ChatGPT Atlas: Is This the Future of Search?

OpenAI has dropped ChatGPT Atlas, a new browser built around ChatGPT. While it’s still early days, this new tool gives us a peek into where search behavior might be headed. For any business that relies on getting found online, understanding Atlas isn’t just a good idea anymore – it’s becoming necessary.

This review looks at what works, what’s a bit clunky, and what this all means for your marketing plans.

What is ChatGPT Atlas?

When you first open Atlas, it feels pretty familiar. You can bring over your history, passwords, and autofill info from browsers like Chrome and Safari. Once you’re in, it feels like home, with your old search history and bookmarks ready to go. The main interface is like the ChatGPT you already know, giving you answers and showing you the websites it used. There are tabs for Home (your main ChatGPT chat), Search (which feels a bit like old-school Google with just links), Images, Videos, and News.

Key Takeaways

• Search Behavior Shift: Atlas changes how people search by default, potentially impacting Google’s massive deal with Apple.
• Agent Mode: It can perform tasks for you, but it’s slow and needs a lot of verification.
• Strengths: Conversational search, analyzing pages, and remembering past interactions are strong points.
• Weaknesses: It’s slower than Google, sometimes struggles to understand intent, and has limited direct Google access.
• Threat to Google: It challenges Google’s business model by potentially reducing default search usage and Chrome data.
• Future: It might become popular through OpenAI’s user base or Google might integrate similar features.

How Does It Work?

One of the first things you’ll notice is that Atlas is slower than Google. Google feels instant, but with Atlas, you type something in and wait for results. It can be a bit frustrating at first. However, there are things you can do that you can’t do on Google.

Talking to Web Pages

You can click on any website that Atlas shows you and then use ChatGPT to ask questions about that specific page. For example, you could ask, "What data sources does this page use?" Atlas will then look at the page and its own memory to give you an answer. This is a big feature because your ChatGPT conversation stays with you; it remembers what you’ve talked about before, unlike a fresh chat each time.

Remembering Your Stuff

Atlas also keeps your history and bookmarks. If you were working on a spreadsheet in Safari, it can show up in Atlas. You can then ask Atlas to do things like, "Can you rewrite the intro of this document to be less formal?" It can access the information on the page and give you options. This is really handy.

However, it has limits. If you ask it to update a spreadsheet with a specific option, it can’t actually take action on the page yet. It might ask for verification and then fail to complete the task. So, it’s getting there, but it’s not perfect.

Agent Mode: The Future or a Frustration?

Agent Mode is a big selling point. It lets the browser do things on your behalf. For instance, you can ask it to find a specific iPhone model with the best camera and largest memory and order it. Sounds cool, right? But it takes a long time. I tried this, and it took about seven minutes just to get the right iPhone in the cart. Watching it work can be incredibly annoying, like watching someone struggle with the internet. You could probably do it yourself in a minute.

It also asks a lot of follow-up questions, like "Which body part?" if you’re trying to book a medical appointment. In the end, you often realize you could have just done it yourself much faster.

Limitations and User Sentiment

Using ChatGPT as your default search can take some getting used to. If you see a product you like, say a water bottle, and type "Lark bottle" into your browser, you’d expect to see a link to the Lark website or product listings. Atlas, however, might give you information about a specific model, which isn’t always what you wanted. It has to guess your intent because it’s ChatGPT, not Google.

While you can switch to a more traditional search, it’s still more limited than a direct Google search. This is probably why Atlas isn’t immediately becoming everyone’s go-to browser.

When Atlas launched, interest spiked but then dropped back down to around the level of Google Chrome. It wasn’t the explosive success the original ChatGPT was. Early user feedback is mixed. Some people like having ChatGPT integrated into their browsing, appreciating the memory and ease of asking questions about websites. Others feel the product isn’t quite ready, citing bugs and privacy concerns. Many trust Google or Apple with their data more than OpenAI.

What This Means for Google and Businesses

Google has a lot to lose here. Two main things:

1. Default Search Behavior: Google pays Apple $20 billion a year just so that when you search on Safari, you go to Google. This is valuable because you might click ads, and it gives Google more data to improve its search engine. Atlas replaces Google as the default search, which is a big deal.
2. Chrome Data: Google Chrome is a top browser, and the data it collects helps Google understand how people use websites. This data is so important that Google’s stock jumped 8% when it was revealed they wouldn’t have to sell Chrome during an antitrust case. Atlas could take away this valuable data stream.

For businesses relying on Google traffic (organic search, ads), this could mean a drop in traffic. This trend is already happening with AI overviews, and Atlas might speed it up. It also means lower search volumes for ads. The message is clear: you need to get your business recommended within ChatGPT, not just rely on Google.

Possible Futures

There are two main ways this could play out:

• Rapid Adoption: Early users embrace Atlas, OpenAI uses the data to improve it, and then they push it out to their massive user base. This could quickly give Atlas millions of users, further weakening Google’s dominance.
• Google Integration: Google sees what Atlas is doing and integrates similar AI features into Chrome using its Gemini AI. If you’re already using Chrome, you might not feel the need to switch, slowing down any potential drop in Google’s user numbers.

Google has already been doing this, adding AI answers to the top of search results to reassure people they don’t need to go elsewhere for AI responses.

What Marketers Need to Do

Regardless of which future plays out, one thing is certain: the direction of travel is changing. The more data OpenAI and ChatGPT get, the better they become, and the more people will use them. This will speed up the move away from traditional search.

Google search isn’t dead, not yet. But if your business depends on website traffic, you must figure out how to get your brand recommended within ChatGPT. This isn’t a drill; you can’t ignore it.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Adapt Your SEO: Watch videos on how to optimize your SEO strategy for AI search. Getting recommended in ChatGPT is already bringing in traffic and sales for some businesses.
2. Request a Marketing Review: If you’re feeling overwhelmed, get a review from experts. They can analyze your current visibility on these platforms and create a plan to increase your presence and generate leads from ChatGPT and other AI tools.

What are your thoughts on ChatGPT Atlas? Will it become your default browser? Let us know in the comments!