ChatGPT Conversations Temporarily Indexed On Google

OpenAI temporarily released a feature that allowed users to make private conversations public and discoverable on Google. However, it was quickly removed after concerns arose that users were unknowingly sharing private conversations.

According to Business Insider, the feature drew attention after Fast Company reported that ChatGPT conversations were being indexed by Google. Newsletter writer Luiza Jarovsky also published on the social media platform X a post warning that people were unintentionally making private interactions public by clicking the “share” button—mistakenly believing it only created a private link for friends.

Just a few hours after Jarovsky issued her warning, Dane Stuckey, OpenAI’s chief information security officer, announced on X that the feature had been removed.

“We just removed a feature from ChatGPT that allowed users to make their conversations discoverable by search engines, such as Google,” wrote Stuckey. “This was a short-lived experiment to help people discover useful conversations.”

Stuckey explained that users had to opt in to use the feature by selecting a chat to share, checking a box, and choosing to “make it discoverable.” However, the company acknowledged that users could mistakenly share private conversations and decided to disable the feature.

“Ultimately, we think this feature introduced too many opportunities for folks to accidentally share things they didn’t intend to, so we’re removing the option,” added Stuckey. “We’re also working to remove indexed content from the relevant search engines.”

The removal of the feature has already begun to roll out. Stuckey emphasized that user safety remains the company’s top priority.

According to CybersecurityNews,  indexed conversations could be found by searching “site:chatgpt.com/share” along with relevant keywords.

This isn’t the first time users have accidentally shared AI interactions with the public. A few months ago, experts raised concerns about users sharing private information on Meta AI’s app through the “discover” option.