today,” taking a jab at Google (and to a lesser extent, Bing).
Admittedly, OpenAI could be well-positioned to give Google and Microsoft a run for their money in the search landscape, especially following the ruling that deemed Google an illegal monopoly.
OpenAI recently pushed a major update to ChatGPT search, which shipped with a handful of nifty features and improvements. Right off the bat, ChatGPT search is now getting a better shopping experience by making it “simpler and faster to find, compare, and buy products in ChatGPT.”
We’re excited to announce we’ve launched several improvements to ChatGPT search, and today we’re starting to roll out a better shopping experience.Search has become one of our most popular & fastest growing features, with over 1 billion web searches just in the past week 🧵April 28, 2025
While the experience is still in the experimental phase, it promises improved product results, pricing, reviews, visual details, and direct links for purchases. “Product results are chosen independently and are not ads,” OpenAI added.
It’s worth noting that the new shopping already started rolling out for Plus, Pro, Free, and other ChatGPT users in waves. As such, it’s possible that you may not access the experience immediately.
Next up, users can now get up-to-date answers and live sports scores by sending a WhatsApp message to 1-800-ChatGPT (+1-800-242-8478).
The AI-powered search engine is also improving citations. Search results will now feature multiple credits, making it easier for the user to learn more and cross-reference intricate details about their topic of interest with multiple sources. “We’ve also added a new ‘highlight’ UI to more clearly show which part of the answer the citation refers to,” OpenAI added.
Finally, the company wants to make the experience faster with trending searches and autocomplete suggestions, which will get you closer to your desired response and results even quicker.
Google vs. OpenAI in the search war
Elsewhere, OpenAI also announced that ChatGPT search hit over 1 billion web searches just in the past week, suggesting that it is quickly picking up the slack and could potentially take on Google and Bing on an even playing field in the future.
Experts, including a former Google engineer, warned that Google’s reign in search might soon end, and that it may have bigger fish to fry with OpenAI’s temporary search tool(SearchGPT) than with its illegal monopoly ruling.
Meanwhile, ChatGPT’s head of product, Nick Turley, recently indicated that OpenAI is highly interested in buying Chrome from Google if it gets the opportunity following the mounting pressure from antitrust officials. The executive admitted that the purchase would be a game-changer for ChatGPT, making it a better product with an incredible experience.
