I made ChatGPT Search my default browser search engine for a week. I’m ready to switch back to Google.

• I made ChatGPT Search my default search engine after it rolled out to logged-in users.
• However, I found myself opening a separate browser to find the answers I was looking for on Google.
• ChatGPT Search hasn’t quite nailed down keyword searching, but it worked well for open-ended prompts.

After a little over a week of using ChatGPT search as my default search engine, I can say that it won’t be replacing Google Search for me in the near future.

ChatGPT Search became available to anyone with a free account on December 16 after OpenAI launched the feature on October 31 to select users. The feature allows users to get quick, up-to-date responses with the option to open up relevant links in a tab on the right-hand side.

“This blends the benefits of a natural language interface with the value of up-to-date sports scores, news, stock quotes, and more,” the company said in its announcement.

The launch of the tool to free users also means you can go into your web browser settings and set ChatGPT Search as the default search engine — meaning that typing a question or keyword into the browser bar will route that query through ChatGPT instead of your usual default, such as Google or DuckDuckGo.

I use ChatGPT frequently for a number of tasks and I find the chatbot and search engine feature valuable. However, setting it as my default search engine made me realize how necessary Google Search continues to feel to my daily workflow — and how much the two platforms differ.

I feel Google shows, ChatGPT tells

While I found the summaries generated by ChatGPT Search to be useful, there were instances when I wanted to better see and select the sources for myself.

It can vary, but in my experience, ChatGPT Search includes about one to seven in-text links in the response and has a “Sources” tab at the bottom that users can select for an expanded source display. The tab includes the cited links at the top and about eight to 13 relevant links underneath. If you ask for more sources, you have to reopen sources from the first prompt to see the original list.

On Google, it often feels like you can scroll endlessly.

For example, if I want to shop around for a new TV stand for my living room and search “55 inch TV stand” on Google, I can see seemingly infinite options of stands that match that description. If I want to keep scrolling through, I can open Google Shopping which now operates more like a third-party marketplace, thanks to an AI revamp.

ChatGPT Search, on the other hand, responded to my search with around 5 products and linked additional sites in the source tab. Instead of seeing a visual array of products from different brands with filters to set my preferences, ChatGPT Search selected some. I also found the source tab to be a fairly narrow display that didn’t present sources in a particularly helpful way visually.

Now, it’s worth noting that some people may prefer the approach of ChatGPT Search to their usual search engine. And Google has been evolving the search experience over the past year as it leans into AI.

There’s an argument to be made about too many options being shown on Google, and ChatGPT certainly narrows it down. However, if I’m doing a broad search, I personally want to see the breadth of what’s out there.

While using ChatGPT Search, I found that I missed Google’s layout of providing AI Overviews at the top of some queries. The feature allows users to get the short version while also having the option to scroll through other sources, which I feel offers a bit more agency in how users consume information.

Google is optimized for keyword searches

During this experiment, I often opened a separate browser with Google as my primary Search engine because ChatGPT Search took longer to provide the answers I needed.

It’s worth noting that the tech giant has dominated the search engine space for years, so my habits are naturally optimized for Google Search. I’m used to typing in a single keyword and instantly finding an array of relevant links.

Google’s head of search, Liz Reid, said at Google I/O in May that “Google will do the Googling for you,” and I’ve generally found that to be true. When I look up a company, person, or website, I’m able to see social media accounts, recent news, and other relevant links. I can also select filters or categories such as images, videos, news, and shopping to narrow my search.

ChatGPT Search worked better when I had a specific prompt or question in mind.

For example, if I have an open-ended research query, like “What was President Gerald Ford’s most notable accomplishment” or “How did Gerald Ford’s legacy differ from other presidents,” I would probably turn to ChatGPT Search because it can organize information concisely, and save me from reading hundreds of related articles that might not address that specific question or contain those keywords.

Google’s lead in offering keyword-based access to the wider web is tough to beat. While I see valuable uses for both products, I don’t see how ChatGPT Search could replace for me what Google has spent decades building — at least at this stage.