Guide to Connecting ChatGPT to the Internet
Essential Information
- ChatGPT offers real-time updates and search capabilities through its paid feature, ChatGPT search.
- Subscribers to ChatGPT Plus and Team plans can enter questions and receive current results directly from the chatbot.
- Consider using the ChatGPT Search Chrome extension to set ChatGPT as your primary search engine.
- Free users of ChatGPT have access to a limited browsing feature that is less advanced than the paid options but still functional in many cases.
ChatGPT is capable of quickly addressing the majority of your inquiries; however, it has a significant limitation. The training data for its models extends only through December 2023. As a result, the AI may fall short in providing pertinent information concerning events after this date, unless you utilize its browsing capability or ChatGPT Search feature.
This article will detail how you can access the internet through ChatGPT, whether you’re a paid member or using the free service.
Is ChatGPT Online Capable?
To utilize ChatGPT, an internet connection is essential, yet the responses depend on data training ending in December 2023. If you aim to use ChatGPT for the latest information, the only official method is subscribing to ChatGPT Plus, which unlocks the new ChatGPT Search functionality, allowing the use of the AI as a search engine for real-time data.
For those on the free plan, there is a primitive browsing tool available that can provide relatively recent information.
Connecting ChatGPT to the Web
How you connect ChatGPT to the internet varies slightly based on your subscription plan. Here’s a guide tailored for each user group.
Access for Free Users
Those using free ChatGPT can take advantage of the web browsing functionality but it’s quite restricted. Just ask ChatGPT about a recent event and press Enter. You should see a message like ‘Searching the web,’ indicating that the AI is utilizing Bing to fetch relevant information before synthesizing a response for you.
You can click on ‘Searched # sites’ to view the sources from which ChatGPT derived its information.
Keep in mind that this doesn’t guarantee the information is completely up-to-date. Nonetheless, you can refresh ChatGPT’s context slightly to retrieve more current results.
Access for Plus and Team Users
To obtain immediate and up-to-date responses, akin to what you’d experience with Google, you will require a paid ChatGPT Plus membership.
To upgrade, click the ‘Upgrade plan’ option located in the bottom left corner and choose Upgrade to Plus.
Next, input your payment information on the following page and click the Subscribe button at the bottom right corner.
Return to your ChatGPT homepage, initiate a new chat, and feel free to ask about current events.
Installing the ChatGPT Search Chrome Extension
With the launch of ChatGPT Search, OpenAI also introduced an official Chrome extension. If you’re a subscriber, you can add this extension and set ChatGPT as your default search engine. Here’s how:
- ChatGPT Search | Chrome Extension
- Click the provided link and choose Add to Chrome.
- Select Continue to install.
- Click on Add extension.
- After adding the ChatGPT search extension, open a new tab, and enter your query.
- Upon pressing Enter, you’ll be directed to ChatGPT instead of Google, resulting in the AI providing your inquiry with the most current responses.
This method eliminates the need to navigate to the ChatGPT website each time for web searches—instead, simply input your query directly into the address bar and hit Enter.
The aforementioned methods represent the official channels through which you can access the internet via ChatGPT. While alternatives exist, such as Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, or various third-party AI browsing extensions, they do not offer the same level of sophistication as the official solutions.
Leave a Reply