OpenAI announces SearchGPT

The AI giant OpenAI announced its long-awaited search engine: SearchGPT.

Rumours of OpenAI’s “Google killer” have been circulating for months, but it’s finally here. It may just be a prototype, but this is huge news. SearchGPT could transform search as we know it.

There’s a lot to unpack. So for now, we’re going to focus on SearchGPT’s impact on PR and publishers.

Ever since AI hit the mainstream, publishers have been very worried about AI search engines. It’s widely accepted that more AI searches equals fewer website clicks, and for media titles that rely on website clicks to survive, this is a worrying prospect. Add the Perplexity AI controversy (covered in last month’s roundup) to the mix, and it’s a difficult time to be a publisher. But OpenAI seems to have taken these worries on board.

The recent announcement states: “SearchGPT is designed to help users connect with publishers by prominently citing and linking to them in searches." It claims to have partnered with media titles like News Corp and the Atlantic, and publishers will even be able to manage how they appear in the new search engine. If true, the future may not be as terrifying as some publishers first thought.

What does this mean for digital PR?

An AI search engine that encourages website clicks is good news for everyone, especially publishers. And as it’s our content that media titles will be publishing, it’s good news for digital PRs too.

But as SearchGPT is just a prototype, we’ll have to wait and see. Will it really transform how we search? Will it “kill” Google? Or will it simply push Google to innovate further?

Bing’s new AI search encourages website clicks

Sticking with AI, Bing is also rolling out a new version of its AI search. Similar to SearchGPT, the new layout is designed to encourage website clicks. Bing said: “Early data indicates that this experience maintains the number of clicks to websites and supports a healthy web ecosystem." It sounds promising.

Now Bing’s market share is small, but it’s growing. It’s still a long way from challenging Google, but here at Energy PR, we’re hearing from more and more people who use Bing as their primary search engine. People are falling out of love with Google and turning to Bing as an alternative. So, if they can successfully deliver AI-powered search that satisfies both users and businesses – Bing might be in the money.

What does this mean for digital PR?

To date, digital PR efforts have usually been very Google-focused. But if audiences begin to move to Bing, digi PRs will need to adapt their strategies accordingly. Bing has different SEO demands and users will engage with its AI search in a different way – which means the approach will need to change.

And even if there isn’t a mass migration to Bing, an AI search engine that encourages clicks is an exciting prospect. If what Bing and OpenAI are saying comes to fruition, maybe the future of search will be alright.

Reddit blocks search engines (but not Google)

Microsoft recently confirmed that Reddit has blocked Bing – alongside other smaller search engines – from crawling their pages. Meaning you won’t be seeing Reddit in the Bing search results anytime soon.

Since Reddit’s $60 million deal with Google, its been receiving huge amounts of traffic from the search engine. It feels like subreddits appear for pretty much everything we search now. And Reddit is using this increased visibility (and their deal) to its advantage. From now on, Google might be the only place you can find Reddit in the search results.

What does this mean for digital PR?

Looking forward, this could be worrying for SEO. If Google has a monopoly on Reddit visibility, what else can they monopolise? Will websites eventually have to pay to appear in search results?

With 1.2 billion unique visitors every month, Reddit is now a huge platform – and this news indicates it’s only getting bigger. Audiences are actively using it (whether they realise it or not), so as digitals PRs, we need to start paying it more attention. Whether it’s for audience insights, community engagement, brand awareness or paid advertising – Reddit needs to form part of our PR & marketing strategies.