- Google strengthens its ecosystem with artificial intelligence in response to the advance of ChatGPT
- A ChatGPT feature exposed thousands of personal conversations on Google
- AI use is growing among Generation Z, changing search habits
- Google adapts its engine with AI, but faces challenges in privacy and content
Thousands of Conversations held on ChatGPT have been made accessible from Google due to a feature that allowed sharing public links. Although users manually enabled this option, Many of those conversations contained sensitive data—and can now be found with a simple search.The case has uncovered a serious privacy issue right in the middle of the battle between Google and OpenAI for the future of online search.
Changing interaction with search engines
One of the most visible changes is the generation Z, who starts using ChatGPT as his preferred tool to resolve doubts, make inquiries or find information without having to visit links. According to recent data, 66% of young people of this generation already use chatbots as their primary search tool.
This contrasts with generations such as the baby boomers, of whom a 73% do not rely on artificial intelligence tools to search for information in their daily lives. The generational gap is clear, and it's forcing Google to rethink your approach to remain relevant.
In response, Google has been introducing new AI-based options within its search engine, such as 'AI Mode' y 'AI Overviews', which redesigns how results are presented. Now, instead of a classic list of links, users get more complete answers accompanied by contextual links.
According to studies conducted by Semrush, these features appear in a 92% of search cases, including links to popular domains like Reddit or YouTube, indicating that Google is prioritizing sources with user-generated content to improve its relevance.
The technological race and the costs of AI
After being seen as a direct threat, the situation has changed: Google has invested heavily in artificial intelligence to keep up. Its division Google Cloud has doubled its profit margin, and applications like Gemini, its direct competitor of ChatGPT, already registers more than 450 million active users.
However, the fight for leadership in AI is costing a lot of money. real fortune. Google has invested close to 85.000 million in technological infrastructure, a figure that reflects the commitment to dominate the future of information. Meanwhile, ChatGPT receives between 15% and 20% of searches that previously went to Google, a warning sign for the Californian company.
The war for user attention is not limited to functionality. The search experience is changing And this directly affects website traffic. Increasingly, users are getting answers directly from AI, without having to click on links, which has reduced the flow to news outlets and other traditional sources.
The ChatGPT privacy scandal
Amidst this technological competition, an unexpected problem has arisen due to a feature included in ChatGPT. Thousands of conversations shared by users, through voluntarily created links, have been indexed by Google and other search engines, allowing anyone to read them without difficulty.
In these conversations they have found medical, work, financial and even personal data that compromise the privacy of users. The simple use of the command site:chatgpt.com/share allows you to explore these chats, many of which should not have been publicly accessible.
A particularly revealing case is that of A user who asked for help to redo his resume, including such specific job details that it was possible locate your real professional profile. Other chats showed from cooking recipes to investment advice or personal confessions.
In addition, some users have started exploiting this feature for purposes related to SEO positioning, producing optimized content within these shared conversations to achieve visibility on Google, which adds another layer to this dilemma.
OpenAI responds to the controversy
Under media pressure, the company behind ChatGPT announced the removal of this feature and explained that it was a experiment. The feature required users to turn on several options to make links publicly visible, but for many, the warnings were not enough.
An OpenAI spokesperson stated that chats were not public by default and that the goal was facilitate the exchange of useful conversations, but recognizing that there was room for accidental errors. The experiment was canceled, and the links were blocked to prevent further indexing.
This situation is reminiscent of what happened with documents in Google Drive shared under public access settings, which also ended up being indexed by search engines. Once again, it becomes clear how easy it is to lose control over personal information in collaborative digital environments.
The impact on content and SEO
The advancement of artificial intelligence is not only affecting platforms and privacy, but also redefines web positioning strategies. According to Semrush experts, the key is no longer just to appear at the top of the search engine, but be cited by the AI.
Thus is born a new approach called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), that values content not only for its quality, but for its ability to be understood and reused by intelligent systemsThis means thinking about more useful, well-structured formats that accurately respond to users' search intent.
Additionally, it's crucial to have a presence on sites like Reddit or YouTube, platforms that artificial intelligence uses as a recurring source. Classic SEO optimization is still useful, but it is no longer enough on its own to stand out in this new paradigm..
The battle between Google and ChatGPT is shaping the future of the web, transforming how we access information and how it is generated, shared, and protected.
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