[ianburrell]

I think there are two use cases for search engine, to find an answer and to find a site. ChatGPT is good for the former and useless for the latter. Google is okay at the former and good at the latter (but getting worse). Big advantage of Google is that there are sources for more detail.

For example, I'm looking at sleeping pads for camping. If I type "sleeping pad" in ChatGPT, it tells me what a sleeping pad is. If I type it into Google, it lists products, places to buy them, and some reviews. If I type "best sleeping pads", ChatGPT gives me a list but without details or sources. If I type into Google, I get a list of reviews which I have to read but has context.

[Minor49er]

I get the differences in how they work. To that, I think your example is too simple and conclusions far too hasty on ChatGPT's capabilities. It is far from useless when it comes to finding relevant websites

Following your example, I queried it with "Where can I buy a sleeping pad online?" and it listed several options, starting with specific ones (Amazon, REI, Backcountry), then got more generalized (Camping and Outdoor Gear Websites, Specialized Brands, Large Retailers, Online Marketplaces). I told it to list the websites of the specialized brands and it gave me links to four retailers (thermarest.com, bigagnes.com, seatosummitusa.com, and nemoequipment.com)