If you have not heard about the new OpenAI - ChatGPT, an AI Chabot tool, then you are probably not on social media or the internet for that matter. But for everyone else, I am assuming you have heard of it and potentially played with it by now. There has been a lot of news around this new AI tool and one of the more interesting topics is that ChatGPT will take over Google search in two years. Obviously, this NY Post article got a lot of attention because that is a major claim. Now the article does bring up some good points but after truly thinking about this it is really possible?
Below are 10 reasons why ChatGPT will not take over Google and destroy the entire industry. However, this opinion can change depending on how ChatGPT develops and improves its tool because it is only in its beginning stages today.
First, What is ChatGPT
ChatGPT (or chat-based Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is an OpenAI model that uses state-of-the-art natural language processing. This is a variation of the GPT-3 model. It has been trained using large amounts of text data, such as articles, books, and websites.
ChatGPT's ability to respond to text input in a human-like manner is one of its key features. It is well-suited to applications such as chatbots and virtual assistants. ChatGPT can be used to build chatbots that answer questions, engage in natural conversations, and even create creative content like poems or stories.
1) doesn’t give you multiple options when searching for answers to questions
As human beings we like variety. For, example, when it comes to our diet we don’t eat the same thing every day. We like it eat different things depending on our moods or taste for that day. This applies to many things in our lives because we are complex creatures.
Well, the same thing applies to the way we search. When searching for an answer to our problems it is very rare that you only research one answer or visit one website. Many times you will have to go to many sites or ask the question differently to get your answer. Especially if this is a complex or multi-layered issue.
Granted most people don’t go past the second page of Google and that might be true but there are ten other websites with different answers available for you to choose from on the first page. That is a lot of variety but again variety is good because rarely will the first option have the answer you are looking for.
2) not user friendly when using it on a mobile device
As of now, you have to go to the ChatGPT website to be able to work with the tool. This can be more difficult when you are on your phone. There is currently no app for this tool which means you have to use a search browser to work this Chatbot.
So, if you have a lot of questions for the ChatGPT AI it is going to give you a longer answer which can be difficult to read and navigate when using your phone. From a user experience point of view this tool is not ideal to use or to get to because initially, you will need to use a search browser and search engine to even get to ChatGPT in the first place.
Google Search on the other hand is extremely user-friendly. On the mobile phone, you can put a search bar on your home screen that will bring you directly to that search listing. Especially if you have a Google Pixel phone. If you don’t have that option you can use Google Chrome which is a fast and easy-to-use search browser that can be downloaded from the play store.
Search listings are also easy to read when trying to find your answer. First, they have rich snippets that will tell you the top answer in the search browser. Second, the headlines and descriptions can only be so long that the page does not get too cluttered. Also, Google ads in images and videos to help you with a variety of answers to your questions.
Of those options are to difficult for you you can use Google Voice Search to ask your question and Google will either give you the search listing or tell you the answer directly without you having to read anything.
3) does not have other products that are integrated into it
The thing Google does better than any other company is personalizing your experience and integrating all of its many products into your experience. The best example of this is Google Discovery, which is a Google news feed and it is personalized news you see based on your past search history, the websites and apps you spend the most time on, and the topics you are most interested in. Another example is when you are in Gmail you can easily see or open within Gmail your calendar, chat, and video. When you are in search you can easily see organic analytics and tools for the business you own.
Furthermore, Google makes it easy to go back and forth between any product they own and connect them all together. Another key example is the fact that Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Search Console, Google Tag Manager, and Google Data Studio all link together so they are sharing data which helps them function better and gives you as the decision maker better insights. No other product or service has better integration than Google in my opinion.
4) does not let you search for companies, products, or services
Some of the top searched keywords in Google are company names and product names. This is because the user is trying to find the website for that company so they can use their platform, contact them or buy from them directly.
Below are the top searched keywords of 2022:
As you can see most of them are company names so they can go to their platform. If you were to type in Facebook into ChatGPT it would give you an explanation of what Facebook is as seen below.
This is a big issue because ChatGPT can only give you answers, they can’t give you links to other websites currently. Also, most searches are related to finding other platforms or websites users are looking for.
5) does not let you search for places near Me
Over the past two years, people searching for local places near me have grown 150% based on data Google has collected. There are also over 1.5 billion near me searching made every month on search engines. That trend is only growing year over year as people are searching for products and services to buy around them.
Now if you were to ask ChatGPT about an auto shop near me they would give you things to look for before choosing an auto shop
ChatGPT can not help with this related search and can only give you generic tips on how to choose the right one which is honestly not helpful to anyone.
6) does not let you see reviews of companies or products
Here is something you probably didn’t know, almost 9 out of 10 people search and read reviews on Google and other search engines. This shows out critical reviews are when searching for anything. Furthermore, 89% of users read online reviews before they buy anything and 59% of the buyers choose Google to read reviews.
