OpenAI · last updated 2026-05-21
ChatGPT Search
OpenAI's web-grounded mode inside ChatGPT, surfaced as 'Search' and rolled into the default model behavior for queries the model judges to benefit from fresh information. Grounded answers cite a panel of web sources alongside the assembled response.
Grounding model
Hybrid: classical web index (with Bing-derived signals historically, increasingly OpenAI's own crawler `OAI-SearchBot`) plus model-driven query expansion. Retrieval-augmented; the model is encouraged but not forced to cite.
Citation style
Inline numbered footnotes plus a sidebar 'Sources' list with domain favicons and titles. Tap-to-reveal full URLs. Click-through opens a new tab to the source.
What it rewards
- Recent dates and explicit dating in the page body
- Direct, definitional first paragraphs the model can quote cleanly
- Clear authorship and Person/Organization schema markup
- Well-structured tables and lists the model can extract
What it penalizes
- Paywalled content (cited less, often replaced by free alternatives)
- Pages that bury the answer in a long preamble
- Heavy interstitials, cookie walls, and JS-heavy renders the crawler cannot read