ChatGPT Search
ChatGPT's feature for searching the live web and answering with inline citations and a Sources panel. Requires OAI-SearchBot access to appear.
What is ChatGPT Search?
ChatGPT Search is the feature where ChatGPT does not rely only on trained knowledge but searches the live web, showing inline citations and a Sources panel in its answer. Released by OpenAI in 2024, it rewrites the user's question into more specific search queries (query rewriting), retrieves multiple sources, and then assembles an answer.
How does it work?
- It rewrites the question into one or more more-specific search queries.
- It retrieves candidate pages from the web and selects the most citable units.
- It shows sources via inline citation links and a Sources panel.
To appear in an answer, a site must be open to OAI-SearchBot. Domains that block this bot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
Why does it matter for GEO?
ChatGPT Search prefers easy-to-lift answer units (direct answer, statistic, source, update date) over traditional keyword pages. So GEO/AEO works in order: ① secure bot accessibility → ② design citation-ready answer blocks → ③ measure citation share. AI visibility diagnostics repeatedly measure how often a brand is cited in ChatGPT Search answers to find what to improve.
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