ChatGPT can be used as default Safari search engine with new extension (opens in new tab)

(macrumors.com)

31 pointsTimLeland1y ago19 comments

19 comments

I use LLMs all day and they've replaced a lot of what I'd previously searched for. Even so, I don't think I'm ready yet for an LLM as default search engine. LLMs are useful for generating information based on what they know about. For example, generating useful commands for tools like `ffmpeg` or `jq`. They're not better than a search engine for finding factual information, like "What is the population of Canada?" LLM hallucination is still a thing.

LLMs replace some of the work we'd previously had to rely on search engines for. They're not a replacement for everything, and they shouldn't be used as such.

_fs1y ago

I prefer kagi's approach. If I add a "?" to the end of my search query, I get a LLM response at the top of my search results. Any LLM response includes source links to quickly verify the information presented. So, if I am using search engine to quickly check a fact, say "What year did Tremors come out?" I get the following at the top of the results:

Quick Answer

  The movie Tremors was released in 1990 12. It is an American monster horror film starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward 12.

 References

  r/movies on Reddit: Tremors (for those who saw it when it came out www.reddit.com

  Tremors (1990 film) - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org

currymj1y ago

this feature is one where ChatGPT will actually do a Bing search (sometimes rewriting your search query), and then show you a summary of the content of the links.

so "hallucinations" are more rare, although the model may be very gullible with respect to the content of the search results, which is similar.

soulofmischief1y ago

It's just going to regurgitate the first few things it sees without applying critical reasoning. These models aren't quite there yet for search reliability.

daft_pink1y ago

Will this still send your information to Google because the redirect sometimes happens after the search has already been sent? I’m curious because I use a similar Kagi extension and I feel like it’s definitely sending my information to DuckDuckGo which sucks. I wish apple would allow more search options.

whatsthatabout1y ago

Depends on how the extension works probably. Had the issue with some extension but the Qwant extension for example doesn't leak - you can check yourself when capturing the http(s) traffic with something like proxyman.

lapcat1y ago

All the Safari search engine extensions work the same: https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/2025/2/2.html

1 more reply

Alifatisk1y ago

I've been a Perplexity user for about a year now, why would anyone pick ChatGPT search over Perplexity?

TriangleEdge1y ago

Cool. I'd use ChatGPT as my default search in Firefox. I'm not going to start using Safari for this however.

testmasterflex1y ago

ChatGPTs search is still slow and has low overview.

thatgerhard1y ago

Currently apoenai feels dead in the water

system7rocks1y ago

But the bigger question is - at what cost?

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