The Gist
- ChatGPT Search shakes up SEO. OpenAI’s AI-driven search introduces citation panels and natural language results, offering a new take on search optimization.
- Marketers face evolving strategies. From nuanced keyword research to diverse content formats, AI is reshaping how brands approach visibility.
- Google’s dominance faces challenges. AI-enhanced search from competitors like OpenAI raises stakes, but Google invests in cloud and ads to maintain its lead.
The “mic drop” in online search news came last July. OpenAI created a waiting list for the beta of SearchGPT, its search engine meant to challenge the pantheon of search engines, namely Duck Duck Go, Yahoo, Bing, and of course, Google.
OpenAI had been silent for months about SearchGPT since the beta launch. The hints of a broken silence came when the PressGazette reported a comment from Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s head of media partnerships. The comment was made during a news publisher conference. Shetty mentioned that SearchGPT will be launched before the end of the year.
Then came Halloween, which became the actual “mic drop.” OpenAI surprised marketers with a release of ChatGPT searches ahead of a 2025 release rumor. OpenAI officially rolled out ChatGPT Search about four months after launching the SearchGPT prototype.
The big question now? How marketers and content creators plan their search objectives for 2025 with AI tactics in mind. Many AI strategies involve consolidation of information once found instead of consolidation during the search process itself. ChatGPT Search brings that process fully into search.
If interest in ChatGPT Search takes off, how should marketers prepare their search strategies with this potent AI entrant?
Table of Contents
How ChatGPT Search Compares Against Search Engines
The ChatGPT Search algorithm is designed to assess online pages against what the prompt texts ask. Like other AI solutions, ChatGPT will choose to search the web based on what you ask. It’s what Google has certainly done with its AI Overviews.
The way the search engine algorithm conducts its search is the most interesting aspect of ChatGPT. ChatGPT Search offers a button under the text window where the user can manually choose to search by clicking the web search icon. The user clicks the button to activate the search. ChatGPT responds with a short summary and links that indicate the online sources on which the response is based. This differs from search engines, which return ranked web pages, PDFs and other hyperlinks among which the user must determine the best sought-after information.
ChatGPT Search also includes indexing from the Bing search engine. This raises Bing’s value in search engine optimization because so many recent SEO tactics centered on Google’s voluminous search traffic.
Incorporating search is not entirely new for AI. Since its inception, Gemini has offered links in some of its references, particularly to a Google search engine or YouTube. For example, if I ask a simple question about the top videos on a product, like an SUV, Gemini will show three of the top YouTube videos, complete with a thumbnail image and description.
Related Article: Waving Goodbye to SEO: Why AI Visibility Optimization Is the Future
Where ChatGPT Search Is Different
The difference ChatGPT introduces is that its AI search cites sources more frequently and presents them as a citation panel.
Alison Ver Halen, content marketing expert and president of AV Writing Services, explored ChatGPT Search and explained to me that a citation panel “allows you to not only see where ChatGPT Search got its answer from, but also to click through to visit those websites and get more information. So far, those clicks have mostly been for low-intent searches, which makes sense if people are primarily using ChatGPT Search for low-intent searches. If they’re ready to buy, they might use Google or go straight to searching on an online store, such as Amazon.”
And we’re also learning consumers are using social search more and more to make purchases.
On top of enhancing a relationship with Microsoft through Bing, OpenAI has quickly moved to establish partnerships and extensions to help users access ChatGPT Search conveniently. MacRumors, a well-regarded Apple product news source, reported that Apple’s Shortcuts app added an “Open SearchGPT” option to its other ChatGPT commands. This allows iPhones, iPads and Mac users to find relevant online information through ChatGPT Search capabilities within their devices.
Related Article: OpenAI Debuts ChatGPT Search: Has Online Content Search Changed Forever?
What ChatGPT Search Brings to Search Strategies
ChatGPT Search presents search as a clear call for AI to leverage search; it does so as an auxiliary feature, ironic when compared to search by voice or image in Google. Those features are activated by an icon in the text.
It also revolutionizes the search experience by offering a natural language response that serves as a SERP. Until now, all search engine queries have been structured the following way: You have a text window where the user types in a few words for a query. Search engine indexes focus on what online content is relevant to a keyword. The result is pages of ranked website URLs with descriptions. All of this reflects the search engine’s original roots: to find documentation and rank the results based on their relevancy to the query.
ChatGPT’s arrangement fits how people naturally search for information.
Differentiator: What’s the Context of the Search?
With a search capability, AI platforms like ChatGPT Search can incorporate the context of the search. The user can provide a full paragraph as a query, or upload media alongside the query text. The query response is a brief paragraph instead of ranked results of a SERP. Furthermore, the user can ask further questions or add more detail naturally, another differentiator for AI search.
