Webdesk: For a short time, OpenAI ran a quiet experiment that allowed some shared ChatGPT conversations to show up in search engine results, a move that’s now been rolled back after privacy concerns surfaced.
Although ChatGPT doesn’t publish conversations by default, users have the option to generate a link by clicking a “share” button and then selecting “create link.”
These links typically followed a pattern like chat.openai.com/share/… and were meant to be manually shared with friends, colleagues or the public.
However, many didn’t realise that if the discoverable option was toggled on, those links could end up being indexed by Google, Bing, and other search engines.
Once indexed, some of these chats, ranging from harmless queries about bathroom renovations and astrophysics to more personal topics like job applications and bizarre or trollish questions, became accessible to anyone using search filters for shared ChatGPT links.
In one unusual example, a user kept pushing ChatGPT with absurd questions, leading the AI to invent a satirical guide called “How to Use a Microwave Without Summoning Satan: A Beginner’s Guide.”
Another user shared a resume rewrite request with enough details for someone to find their LinkedIn profile, despite the assumption that such information would remain private.
A spokesperson from OpenAI clarified, “ChatGPT chats are not public unless you choose to share them. We’ve been testing ways to make it easier to share helpful conversations, while keeping users in control, and we recently ended an experiment to have chats appear in search engine results if you explicitly opted in when sharing.”
The platform also states that any added messages, user names, or custom instructions remain private, even when a link is shared.
But the experiment, although opt-in, created a situation where users might have unknowingly made sensitive conversations searchable. Much like what happens with Google Drive files set to “anyone with the link” when they’re linked elsewhere online.
This unintended exposure drew attention after journalists discovered just how easily shared conversations could be located via public search tools.
OpenAI has since removed the search indexing feature, calling it a short-lived trial that “introduced too many opportunities for folks to accidentally share things they didn’t intend to.”
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