The hottest topic everybody in the digital space is currently talking about is artificial intelligence chatbots. The first on the scene was the introduction of ChatGPT. Google soon countered with its own AI chatbot, Google Bard. Both are designed to streamline search and learning, offering natural language responses by combing through millions of data points in seconds. These two chatbots are both very useful and relatively similar – although with a few distinct differences. So which is better? 

Availability

ChatGPT was the first AI chatbot to launch and is still the most widely used. Any user can currently access ChatGPT for free. Google Bard is still in the middle of a slow roll-out to users, requiring a waitlist to gain access. Both have the option for premium access, with Google One members automatically gaining access, and ChatGPT Plus which is available for $20 per month. 

Differences 

Both ChatGPT and Google Bard provide natural language responses to a given prompt or question. However, they are designed to be used in slightly different ways and have some key differences. ChatGPT provides direct answers to direct questions, writing creative natural responses to the great benefit of marketing teams, as well as SEO specialists and copywriters. ChatGPT has been integrated into Bing searches and can be built into Teams, Edge, and Microsoft Office applications. More and more websites and applications are integrating ChatGPT Plugins to make searching their content easier for users. Google Bard is not intended to be an integrated plugin, at least for now. It is a stand-alone tool that exists separately from other applications. In the future, we may see it integrated into Google Searches, but for now, it is just its own entity. If you want to get really technical, the language model each chatbot uses for its data is also different. Google Bard uses Google’s LaMDA language model and ChatGPT uses its GPT-3.5 model

Features

Both chatbots allow you to access your previous chat history and regenerate responses. However, each tool has some unique features. Google Bard allows you to ask questions through voice commands using your device’s microphone. You can also save prompts to drafts, and receive suggestions and variations of responses to give you a few options to select from. ChatGPT is more conversational in its prompts, displaying your chat in a sidebar to hone in on a more carefully crafted response. ChatGPT also offers dark mode. 

Which is better?

Both have their pros and cons and it might come down to personal preference. However, there is an old expression commonly used in sports, “the best ability is availability.” ChatGPT is more widely available for users. It is accessible for free and already integrated into many of your favorite websites and applications. Google Bard is a good alternative and might eventually expand its versatility, but if you need a quick response to a prompt right now, ChatGPT is the go-to option.

If you need a go-to option for your digital marketing needs, then beMarketing is the choice for you. As the area’s leading online digital marketing agency, our team of experts remains up-to-date on all of the latest artificial intelligence chatbots. We use these tools to our advantage while relying on our own knowledge and experience. If you are looking to take your marketing capabilities to the next level, call beMarketing today to get started.