ChatGPT Search · OpenAI · Live web answers inside ChatGPT
How to get cited on ChatGPT Search
ChatGPT Search is the part of ChatGPT that goes to the live web. It decides when a question needs fresh information, runs the search, and answers with linked sources. If OpenAI's search crawler can't reach your pages, you can't be one of those links. We track which of your pages it cites for your buyers' questions, and which competitor pages it cites instead.
How ChatGPT Search picks what to cite
- Searches the web automatically when a question needs current information, or when the user asks it to (OpenAI, October 2024)
- Draws on third-party search providers plus content supplied directly by OpenAI's news and data partners (OpenAI, October 2024)
- Only surfaces pages that OAI-SearchBot is allowed to crawl. OpenAI says sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links
- Turns a conversational question into one or more search queries, so a page that answers one specific sub-question plainly is easy to lift and cite
What GetCited tracks for ChatGPT Search
- Whether ChatGPT Search mentions or recommends your brand for your buyer questions
- The claims it makes about you, and where they're wrong or out of date
- The sources and pages it cites, yours and everyone else's
- Share of voice against your competitors, tracked daily
Where brands fall short
Common gaps brands have for ChatGPT Search
OAI-SearchBot blocked
Robots rules or a firewall that block OpenAI's search crawler keep your pages out of ChatGPT Search answers. Blocking GPTBot (used for training) is a separate decision, and many sites block both without meaning to.
No page that answers the sub-question
One buyer question becomes several narrower searches. If no page on your site answers one of them directly, a review site or a competitor gets the citation.
Weak presence in the results it reads
ChatGPT Search builds its answer on web search results. Pages that aren't indexed or don't rank in the search providers it uses rarely make the source list.
How it compares
ChatGPT Search vs other AI engines
vs ChatGPT
ChatGPT without search answers from what the model learned in training. ChatGPT Search answers from the live web, so fresh, crawlable pages matter more than long-standing reputation alone.
vs Perplexity
Both cite the live web inline. Perplexity is built around searching every question; ChatGPT Search searches when the question calls for it.
vs Google AI Mode
AI Mode is grounded in Google's own index. ChatGPT Search draws on third-party search providers and partner content, so a strong Google rank doesn't carry over automatically.
Free diagnostic
See how ChatGPT Search answers your buyers.
Request a free diagnostic: we'll show you how ChatGPT Search and the other AI engines answer your buyers' questions.
Next step