New ChatGPT feature uses your past chats for smarter web searches

ChatGPT

OpenAI has quietly rolled out a new feature for ChatGPT called “Memory with Search” — and it could change the way you use the chatbot. In a small update posted on its website, the company revealed that ChatGPT can now use details from your past conversations to give you better, more personalized search results.

Here’s how it works:

If you’ve previously told ChatGPT things like your favorite food, where you live, or your preferences, it can remember those details. When you ask it a question that needs a web search, it rewrites your query by adding what it already knows about you to make the search more useful.

For example, if you once told ChatGPT that you’re vegan and live in India, and later ask it, “What are some restaurants near me that I’d like?” — it might turn that into “Good non vegetarian restaurants in Delhi.” That way, you get results that actually match your lifestyle without having to explain everything again.

This update follows OpenAI’s recent efforts to improve ChatGPT’s memory feature, which can now remember details from your entire chat history. It’s part of the company’s bigger plan to make ChatGPT smarter and more personal, especially as it competes with other AI chatbots like Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude, both of which also offer memory features.

If this makes you uneasy, don’t worry — you can turn Memory with Search off anytime in the ChatGPT settings. Right now, it’s unclear which users have access to it, though some people on X (formerly Twitter) say it’s already showing up for them.