Bottom line: SearchGPT is no longer a separate product. It was OpenAI’s waitlisted AI search prototype from July 2024, and OpenAI folded it into ChatGPT on 31 October 2024 as ChatGPT search; today it is simply the built-in Search tool inside ChatGPT, so there is nothing separate to sign up for.
| What it is | A retired OpenAI prototype name. The technology now ships as web search inside ChatGPT on chatgpt.com and in the ChatGPT desktop and mobile apps, not as a standalone search engine. |
| Best for | Questions that need current information with clickable citations – news, prices, availability, local results, and anything published after a model’s training cut-off. |
| Weakest at | Replacing a general search engine. OpenAI warns that results and citations can be incomplete, outdated or incorrect, and coverage depends on publishers allowing its OAI-SearchBot crawler. |
| Pricing | Free. Web search works on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu, and for signed-out users. Searches count against your plan’s usage limits. |
| Our take | Stop hunting for SearchGPT and open ChatGPT instead – select Search in the composer, or add OpenAI’s Chrome extension to search from the address bar. Treat the citations as leads to verify, not as finished answers. |
Independent review. No affiliate links. Last checked 23 August 2026.
SearchGPT was OpenAI’s prototype AI search feature, launched behind a waitlist in July 2024, that gave you fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.
Read more about unleashing the power of OpenAI’s SearchGPT with Geminy.AI
Frequently asked questions
Does SearchGPT still exist?
Not as a separate product. SearchGPT was an OpenAI prototype announced in July 2024 behind a waitlist. On 31 October 2024 OpenAI folded it into ChatGPT as ChatGPT search, and the capability now ships simply as the built-in Search tool inside ChatGPT. There is no standalone SearchGPT site, app or subscription to sign up for.
What happened to SearchGPT?
It graduated rather than shut down. OpenAI used the waitlisted prototype to test AI search with publisher citations, then moved the feature into ChatGPT itself and retired the SearchGPT name. OpenAI’s own help documentation no longer uses the term at all, describing the feature as searching the web with ChatGPT.
Is SearchGPT the same as ChatGPT search?
Effectively yes. ChatGPT search is the shipped version of the SearchGPT prototype, so anyone searching for SearchGPT wants ChatGPT’s web search. OpenAI has since simplified the branding further, and in the product it now appears as a Search tool you select in the composer rather than a separate named mode.
How do I use ChatGPT to search the web?
Open a conversation on chatgpt.com or in the ChatGPT desktop or mobile app, select View all tools, then select Search, and send your question. You can also type a forward slash in the composer and pick Search. ChatGPT will often search automatically when a question needs current information.
Is ChatGPT web search free?
Yes. Web search is available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu, and people who are not signed in can use it too. Searches count against your plan’s usage limits, and some extras such as restaurant reservations have additional eligibility requirements and are not on every plan.
Does ChatGPT search show its sources?
Yes. Responses that use web search can include inline citations you can click to open the source, plus a Sources panel listing cited pages and related links. OpenAI warns that results and citations can be incomplete, outdated or incorrect, so open the cited page and check the publication date when accuracy matters.
How do I get my website to appear in ChatGPT search results?
Allow OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot to crawl your site, and confirm your host or CDN is not blocking OpenAI’s published searchbot IP addresses, which OpenAI lists at openai.com/searchbot.json. Being crawlable makes a site eligible for inclusion only. OpenAI ranks results on multiple factors and states that placement is not guaranteed.