ChatGPT Search vs Perplexity Initial Thoughts

It looks like #ChatGPT search has gone live to at least everyone on the waitlist? I just got an email from them saying as much and it is already in the #macOS app for me.

ChatGPT Search on macOS

The question on my mind is how well does this work compared to Perplexity which I use daily for research. Let’s compare on a few examples:

In mid journey, what are srefs?

I think ChatGPT Search wins this one. The crux of my question is “how do I use them?” which Perplexity takes a while to get to and ChatGPT understands right away.

What are the top 5 best metrics to measure a customer support contact centers performance by?

Interesting that their answers are significantly different. I would give the edge to ChatGPT Search here, but both are good answers.

User Interface

Ultimately, this is a competition to see who can replace Google first. For that to be true, these apps have to be fast and the results have to be super legible.

ChatGPT Search Strengths - I like the bolded headings. It’s more legible. - The ordered list worked (in Perplexity everything is “1”) - It’s fast. Like really fast. - Content is briefer, which I like, and can be tuned by my personal prompts.

Perplexity Strengths - I love inline citations. Scrubbing the list at the end of ChatGPT Search’s responses is a less usable way of verifying information. - I like how Perplexity adds some images at the top of responses, but they are not always the most relevant. - Perplexity used better sources for its responses. SQM Group is a more credible source for answering questions about contact center metrics than blogs of SaaS products in the industry.