ChatGPT's Search Update Slashes Live Web Queries
OpenAI has recently updated ChatGPT's search functionality, leading to a significant decrease in live web searches. This change aims to enhance response quality and reduce 'hallucinations', where the AI provides incorrect information. Meanwhile, Microsoft has retired Bing Search APIs, potentially impacting external data access for AI models.
On September 16, OpenAI's release notes mentioned improvements to ChatGPT's search function, though backend sourcing details were not provided. SISTRIX, a German SEO tool provider, observed a substantial drop in web searches triggered by ChatGPT. In daily spot-checks over two weeks, the share of answers relying on the web fell from over 15% to under 2.5%.
This reduction in web reliance can be attributed to OpenAI's recent updates, which prioritize more reliable internal data over frequent external web queries. These changes focus on improving response quality and minimizing incorrect information, or 'hallucinations'. Microsoft's retirement of Bing Search APIs on August 11 may also have played a role in this shift, potentially limiting external data access for AI models like ChatGPT. However, SISTRIX notes that this observation applies to anonymous sessions and does not assign a specific cause.
The reduction in live web searches by ChatGPT, observed by SISTRIX, is likely due to OpenAI's recent updates prioritizing internal data for improved response quality. Microsoft's retirement of Bing Search APIs may also have contributed to this change, though the exact cause remains unclear. This shift suggests a focus on enhancing ChatGPT's reliability and reducing instances of providing incorrect information.
