Don’t use ChatGPT like an advanced Search Engine

I don’t know about you, but when ChatGPT first came out I treated it like an an advanced search engine.

I would give it keyword phrases, just like I do with Google.
And the results I got were like the answers I got with Google’s AI Overview.

Huh, I thought. No big deal. Just another AI search engine.

But over time, I found that I get richer and more insightful answers if I treat ChatGPT as my research assistant.

A research assistant that:
👉 Has an IQ of 150
👉 Is extremely knowledge
👉 But has no experience

So instead of giving it keywords like I do with a search engine, I started to “talk” with it like I would talk with a genius level intern.

And what do you know?!  I got better answers.

So here is how I setup my questions with ChatGPT:
✅ Background Information
I give it information it needs to understand the context and situation.
So I often tell it who I am or what problem I am trying to solve.

✅ What I want it to do
Kind of seems obvious, but yeah, I gotta tell it the job to be done.
This can be something like finding 5 vendors who can solve my problem, or do a SWOT analysis between two companies, or analyze a SOW and tell me if it can be done in the time frame proposed.

✅ How i want the answer displayed
I don’t have to always tell it, especially for simple questions.
But sometimes I get better output and readability when I tell it to build a table, make a list, or create a one page summary of its findings.

And I don’t even have to think about keywords or keyword phrases!
I talk to it just like I would talk with a person.

And sure, just like a human research assistant it sometimes gets things wrong, so I have to restate my instructions.
I won’t lie - it can be frustrating!

But ChatGPT is not a mind reader.
The more specific instructions and information I give it, the better the answer.
(yep! garbage in, garbage out)

And that is the power of AI, its ability to understand what you are asking for and give you relevant answers.