ChatGPT vs Google — what’s the difference and when to use which

This is a question I get a lot. They both involve typing something and getting an answer. So what’s actually different?

Quite a lot, it turns out.

What Google does

Google is an index. It crawls the internet, catalogues billions of pages, and retrieves the most relevant ones when you search.

When you type into Google you get links to pages that might have your answer. You then click through and read those pages.

Google is very good at finding things that exist somewhere on the internet.

What ChatGPT does

ChatGPT doesn’t retrieve existing pages. It generates a response to your input — synthesising what it learned during training to produce something new.

When you type into ChatGPT you get a direct response. No links to click. No pages to read. Just an answer.

ChatGPT is very good at thinking, writing, explaining, and helping you work through problems.

When to use Google

You need a specific fact, page, phone number, address, product, or piece of current news. Anything where the answer already exists somewhere and you need to find it.

When to use ChatGPT

You need to understand something, write something, prepare for something, or think through something. Anything where you need a response tailored to your specific situation.

When to use Perplexity

Perplexity sits between the two. It searches the internet in real time like Google, but synthesises the results into a plain English answer like ChatGPT — and shows you the sources.

• For research where you need current, verifiable information: Perplexity.
• For thinking, writing, preparing: ChatGPT.
• For finding specific things: Google.

The practical test

Ask yourself: am I looking for something that already exists? Use Google.

Am I trying to create, understand, or think through something? Use ChatGPT.

Once that distinction clicks, you’ll stop using the wrong tool for the wrong job — which is what causes most of the frustration people have with AI tools early on.

That Clicked covers all three tools — and when to use each one — across the course modules.

— Anna