GlossaryAI search
What is ChatGPT search?
Also called: SearchGPT, ChatGPT web search, search in ChatGPT
Definition
ChatGPT search is the feature that lets ChatGPT look things up on the web and answer with current information and links to its sources, instead of relying only on what the model learned in training.
ChatGPT search, explained
OpenAI introduced ChatGPT search on October 31, 2024, growing out of a prototype called SearchGPT. ChatGPT decides to search based on the question, or a user can trigger it manually. Answers include inline citations and a list of sources, so a user can click through to the pages behind the answer.
The crawler that matters is OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI's crawler documentation says it's used to surface websites in ChatGPT's search features, and that sites opted out of it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links. It's separate from GPTBot, which collects training data. You can block training and still be searchable, which is the setup many startups choose.
OpenAI's publisher FAQ adds a detail founders often miss: ChatGPT automatically appends utm_source=chatgpt.com to referral links. That makes ChatGPT search clicks visible in Google Analytics and similar tools without extra setup. Look for it in your acquisition reports alongside the chatgpt.com referrer.
What gets cited is broadly what you'd expect from any search system: pages that are reachable, clearly relevant to the specific sub-question, and state facts plainly. Because the assistant often rewrites a user's prompt into several searches, focused pages on narrow questions (pricing, alternatives, specific use cases) can be cited even when they'd never rank for the broad query.
Two cautions. Answers vary between runs and users, so one manual test proves little. And ChatGPT also answers many questions without searching; those answers come from training data and won't reflect your latest pages. Track a fixed prompt set over time instead of reacting to single answers.
Why it matters for founders
ChatGPT is where many buyers start research. If OAI-SearchBot can reach you and your pages answer specific questions clearly, you can be cited next to much larger competitors.
Example
A founder allows OAI-SearchBot, blocks GPTBot, and publishes a clear pricing comparison page. A month later, analytics shows sessions tagged utm_source=chatgpt.com landing on that page.
Common mistakes
- Blocking
OAI-SearchBotwhile trying to block training. That'sGPTBot's job. - Judging visibility from one manual prompt.
- Not segmenting
utm_source=chatgpt.comtraffic in analytics, so AI referrals disappear into "referral".
Sources
- OpenAI: Introducing ChatGPT search (October 2024)
- OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers
- OpenAI Help Center: Publishers and developers FAQ
Checked
Related terms
- AI crawlersAI crawlers are bots run by AI companies that fetch web pages, either to collect training data, to build an index for AI search answers, or to read a page a user asked about. Each has its own robots.txt name.
- LLM citationAn LLM citation is a link or named source that an AI assistant shows alongside its answer to say where information came from. Being cited sends referral traffic and signals that your page was trusted.
- AI referral trafficAI referral traffic is the visits your site gets when people click links in AI assistants' answers, such as citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini or Copilot.
- robots.txtrobots.txt is a plain-text file at the root of a domain that tells crawlers which URLs they may and may not fetch. It controls crawling, not indexing, and well-behaved bots follow it voluntarily.
- AI share of voiceAI share of voice is how often your brand is mentioned or cited in AI assistants' answers to a fixed set of relevant prompts, compared with competitors. It's the AI-search version of share of search.