Google has incorporated varying aspects of AI’s benefits with its SGE. However, as I mentioned in my post on SGE, Google AI Overviews is an evolution of the search snippet rather than an overhaul of how the venerable search engine shares information.
The adoption of AI-enhanced search like ChatGPT Search introduces online content to more influence from prompts and the language used to command the underlying AI, so users will use various prompt engineering techniques to instruct optimization, trying to use the language model more effectively. This means marketers with search strategies must consider the heuristics potential customers will likely use in discovering their content or in responding to the presented content.
How Marketers Are Getting Ready for AI Search Optimization
Marketing professionals are already imagining what tactics will arise from the influences prompts online will bring. I asked a few marketers to share their perspectives on SEO tactics that should be emphasized now to ensure that an AI agent incorporates a website in its prompt response.
Evolving Keyword Strategies for AI Search
In her quote to me about ChatGPT Search, Ver Halen noted how keyword research would evolve. “ChatGPT Search is better at understanding the context and meaning behind words,” Ver Halen explains, “which means searches will get more nuanced. As a result, keyword research will have to get more nuanced.”
“The fact that ChatGPT Search allows people to ask questions to get more information on a topic should also change the way we think about the content we’re creating. What follow-up questions might people have? How can we answer those questions in this piece of content? Will additional pieces be needed to answer all their questions?”
Diverse Content Formats for Enhanced Visibility
Dale Bernard, founder and CEO of Fire&Spark, feels that brands need to shift.
“Brands that have spent a decade publishing educational blog content for visibility in Google must shift to new formats like data-driven comparisons, visual content, videos and interactive tools. … Google’s AI Overviews provide consumers with direct answers to their buying questions, reducing their need to click through to the brand’s website.”
Yet some marketers believe that search strategy plans should not change dramatically.
Ivana Taylor, founder of DIY Marketers who specializes in marketing tips, believes the launch of AI-based search will force search engine marketers to improve how they write content for the reader.
“I know that there’s some comfort in thinking you can ‘game’ the system,” said Taylor, “but while hacking SEO might deliver short-term results, it often leads to long-term fixes that few organizations can afford. In the end, my recommendation for marketers is to continue to focus their efforts on researching the market, getting a deep understanding of your ideal customers and their desired outcomes, and then helping them make the decision that’s best for them. These are core marketing principles that will stand the test of time.”
Bernard also agrees that generative AI “will change how consumers connect with brands, but the fundamentals of reaching and resonating with a target customer base remain the same.”
Related Article: 10 Best Free SEO Tools for Marketers
What Marketers Should Expect as AI Search Evolves
The race to reimagine search has already begun. Google remains the King Kong of search engines, owning over 90% of the market. Yet it faces a daunting antitrust suit that will lead to a significant upheaval of its business model.
Google’s Dominance Challenged Amidst AI Shift
But don’t count Google out. Google’s recent earnings announcement indicates that AI investments in its operations are paying off. Although the gains come from its cloud services and ads services, Google has the opportunity to reinvest those gains for its venerable tech services such as search.
Adapting to AI: Opportunities and Challenges for SEO
Another factor that weighs as a positive sign for Google is the measurement revisions SEO and analytics dashboards must have. It will be some time until these solutions account for AI-enhanced search, so the measurements from traditional search-related tools will still be viable for a while.
Even still, OpenAI has opportunities as well. All AI platforms have introduced features to manage prompts, with the addition of supporting tools like the aforementioned ChatGPT desktop. These features will draw users from the search engines, an experience Google has already faced competing with search behaviors that have emerged on Amazon, TikTok and other platforms.
In short, marketers must pay attention to the online world that will unfold in 2025 because the mic drops from platforms like ChatGPT will ultimately win over consumers and change the customer experience related to search dominance.
Core Questions Around ChatGPT Search and AI Search
How is ChatGPT Search different from traditional search engines like Google?
ChatGPT Search differs from traditional search engines by focusing on natural language processing and providing AI-generated summaries with citation panels. Unlike Google’s ranked list of hyperlinks, ChatGPT Search allows users to input detailed queries and receive concise, conversational answers along with cited sources. This approach enables a more contextual and human-like search experience, allowing users to refine their questions and responses in real-time.
What strategies should marketers adopt for AI-driven search like ChatGPT Search?
Marketers should focus on nuanced keyword research and anticipate user intent by creating content that answers potential follow-up questions. Diversifying content formats—like data-driven comparisons, interactive tools, and visual assets—can increase visibility on AI platforms. Additionally, understanding prompt engineering and optimizing for conversational queries will help ensure that AI agents like ChatGPT include their content in search responses. Emphasizing clarity, value and user engagement remains critical.
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