ChatGPT launches search

Big news. ChatGPT just launched live search.

OpenAI announced: “ChatGPT can now search the web in a much better way than before. You can get fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources, which you would have previously needed to go to a search engine for. This blends the benefits of a natural language interface with the value of up-to-date sports scores, news, stock quotes, and more.”

As we covered in last month’s roundup, this is basically the launch of a new search (or answer) engine. And it’s not starting from zero. It’s starting with 200 million weekly users. In fact, ChatGPT already gets more traffic than Bing – which is one of Google’s core competitors.

What does this mean for digital PR?

Okay, admittedly we’re all a bit fed up with AI-related news. It’s everywhere. But announcements like this highlight how much of an impact AI is having on our sector. It’s developing rapidly, and it’s completely transforming how consumers search.

Answer-engines like Perplexity and ChatGPT now synthesise and display information in a way that traditional search engines can struggle to match – and they’re only getting stronger. So we’ll need to adapt our PR and SEO strategies accordingly.

ChatGPT search uses Microsoft Bing’s index

So ChatGPT is important. But if it’s so important, how do we optimise for it?

We might have some insight.

This month, it was also revealed that ChatGPT search uses Bing’s index. In other words, if your page isn’t visible in Bing search, it won’t be visible in ChatGPT.

 What does this mean for digital PR?

As digital PRs, we need to ensure our brands are visible wherever our audiences are. If they’re using ChatGPT to find answers, we need to be there too. It’s easy to spend all your time focusing on Google. But this is a timely reminder of the importance of breadth. If ChatGPT’s capabilities and user base continue to grow, it could become a key channel for your audience. And therefore a key channel for your business.

However, while they might share the same index, ChatGPT and Bing results aren’t the same. So don’t throw your SEO strategy out the window just yet. Search algorithms are continually changing and adapting. It’s important to be aware of these shifts – but don’t get lost in the details.

Google launches November 2024 Core Update

This year’s third core Google update just landed. And Google has (unsurprisingly) rolled out the usual commentary. As we’ve come to expect, this update is designed to show “more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on search”.

What does this mean for digital PR?

If you see a drastic shift in your site visibility – this update is probably the reason. But many people aren’t seeing much movement at all. And if that’s you, then it likely just means more of the same. Continue creating audience-first, genuinely useful content that showcases your experience and expertise. And continue building your brand, using digital PR to demonstrate your authority to both Google and your users.

Gone are the days of keyword stuffing and spammy link building. It’s clear that Google is trying to reward quality content and well-known brands. Which is exactly what your marketing strategy should be aiming to achieve anyway!