ChatGPT Learns to Use User Memories to Personalize Web Searches

OpenAI has added a new feature to ChatGPT that uses “memory” to provide personalized web searches. The update, released with the new o3 and o4-mini models and called Memory with Search, is now available in ChatGPT and allows AI to take into account information from past user queries to provide more accurate and useful web searches.

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According to the official OpenAI Help Center, the new feature combines the AI’s ability to learn user preferences with an online search feature powered by Bing or other OpenAI search partners. ChatGPT can now take into account previously provided information, such as a user’s favorite food, communication style, and other interests, to tailor search results to their preferences. For example, if a person frequently discusses Japanese cuisine with ChatGPT, the bot can use this knowledge when searching for restaurants, recipes, or cultural information, offering more relevant results.

As a reminder, ChatGPT’s Memory feature was introduced in early 2024, but until recently it hadn’t been used for web searches. TechCrunch also notes that Memory with Search is apparently part of OpenAI’s ongoing efforts to differentiate ChatGPT from competing chatbots like Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini, the latter of which also offers a Memory feature.

It is important to note that users can independently manage ChatGPT “memory” – view, delete or completely disable it in the application settings menu. At the same time, the company emphasizes that privacy issues remain a priority: data is used only to improve interaction with a specific user and is not transferred to third parties.

The feature is currently available to a limited number of users, but OpenAI promises to expand access in the coming weeks. As before, it will work in the Plus version of ChatGPT, starting with GPT-4-turbo.