ChatGPT search now uses the site:operator at scale
ChatGPT search now uses the site:operator at scale Promptwatch is part of the emerging "GEO" space, for Generative Engine Optimization - the chatbot version of SEO, where companies offer tools and consulting to help your site increase its presence in replies to prompts inside tools like ChatGPT. The Promptwatch product uses automation to track responses to prompts across end-user chat products…
ChatGPT search now utilizes the site:operator at a significant scale, according to Promptwatch, a tool in the emerging GEO space that helps optimize visibility in chatbot responses. This optimization, akin to search engine optimization (SEO), involves tracking prompt responses across various chat products like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. The company publishes aggregate reports, providing insights into design changes in these products.
Recently, there's been a notable increase in the use of the site:operator in ChatGPT search queries, which was tracked by Promptwatch. The share of ChatGPT Search fanout queries containing the site:operator rose from a range of 0.3% to 0.5% over several weeks, briefly dipped to 0.15% around August 3-5, and then surged to 16-17% on August 8. This spike likely corresponds to OpenAI's announcement on August 6th about updating GPT-5.6 Sol in Chat to provide more reliable facts and focused answers.
However, it's challenging to determine the exact impact of this change due to OpenAI's reluctance to disclose their system prompts. Despite this, Promptwatch observed a reduction in the likelihood of Reddit being used in these searches. Attempts to determine if the system prompt was updated to discourage Reddit sourcing have also been unsuccessful, as the most comprehensive leaked system prompt collection does not show any relevant changes.
Written by urgent.news from Simon Willison's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
