SearchGPT Vs. Perplexity: Which One Can Replace Google?
Either way, we know they're both better than AI Overview.
Intro
OpenAI finally unveiled SearchGPT and the entire internet... Well, it reacted quite calmly (not counting Alphabet shares, which fell by 3%). I don't see hundreds of discussions on Reddit, speculation on Twitter, and insights from popular media. Is this how it's supposed to be?
We got access to the closed beta and now have something to discuss with you. Let's take a look at the first reviews and results of the search engine from OpenAI, test it against Perplexity, and try to determine: is the era of Google over?
First Results & Reactions
I won't go over the main features and functions of SearchGPT here. You probably know everything yourself (and if not, you will find all the necessary information in this post). Let's start with a funny thing: SearchGPT screwed up in the first demo video.
In one of the pre-recorded videos, a user enters the search “music festivals in boone north carolina in august” into the SearchGPT interface. The AI then brings up a list of festivals it says will be held in Boone in August. The first one is An Appalachian Summer Festival, which, according to SearchGPT, has a series of art events from July 29 to August 16 this year.
However, the festival actually began on June 29, and its last concert will take place on July 27. The festival's box office will be officially closed from July 29 to August 16. This hallucination required fact-checking, so many users just didn't notice it.
Errors like this severely undermine the desire to use AI search engines. If we have to double-check it every time, what's the point? On the other hand, we can commend OpenAI for being honest.
This fiasco proves that the video really shows the AI at work.
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As for reactions, like I said at the beginning, SearchGPT is neither enthusiastic nor disappointed. If we close our eyes to the YouTube and Twitter bloggers who talk about the search revolution (you know, those guys are always excited), then we see what some experts say.
For example, entrepreneur and digital marketing expert Neil Patel noted that the success of ChatGPT does not guarantee success for SearchGPT, and its features do not offer a serious advantage over regular Google searches.
You'll find the full post here.
At the same time, Answera AI founder Paul Couvert said that he has already made SearchGPT his default browser. He admitted that the chatbot has some serious limitations, including poor results when searching for images and online shopping.
You can read the entire thread here.
I should mention here that it is important to remember that SearchGPT is in beta testing and is only available to 10,000 users. Therefore, it is pretty difficult to take an objective picture of the quality of this chatbot right now.
Well, let's move on to our comparison.
Our Comparison | SearchGPT Vs. Perplexity
If Google had tried a little harder, you might see a comparison of three AI-powered search engines at once here. But AI Overview, which advised pregnant women to smoke two or three cigarettes a day and depressed people to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, is not available now. We can only guess why it was disabled.
Perhaps it was about the interface.
But you can try to establish the cause with this post:
So today, we will compare SearchGPT to a more robust solution: Perplexity.
Admittedly, my sympathies beforehand are a bit on the side of this chatbot. I have been using Perplexity for over a year; I see its progress and know it can already replace the Google search engine in many issues. But all the better: OpenAI needs a strong competitor.
To compare SearchGPT and Perplexity, I prepared four questions. They are pretty simple and are related to four conventional categories: financials, education, trends, and politics. With their help, we will try to find out how SearchGPT and Perplexity process questions and in what form they offer answers.
I'll comment briefly on the results, and you can decide who you like best.
Round 1 | Financials
What cryptocurrencies are trending right now? And which are growing the fastest?The first query consists of two questions. Let's imagine that the user doesn't understand anything about cryptocurrencies but wants to know what's trending right now. Yes, “trends” is a rather vague concept. So, in addition, we'll ask which currency is growing fast right now.
Here are the results:
SearchGPT | Perplexity
To be honest, I was expecting more from SearchGPT. While Perplexity structured the information quite clearly, explaining which crypto is the most expensive and which meme-coin is trending and giving some more useful explanations, the chatbot from OpenAI just gave a long list with logos and links.
My sympathies remain on the side of Perplexity.
Round 2 | Education
How can I learn Spanish to an advanced level in six months?The second query is a bit simpler and is related to education. Technically, you can also ask it to a regular chatbot, not a search bot. But I still wanted to see how a good plan could make each AI. Let's see.
SearchGPT | Perplexity
I think in this round, the winner depends on your expectations.
SearchGPT showed pretty dry recommendations and forgot to add references for some topics. Perplexity made a more extensive answer but wrote a lot of unnecessary stuff (like informing me twice that motivation is important when learning a language... Wow, thanks!).
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Round 3 | Tech Trends
The most important news from the tech world in the last monthAs someone who writes a lot about technology (and just likes to read about it), I am constantly looking for the best aggregator of all the essential news. Over the past few years, I've come to the realization that I can't find anything better than good old Feedly. But maybe SearchGPT and Perplexity will change my mind.
Let's see how these AI build news digests:
SearchGPT | Perplexity
Here, I am unequivocally on the side of SearchGPT. I liked the way he structured the information and explained at the end why the news was important. Also, Perplexity did a poor job with the introductions. I asked for news in the last month, while the new iPad Pro was introduced over two months ago.
Round 4 | Politics
What are the latest 2024 U.S. Presidential election campaign updates?The last request is perhaps the most dangerous. Lately, many users (led by Elon Musk) have been complaining more and more about the bias of chatbots when it comes to politics. And I'd like to believe that search engines will at least be as neutral as possible. Let's watch and draw conclusions.
SearchGPT | Perplexity
I'd say it's a tie here. Both SearchGPT and Perplexity gave neutral news summaries and reported on the state of affairs. However, the OpenAI search engine highlighted key dates, which can be quite helpful for those who have fallen out of the information field. And overall its response seems to be more structured.
Who did you like better?
Is Google Over?
Back to where we started.
You know, one thing I've been remembering a lot lately is that between the old and the new, people always choose the familiar (This is scientifically proven, by the way). So, it seems to me that we will not see a tectonic shift in the battle between Google, SearchGPT, and Perplexity. If there will be changes, they will be gradual.
I will add that if Perplexity seemed something new and impressive a couple of years ago, SearchGPT now looks rather ordinary. It's a promising tool that I definitely recommend you try, but don't expect too much. At least for now.
What do you think about SearchGPT? Tell us in the comments!
This article was first published in the Creators AI newsletter. View the original edition.
