To use ChatGPT as a search engine, open any chat and either ask a time-sensitive question directly — ChatGPT will search the web on its own when it needs to — or force it by clicking the + icon in the composer, choosing Web search, and typing your query. It works on the free plan, no separate sign-up required.
Short answer: Open chatgpt.com or the app, then either ask a question that needs current information (ChatGPT auto-searches) or click the + icon and pick Web search to force it. You'll get a synthesized answer with clickable source links instead of a list of blue links. It's free on every plan, including logged-out use, per OpenAI's help documentation.
I've been using ChatGPT search as my default lookup tool for months now, next to and sometimes instead of Google. In my testing it's genuinely good for "what's happening right now" and "compare these three things" questions, and genuinely bad for anything that needs a definitive, single, official page. Here's the honest, current guide to turning it on, using it well, and knowing when to still open a browser tab instead.
What you'll need
Nothing fancy. You need a chatgpt.com account (free is fine — no credit card) or the ChatGPT mobile app, and a normal internet connection. Web search does not require Plus, Pro, or Team; OpenAI's help documentation on ChatGPT search lists it as available to Free, Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise users, and even to logged-out visitors at chatgpt.com. If you want it as your everyday habit rather than an occasional tool, it also helps to know your way around the composer's tool menu, which is the same one used for image uploads and file attachments — one interface for everything, which is worth knowing before you start.
Step-by-step: how to use ChatGPT search engine
1. Open a chat and just ask
Most of the time you don't need to do anything special. Ask something like "who won last night's game" or "what's the current price of the iPhone 17" and ChatGPT decides on its own that the question needs live web data, runs the search, and answers with citations. This is the fastest path and it's on by default — the same behavior OpenAI describes in its ChatGPT search announcement.
2. Force web search when you want it
When you want to guarantee a live lookup — for a question that could go either way, or that isn't obviously time-sensitive — click the + icon to the left of the message box, select Web search, and type your question. You can also type / in the composer and choose Search from the pop-up menu. Either way, that chat turns the feature on for the message you're about to send.
3. Read the answer, then check the sources
ChatGPT gives you a written answer first, synthesized from several pages, with small inline citation marks. Hover over one to preview the source, or click it to open the page. If a response doesn't show inline marks, look for a Sources link under the answer — it opens a side panel listing every page ChatGPT pulled from.
4. Follow up like a conversation, not a new search
This is the real difference from a search engine. Ask "and what about last year's numbers" or "which of those is cheapest for a family of four" and ChatGPT keeps the thread, searching again only for the new part of the question. You lose this thread advantage entirely if you start a fresh chat for every follow-up.
5. Verify anything that matters
Treat ChatGPT search results the way you'd treat a knowledgeable friend's answer: probably right, worth a second look before you act on it. Click through to the actual source for prices, dates, medical or legal specifics, and anything you'd hate to get wrong.
Example prompts you can copy
- "What's the current starting price of [product], and has it changed in the last 3 months?"
- "Summarize the top 3 reviews of [restaurant/hotel/product] published in the last 30 days."
- "Compare [Tool A] and [Tool B] pricing pages side by side and tell me which is cheaper for 5 users."
- "What did [company] announce this week, and link me to the original press release."
- "Find the official documentation page for [feature] and quote the exact requirement."
The pattern that works best in my testing: name the thing, ask for a number or a comparison, and ask it to link the source. Vague prompts ("tell me about X") pull a wider, mushier set of pages than specific ones.
Common mistakes to avoid
The biggest one I see: people assume every answer is fresh, when ChatGPT only searches when it decides the question needs it — or when you force it with the + menu. If an answer feels stale, force the search rather than trust the default judgment call. Second, people paste a source URL and ask ChatGPT to "search for more like this," which usually returns generic results; naming the actual entity or product works far better than describing it. Third, skipping the citations panel is a habit worth breaking — I've caught ChatGPT confidently blending two similarly named companies' pricing into one answer, and the sources panel is what caught it, not the prose. Finally, don't use it for anything that needs to be the single canonical source — tax rules, legal deadlines, or medical dosing belong on the official page, not a synthesized summary of five pages about it.
