How to replace Google with ChatGPT search in your browser

ChatGPT Search launched this week and in many ways produces more comprehensive results than Google. So much so that you may even want to replace Google with ChatGPT search as the default in your browser of choice.

This isn't always possible – some of the most popular web browsers tightly control which services can act as your default search engine. But here's how to do it in some of the most popular desktop web browsers on the market.

Before we get into it, it's worth noting that at the time of writing, only ChatGPT Plus subscribers have access to web search, it is not available on the free accounts.

Replace Google with ChatGPT search in Chrome

OpenAI is making it easy to replace Google as the default search engine in Chrome as it has released a browser extension that allows you to do just that. All you need to do is install the browser extension and it will do the rest.

Click here to download the ChatGPT search extension for Google Chrome.

If you don't want to go through the hassle of replacing Google as the default, but want to make searching with ChatGPT easier, you can add ChatGPT search to Chrome's site search shortcuts. This means you can type a shortcut like “@chat” in the browser address bar followed by your search term to search with ChatGPT without having to visit the website first. (Hat tip to MasterSnipes on Reddit for posting the solution below.)

To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Open Chrome Settings
2. Select “Search Engine” from the left menu
3. Click Search engines and manage site search
4. Under Site Search, click Add
5. Change the name to “ChatGPT” (without the quotes).
6. Change the shortcut to “@chatgpt” or a shortcut of your choice
7. Change the URL to “https://chatgpt.com/?q=%s” and then click Add

For example, now you can type searches like “@chatgpt today's weather in Chicago” into the Chrome address bar and the search will be performed using ChatGPT. After typing the shortcut and pressing the spacebar, the address bar should change to “Search with ChatGPT.”

Replace Google with ChatGPT search In the edge

Microsoft Edge is based on the same Chromium engine as the Google Chrome browser and can therefore also load the ChatGPT search extension.

However, Microsoft being Microsoft, it's not going to make life easy for people who want to switch their default service from a Microsoft service, in this case Bing. So when you try to install the ChatGPT search extension, it will initially be blocked and you will see this warning message:

Click the gray “Turn On” button to ensure ChatGPT search becomes the default.

Edge also has a similar feature to Chrome that allows you to add search engines without replacing the default. Here's how to find:

1. Open Settings
2. From the left menu, select Privacy, Search, and Services
3. Scroll down to the address bar, locate and click on it
4. Click Manage Search Engines
5. Click Add and follow steps 5, 6, and 7 for Chrome above

Replace Google with ChatGPT Search in Safari, Firefox and other browsers

With some other popular browsers, your options are more limited.

Safari does allow you to switch the default engine, but only to one of five different providers, not including ChatGPT. ChatGPT search also doesn't seem to work with Safari's Quick Site feature, which allows you to search websites from the address bar without having to visit them first.

Firefox also offers users the option to change their default search engine. However, this requires the search provider to create an extension for the browser. Apparently OpenAI hasn't created one for Firefox yet.

Vivaldi is my preferred browser. It is also based on the Chromium engine and allows you to install extensions from the Chrome Web Store. However, when I tried to install the ChatGPT search extension, it didn't change the default engine.

However, you can add ChatGPT to Vivaldi's list of search engines using the same process as above for Chrome (in Vivaldi, navigate to Settings > Search > Search Engines). Once it's added as a search engine, you can set it as the default.

The big question is: will you ever go back after learning how to replace Google with ChatGPT search?