OpenAI has launched a substantial upgrade to its ChatGPT Search feature, significantly enhancing its capabilities in a direct move to compete with established search giants like Google. This update focuses on improving the core aspects of reliability, accuracy, and user experience, transforming ChatGPT from a conversational chatbot into a formidable AI-powered search tool. The enhancements signal a new phase in the search engine wars, where AI-native, conversational interfaces challenge traditional keyword-based results.

Key Enhancements to ChatGPT Search

The latest iteration of ChatGPT Search addresses some of the most critical limitations of earlier AI search tools. The improvements are designed to build user trust and provide more practical utility:

• Reduced Hallucinations: OpenAI has implemented advanced techniques to drastically cut down on the model’s tendency to “hallucinate” or generate incorrect information. This leads to more factual, trustworthy answers.
• Intelligent Summarization: The search now excels at accurately parsing and summarizing content from linked web pages. Users can quickly grasp the key points of an article or source without losing important context, with the option to “follow back” to the original link for deeper reading.
• Contextual Understanding: A major upgrade is the model’s improved ability to detect user intent. It can now distinguish between a commercial query (e.g., “best laptop to buy”) and an informational one (e.g., “history of laptops”), tailoring its results accordingly. This means it will show products when you want to shop and keep results ad-free and focused when you don’t.
• Improved Answer Formatting: Responses are now structured for quick and easy consumption. The AI uses clear headings, bullet points, and concise paragraphs to present detailed information without overwhelming the user.

Beyond Search: Customizable AI Reasoning

The upgrades aren’t limited to search. OpenAI is also giving users more control over the AI’s underlying processing power. A new toggle allows users to select different “reasoning effort” levels—internally referred to as “juice” values. This feature, associated with advanced models like GPT-5, lets users decide how much computational power to dedicate to a problem. For simple queries, a lower setting conserves resources, while for complex coding or math problems, a higher setting unlocks deeper, more thorough analysis.

The Evolving Search Landscape

This update represents a strategic effort by OpenAI to capture a share of the lucrative search market by offering a fundamentally different experience. Instead of presenting a list of links, ChatGPT Search aims to provide a direct, synthesized answer in a conversational format. For users, this means a potential future with less time spent sifting through search results and more time receiving immediate, well-sourced answers.

As AI continues to reshape how we access information, these advancements from OpenAI set the stage for an intensified competition focused on intelligence, accuracy, and user trust.