ChatGPT Search vs Google Search: Which Is Better?

This week ChatGPT announced that the gloves are off and it will be competing with Google on web search. Over the past two decades, this has been the tech equivalent of opening up a ground war in Asia or tilting at windmills, but there is some recent precedent: Perplexity.ai has been doing the same thing since November of 2022.

So is AI better than traditional search? OpenAI says yes, and that it’s not even close.

“ChatGPT can now search the web in a much better way than before,” the company said in the new product announcement.

But is that true? I decided to check on 10 different queries.

World Series MVP – winner: ChatGPT

I asked both Google and ChatGPT a simple question: “who was the world series MVP?” I didn’t provide any context about time.

Google returns four news stories about Freddie Freeman, who actually did win the most valuable player aware in the recent MLB World Series championship. But it also gives a summary of what the award is and its full name: the “Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player Award.” Since I did not know that, I initially thought it was returning a wrong—and very old—answer.

In addition, the “People also ask” section with common questions was the opposite of helpful, and the first actual search result, which you have to scroll pretty far down to find these days on Google, was a Wikipedia entry about the MVP award.

ChatGPT, on the other hand, understands perfectly what I want and provides a quick and short—and correct—answer, along with a source for more information:

Solar energy – winner: ChatGPT

What about a more challenging query: “is solar energy good for the environment?”

This is a much more complex query with a much more complex answer. Both Google and ChatGPT do fairly well, but the difference is that ChatGPT wants to supply an answer, whereas Google wants—at least in this case—to feed you matching web results.

Google does lead off with a “featured snipped,” which is Google’s way of trying to give you a direct answer to your query without you having to bother to find and click a link, and it’s pretty good:

But it’s hard to beat ChatGPT’s answer, which is a mini-essay listing five good things about solar energy, while acknowledging that there are some issues such as “the energy and materials required for manufacturing and disposing of solar panels.”

Bathroom remodel – winner: ChatGPT

We’re doing a kitchen and bathroom remodel, and toilets are one of many things on the list to research and buy. So I threw in this query: “what is the best bidet to buy?”

This one’s not even close.

The entire first screen of Google results are not, in fact, search results. Every single thing on the first screen is a sponsored results—AKA ad—and the biggest sponsored listing also has details about dehumidifiers, vacuums, mattress toppers, and electric scooters. We don’t even notice this sometimes anymore because we’ve developed adblindness out of sheer self-preservation, but it’s literally awful:

ChatGPT, on the other hand, gives me a nice clean list of top-rated bidets, each with a link to a further in-depth at reputable publications such as Wired, Popular Science, and The Verge. Clicking on the Sources link pops open a handy sidebar with links and previews of

Google has some similar links, but they’re pushed way far down the page.

Smartphones – winner: Google

I do a lot of research as part of my work, so getting good facts is critical. So is knowing the sources for those facts, and being able to make a reasonable determination if they are credible.

So I asked: “how many smartphones are there worldwide?”

Google’s featured snippet gives an answer right at the top of the page: 6.84 billion. It also give a source, Exploding Topics, which sounds like a content farm for ad dollars, but additional links and snippets farther down the page corroborate the featured snippet.

ChatGPT, on the other hand, gives what seems to be a great answer:

“As of 2024, there are approximately 4.88 billion smartphone users worldwide, accounting for about 60.42% of the global population. The total number of active smartphones is higher, around 7.21 billion, due to many individuals owning multiple devices.”

The problem is that one of its sources is Prioridata, which sounds credible, almost like an analyst firm. However, the website’s about us page shares zero names and uses an impossibly good-looking set of very young analysts that a reverse image search reveals is almost guaranteed to be a stock photo.

Professional sports – winner: tie

We often use web search to find things to do. I asked both Google and ChatGPT “what is the NY rangers next home game?”

Both answered instantly and well: they’re playing the NY Islanders at home tomorrow. Interestingly, Google translated the Easter time to 10AM for me on the west coast; ChatGPT merely said it was a 1PM ET.

Shopping – winner: tie

At a conference I recently received a coupon for a free pair of pants at a local brand’s store, so I asked both Google and ChatGPT: “where is DU/ER in Vancouver?”

Google instantly gave me the answer, with the full address, plus a link to the companies’ home page and a button for directions. ChatGPT provided that, but also gave me the store’s hours and a link to a map.

Weather – winner: Google

I’m on the wet coast in Vancouver, north of Seattle, and we get a lot of rain in the winter. So I asked both search engines: “what’s the weather going to be like tomorrow?”

Both responded with weather forecasts, but only one knew my location: near Vancouver, BC, Canada. Also, Google didn’t just give me text, it supplied a graph of temperatures and weather conditions forecast for the next week.

ChatGPT gave me a weather forecast for what my IP address appears to reveal as my location: Kamloops, BC. Unfortunately, that’s 220 miles or 354 kilometers away.

Distance – winner: tie

To get that distance above I googled and ChatGPT’d for the data. Both responded correctly and identically with the driving distance between the two cities.

Kudos to Google for supplying a map with the answer; kudos to ChatGPT for also providing the distance as the crow—or airplane—flies.

Travel – winner: ChatGPT

I have a conference soon in Lisbon, Portugal, so I asked both ChatGPT and Google “what is there to do in Lisbon?”

Again Google’s monetization model reared its not-so-pretty head and the first screen of results was entirely filled with sponsored ads—not answers—from Viator, GetYourGuide, Airbnb and Tripadvisor.

ChatGPT gave me a wonderful list historical landmarks, cultural experiences, scenic views, culinary delights, modern attractions, and nearby day trips that—as someone who has been to Lisbon five or six times, all rings true. I haven’t yet been to Jerónimos Monastery, though, so maybe that’s a go for this coming trip.

Internet – winner: Google

Given that I’ve been searching the web all day, I asked both Google and ChatGPT what is the best search engine on the planet.

Google answers with a knowledge chip from In Motion Marketing that is pretty bang-on:

“Google holds the top position as the most popular search engine globally, commanding a significant market share. What is the best, most secure search engine? DuckDuckGo, Startpage, and Brave Search are top choices for those prioritizing security, as they do not track user data and offer enhanced privacy features.”

ChatGPT, on the other hand, doesn’t really want to offend anyone, saying that “determining the ‘best’ search engine depends on individual preferences, including factors like search accuracy, privacy, user interface, and additional features.”

Well, probably true, but hardly definitive.

Totaling up the results

• ChatGPT: 4 wins
• Google: 3 wins
• Tie: 3

ChatGPT wins this tussle, although let’s be honest: it’s hardly scientific. To make a more accurate determination, we’d need to feed both Google and ChatGPT hundreds if not thousands of queries.

What I can fairly definitively say is that ChatGPT provides answers, and while Google tries to do that, it also has to present links. Answers are what we generally want, and since ChatGPT also now provides sources, we can dig in deeper whenever we want. That’s a major positive, and it’s probably something we’ll see more from Google as Gemini gets more embedded into Google search.

In addition, Google has huge numbers of sponsored results, which really detracts from the experience of asking a question and getting a direct answer. I’m sure ChatGPT will have something like that soon—Perplexity.ai already does—but hopefully they will find a cleaner way of doing it.

One thing in Google’s favor: its long history, vast product portfolio, and deep connections and relationships enable it to present helpful elements like maps, weather charts, and more. That’s something ChatGPT may want to build up over time.