Craig Hudson/Reuters
- ChatGPT search function for all
- Real-time search with AI summaries
- Direct challenge to search engines
OpenAI’s decision to roll out its ChatGPT search to all users could indicate a shift in how people access information online and pose challenges for Gulf businesses when it comes to issues such as online advertising, data privacy and revenue models.
The feature, introduced to premium subscribers two months ago, allows users to receive real-time web search results with AI-generated summaries and links on ChatGPT’s platform.
This directly challenges traditional search engines such as Google, as well as other businesses that rely on web traffic for revenue. Earlier this month Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, said that ChatGPT has 300 million weekly active users, and receives 1 billion queries every day.
Google’s revenue is heavily reliant on ads tied to search results.
“If you don’t need to go on Google any more, because you can search through ChatGPT, then obviously there are going to be fewer ads displayed,” says Gregor Amon, a Dubai-based entrepreneur and founder of the AI Expert Academy.
Amon says this development raises questions about the future relevance of search engine optimisation, a cornerstone of current digital marketing strategies. OpenAI has not revealed how it ranks and selects sources displayed through search.
“Google will definitely have an answer to that,” Amon adds, referencing Google’s own advances in AI, including the launch of a video generation model that he said “surpasses” OpenAI’s version. He predicts a larger-scale “battle of giants” between OpenAI and Google.
Austyn Allison, an editorial consultant and AGBI columnist, says: “Google is free because it makes billions from advertising. It helps advertisers get their ads onto regular websites, and it also sells search results,” referencing sponsored search results.
He suggests that ChatGPT’s ad-free search engine could disrupt this model, but notes, “Sadly, that’s unsustainable… It won’t be long before there are ads on AI-powered search engines.”
Challenge for publishers
The integration of search into ChatGPT also presents dilemmas for the Gulf’s publishers. While AI-generated summaries are convenient (though not always accurate), they may cannibalise traffic to original content sources.
Amon highlights the growing tension between data accessibility and content ownership.
“There is currently an option to block ChatGPT or OpenAI from crawling your website,” he explains. “This is especially true for publications that don’t want their articles feeding into OpenAI’s learning algorithms.”
There is a trade-off between driving traffic and protecting intellectual property. “People are going to rethink if they still want to come up in searches, because then it’s beneficial for them because they get traffic, but the trade-off would be that their data could be used to train [AI] models,” Amon says.
Allison adds that the relationship between AI engines and media companies is symbiotic.
“In the long run, it’s in ChatGPT’s interests to keep the media going, as that is where it gets its content from. Without up-to-date and reliable media, it can’t serve up-to-date and reliable search results,” he says.
Business opportunities and risks
Both Allison and Amon agree that for businesses, the integration of AI into search represents both opportunities and challenges.
Enhanced access to real-time information could improve decision-making and customer engagement on a broad level, but the evolving landscape could also disrupt established advertising and traffic-generation models.
Allison notes the potential for new advertising models, such as revenue-sharing agreements between AI search engines and content providers. For example, he suggests, “when a result quotes from The Times, perhaps it could tap into the newspaper’s ad tech to serve an ad that benefits The Times,” he suggests.