ChatGPT Search is here! What changes will the SEO market face?

ChatGPT Search is a search engine feature developed by OpenAI and integrated into the ChatGPT platform, which was launched on October 31, 2024, and became available to all users on December 16. For a long time, the information provided by ChatGPT was relatively limited, as the platform could not access direct data sources. In other words, users could not get direct answers to questions related to recent events and relevant website links. By introducing a new feature, ChatGPT Search combines artificial intelligence with search, so ChatGPT can now provide direct answers to user queries along with links to related resources.

Offering a new approach to search, ChatGPT Search is raising more and more discussions about potential competition with Google. True, Google maintains its advantages, especially in navigational and local searches, as well as in the usual and user-friendly search form. It is believed that the future user will actively use both platforms, taking into account their information needs, and the SEO market will undoubtedly experience new challenges, searching for the most optimal solutions to meet user expectations and measure business success.

How does ChatGPT Search work?

ChatGPT Search is an artificial intelligence-based search function that combines the advantages of traditional search engines with large language models (LLMs) capable of understanding and generating natural language text. By integrating LLMs, ChatGPT Search analyzes user queries and provides detailed and contextualized answers. Unlike conventional search engines that provide a list of links, ChatGPT Search offers accurate answers, summaries and insights by understanding the context and anticipating user expectations, while also providing sources to related websites.

ChatGPT Search appears to be using the retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) approach, which is also used by other AI-based search engines, combining information retrieval systems with generative models. In this process, when a user submits a query, the system first searches external data sources to find relevant information. This information is then integrated into the input of the language model, allowing the model to generate answers based on the information received and its existing knowledge. It is important to remember that while RAG can reduce the likelihood of inaccurate answers, the accuracy of the answers depends on the quality of the sources used.

How will ChatGPT Search evaluate your queries?

Unlike traditional search algorithms that rely on keyword matching, ChatGPT Search seeks to understand the context and intent of the user’s query. For example, instead of returning pages that repeat exact keywords, ChatGPT Search interprets the meaning of the query and offers results that are more relevant to the user’s real needs. This shift from keyword-based to user intent-based search fundamentally changes the way content is ranked and displayed.

Key features of ChatGPT Search:

Question-answer search. Users can interact with ChatGPT Search in a natural dialogue format, as if they were talking to a real person.
Personalized answers. Instead of a list of links provided by traditional search, ChatGPT Search offers a concise and specific answer to the query.
Reference sources. Additionally, sources with links to the original content are displayed next to the answers and in the sidebar.
Related questions. Users will be able to ask additional questions and expand on the topic, thus creating a more interactive search experience.
5 steps for future SEO specialists, or how to prepare for changes?

With the arrival of ChatGPT Search on the market, SEO services become even more relevant, because from now on, businesses will strive not only to occupy high positions in a regular Google search, but also to be the source that ChatGPT Search will choose to cite in its answer and present to the user as a reliable reference. Here are 5 key aspects that businesses should consider in order to ensure that their website meets the requirements of search engines:

1. User intent will be more important than keywords

Currently, SEO is mainly focused on precise and short keywords and their integration into content. However, with ChatGPT Search, this approach is changing and there is a desire to understand user intent. Search engines will try to understand what the user is really looking for, and not just search for keyword matches.

Conversational search allows for more contextually accurate searches, which can dramatically change the way keyword research is done. SEOs should understand the main topics and questions that are relevant to the user. The content on the site should be naturally engaging and tailored to the user’s intent, not just the algorithms. For example, if someone searches for “best camera for outdoor photography,” only