Why Google should feel nervous about OpenAI's SearchGPT, according to a search engine expert

OpenAI has a strategic lead by making publisher agreements and releasing SearchGPT to a small group of users.

• OpenAI's SearchGPT is positioned to challenge Google's dominance in the search engine market.
• OpenAI's slow rollout and publisher agreements show a lead in strategy, a search engine expert says.
• Google still has room to catch up and the competition may pressure the tech giant to innovate.

With the recent launch of SearchGPT, OpenAI has positioned itself to compete with Google in the search engine market.

The new tool, which is in testing, responds to inquiries with "up-to-date information from the web" and provides links to sources. It's a similar concept to Google's AI Overviews or Perplexity's AI-powered answer engine.

But how much does a relatively new startup actually stand to impact a tech giant like Google? Google has dominated the search engine space for over 20 years and has more capital and employees than OpenAI, which only became a household name over the last couple of years.

Chris Rodgers, the CEO at SEO agency CSP, has worked in the search engine industry for over 20 years. He told Business Insider that SearchGPT may not pose an immediate threat to Google Search.

But the giant should feel threatened because of the momentum OpenAI previously created around ChatGPT. He also said Google should feel the heat because OpenAI has presented a better strategy than Google in its rollout of SearchGPT.

Controlled testing

OpenAI is first launching SearchGPT to a small group of publishers and users for feedback with plans to integrate it into ChatGPT eventually — and Rodgers said that's the right idea.

Rodgers said Google demonstrated "amazing things" at Google I/O conference this year. The company introduced tools like AI Overviews, Project Astra, and a slew of AI features for Android.

"But there is a disconnect between what they just rolled out and what the public is experiencing with these AI Overviews," Rodgers said.

AI Overviews has received criticism for providing inaccurate responses and making errors like suggesting eating glue.

Google also previously received backlash because its chatbot Gemini recreated images of historical figures with inaccurate ethnicities and genders. The chatbot is now restricted from responding to any election-related inquiries.

Rodgers said OpenAI learned a lesson from Google's approach. By launching to a subset of users for feedback first, the company has a chance to work on issues that arise.

Publisher agreements

Rodgers said OpenAI also made the right move by signing publisher agreements. The company has signed a number of deals with publishers, including Vox Media, Axel Springer, News Corp., and The Atlantic.

(Axel Springer is the publisher that owns Business Insider.)

According to the company's announcement, SearchGPT will cite and link "clear, in-line, named attribution and links" to help users determine where information is coming from.

Meanwhile, Google is striking a nerve with users because people aren't getting credit for their work in AI-generated responses, Rodgers said.

While Rodgers has concerns that OpenAI could take a back door approach to access data if publishers refuse to form an agreement, he says the way the deals have been presented to the public is the right idea.

Google still has room to compete

Google rarely gets challenged, which allows it to get away without innovating, Rodgers said. But the emergence of strong rivals like OpenAI could be a catalyst for much-needed change, he said.

"Google has to adapt," Rodgers said. "They're gonna have to question the way that they're doing things."

Rodgers said Google has room to make changes and time to do so. Consumer search behavior and technology adoption move relatively slowly, he said.

Rodgers added that Monday's monopoly ruling against Google could help OpenAI down the line. The tech giant could lose search-market share if it's removed as the default search engine on mobile devices, but Rodgers said it's expected to be a drawn-out process.

"As long as they are the search-engine of choice for the majority of consumers they will remain the dominant search-engine," Rodgers said. "Even if OpenAI or other AI search-engines erode search-market share."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated that Google's Search Generative Experience has not been rolled out to the public yet. Google's Search Generative Experience transitioned to AI Overviews in May to everyone in the US.