ChatGPT search vs. Google vs. Perplexity
| ChatGPT Search | Perplexity | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Answer format | Synthesized answer + citations | List of links (AI Overview on top) | Synthesized answer + citations |
| Follow-up questions | Yes, full conversation memory | No, each search is separate | Yes, limited thread memory |
| Free tier | Yes, incl. logged-out | Yes | Yes, capped daily searches |
| Best for | Research, comparisons, "explain and cite" | Navigational (a specific known site) | Research with heavier source lists |
| Weakest at | Single canonical/official page lookups | Multi-step comparisons | — |
None of these fully replaces the other two. In my testing, Google still wins when I know exactly which page I want (a login screen, a specific product page); ChatGPT and Perplexity win when I want the answer synthesized and don't want to open six tabs myself.
Bonus: set ChatGPT as your browser's default search engine
If you like using it this way daily, you can skip chatgpt.com entirely and search from your address bar. On Chrome, Edge, Brave, and other Chromium browsers, install the official ChatGPT Search extension from the Chrome Web Store (look for chatgpt.com listed as the publisher), then set it as your default search engine in your browser's settings. On Firefox, open about:preferences#search, and add ChatGPT as a search engine option, then set it as default. Once it's set, typing a query straight into the address bar opens a ChatGPT conversation instead of a results page. If you ever want a plain Google results page instead, most setups let you type !g before your query to fall back to it for that one search.
Tools that make this easier
ChatGPT search is one piece of a bigger toolkit, and it's worth knowing where it fits. If you haven't set up an account yet, my guide to how to use ChatGPT for free covers exactly what the no-cost tier includes beyond search. Once search feels basic, ChatGPT’s agent mode goes a step further — it doesn't just find and cite pages, it browses them and builds you a spreadsheet or document from what it finds. On a Mac, my walkthrough on using ChatGPT on a MacBook covers keyboard shortcuts and the desktop app that make search-and-follow-up faster than typing in a browser tab. If your searches are usually research for writing, a dedicated tool from my best AI writing tools roundup often finishes the job better than a chat window. And if you're searching for code answers specifically, general web search is rarely the best fit — see my ChatGPT alternatives for coding guide for tools built for that job.
My verdict
ChatGPT search earns a permanent spot next to my browser's search bar, not instead of it. It's fast, it cites its sources, and it holds a conversation instead of making me start over with every follow-up — that alone saves real time on any research task with more than one question. It's the wrong tool when I need one specific official page, and I've learned to reach for a plain search engine in that exact case. Learn the difference between the two and you'll use both better.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ChatGPT search free to use?
Yes. OpenAI's help documentation lists ChatGPT search as available on the Free plan, Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise, and even for logged-out visitors at chatgpt.com. There's no separate fee or upgrade required to use it.
How do I turn on ChatGPT search engine mode?
Click the + icon in the message composer and choose Web search, or type / and select Search from the pop-up menu. ChatGPT will also search automatically, without you doing anything, when it judges that a question needs current web information.
Can I set ChatGPT as my browser's default search engine?
Yes. Install the official ChatGPT Search extension for Chrome, Edge, or another Chromium browser from the Chrome Web Store, then set it as your default search engine in your browser settings. Firefox lets you add and set it as default from its search preferences.
Is ChatGPT search accurate — should I trust the sources it shows?
It's good, not infallible. In my testing it correctly cites its sources the large majority of the time, but I've seen it blend details from two similarly named things into one answer. Click through the citations panel for anything you plan to rely on.
What's the difference between ChatGPT search and a regular ChatGPT answer?
A regular answer comes from what the model already knows, which can be outdated. A search-backed answer pulls current pages from the web first, then writes the response from those pages and links back to them — better for anything time-sensitive, prices, news, or recent releases.