I turned on search the web to compare vs google search + AI labs, and ran a battery of typical tests. Google was instantaneous vs gpt-4o which wrote out each letter.

Subjectively, I'm not switching for quick searched - google remains lightning fast and is good enough. But I already use gpt/claude/etc for conceptual searches and deeper analysis.

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[used leica q3] ==> google (product listings and website; Chatgpt told me about the Leica q3 and mentioned ebay)

[value of mac air m1] ==> neither!! (google was useless videos and crap; chatgpt gave me a price range and useful explanation... which made no sense - used was the same price or higher than new!)

[vogue lyrics] ==> google wins (gave me the lyrics; Chatgpt whined about copyright restrictions and sent me to a youtube video)

[weather in nyc] ==> tie (both provided correct, rich detail about the current weather)

[root causes of ww1] ==> tie (both identified Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism, explained each and then mentioned the assassination of the Archduke as the triggering event)

[bohemia to midtown] ==> equally bad (both figured out that it's a request for local directions, but neither just gave me directions until I gave a specific destination)

[bohemia to penn station] ==> ??? (chatgpt correctly gave me bohemia ny where google picked some obscure local listing; otoh chatgpt wrote out directions where google gave me a nice map)

[btc to usd] ==> tie (both got today's price)

[what time is it in stockholm] ==> tie (both got it right)

[iphone 16 vs 14] ==> chatgpt wins (nice comparison; google didn't pop search labs and just gave me websites)

[ffmpeg to clip the last 3 secs of a video] ==> chatgpt ?! (I didn't love either answer TBH)

[456+789] ==> google (both gave the answer, but google included a nice calculator)

...and the stuff people really want:

[porn] ==> google (gpt whined about policy violations; google gave pornhub and other "useful" results)