Google has its own review system where you can leave a business a review on its Google My Business page. You can also find reviews on other websites like Yelp, Facebook, Angie’s List, Tripadvisor, Amazon, and more. Out of the top review websites I listed the Google My Business average monthly traffic is 158.03 million which is the most viewed review option out of all the review platforms out there. This is another reason why Google is so valuable because they have some of the most trusted and authentic reviews compared to their competitors which customer trust.
Now if you were to ask ChatGPT for reviews on McDonald’s they would actually write a review based on other people’s reviews online as you can see below.
Again, another search query that ChatGPT can not help you with that is one of the most important things people are looking for when shopping or trying to get more information.
7) doesn’t give you answers to specific questions all the time
Some questions are more difficult to answer than others. This complexity can be a real problem for an AI chat tool that is grabbing information from the web and trying to put it in its own words.
For example, I asked ChatGPT “what is the meaning of life”
ChatGPT gave me a super generic answer that was only a paragraph long. Honestly, I don’t blame ChatGPT for this poor response because I have trouble answering that question myself.
But let’s look at Google’s response to this question
Instead of giving a generic answer, Google will give you a definition it is pulling from Wikipedia. It gives you a list of “People Also Ask” with real-world responses. It will also give you a list of books that can help you answer this question. The rest of the search listings are articles that share other people’s opinions on what they think is the meaning of life. So there are a lot of resources and opinions that you can read when it comes to answering this complex answer which I think is a better alternative than what ChatGPT gives you.
This question can be a much deeper question because the user might be searching this because they are feeling depressed or lonely. Google gives you a lot of outlets and answers which I think is best when it comes to a question that could a deeply personal issue someone could be facing.
8) only gives a generic description when creating content with it
One thing I have noticed consistently with ChatGPT is that if you give it a broad term or question it will give you a generic answer that seems like it was written by a robot, which is funny because technically it was written by a robot. For ChatGPT to give you more specific answers you need to give it a list of things you are looking to give it more context.
For example, I asked ChatGPT “what is interior design” and below was its generic response
Here is a langthier answer of when I ask more questions about interior design:
Even though these answers are short and to the point, they don’t give you a lot of information so you can make an informed decision.
Imagine you are a young 18-year-old kid that wants to know more about interior design because it could be a potential career path for you. You go into ChatGPT and it gets these generic responses that tell you the bare bones of what it is. I think I would rethink my life and go take a gap year if I read this.
9) if you are writing a blog or article with it it doesn’t connect the topics to a central theme
I know that once SEO experts heard about ChatGPT the first thing they thought about was, here is something that can help me create content for my client’s blogs without me putting in a lot of work. Every SEO persons eye’s lights up and they thought of the endless content writing possibilities because of this new AI tool.
Sorry to rain on your parade but this tool is not going to write your blog articles for you. Even if you give it a bunch of keywords to write on a specific topic it is going to look like a robot wrote it in an unorganized way, pun intended.
ChatGPT’s main goal is to answer your question as simply as possible. ChatGPT is not going to add in their expert opinion or where they see the future of this industry going. They are going to answer your questions one by one and as generic as possible. So now you have to ask yourself, what reader is going to find ChatGPT content useful? I will give you a hint, no one! And because the user is not going to find it useful neither will Google which is why Google will probably not rank ChatGPT high on the search engines.
Believe me, I wish there was a magic bullet for SEO and content creation where I can tell an AI to write a full blog for me with images and video. Where each section and paragraph is tied into an overall theme but unfortunately AI is not at that point yet.
10) gives lots of errors when trying to find something that is complex or very specific
Because ChatGPT is so new it is going to have a lot of errors because technically it is still learning. This is one of the downfalls of using this new technology. I have run into this error page many times for various reasons such as the question you asked does not have an answer yet.
ChatGPT has also been experiencing server overload issues because of all the users that are using the tool at once. Just to give you an idea of how many users ChatGPT is dealing with they had gained over 1 million users in their first week. To put that in perspective for you, it took Instagram 2.5 months to reach 1 million users.
Also, ChatGPT does have policy guidelines where you can not ask it certain questions that break that policy. This can be a question that might be racist, discriminatory, sexual, or violent in nature.
Conclusion
Let me just set the record straight, I am not saying this technology is not revolutionary and completely mind-blowing. However, in the state the ChatGPT is in today there is no way it is completing with Google which has been in business since 1998. Google has a 20+ year head start with some of the best technology in the industry which is why they are one of the largest tech companies in the world.
ChatGPT could improve on its technology and eventually get more user-friendly and add tools that improve the user experience but the issue is you are still completing with Google, who owns the market and currently owns 271 products. This makes their user experience jaw-dropping when you really think about everything they offer.
So digital marking professionals and tech people around the world don’t think that your job was just replaced by an AI robot. You are still extremely valuable to small and large businesses alike and your job is going to be safe for years to come. Just make sure you keep your eyes on some of this new tech that is coming out because you never know what the future has in store for us.