One signal

Cloudflare and OpenAI say their web-discovery pilot has helped bring previously unknown pages into OpenAI’s search index, giving ChatGPT more sources to draw on. The trial began in July and used signals from a participating group covering about 1% of Cloudflare’s network, according to Cloudflare.

The companies’ pitch is that AI search could find useful pages even when few other sites link to them. OpenAI evaluates and ranks discovered pages independently, Cloudflare says. That is an early progress report, not evidence here of how many pages were added or whether users are getting better answers. For publishers, the practical question is whether this improves discoverability while preserving control over how AI systems access their sites. Search has found a new route into the web; whether it sends readers back is the more interesting test.

Discuss: Should AI search firms be able to use network signals to find pages that ordinary search might miss, or should site owners have to opt in first?

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