SpanSearch vs ChatGPT
A fact, a rough start, getting the ideas out: ChatGPT is faster. A report on sources you picked, where each line can be checked against the page: SpanSearch.
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You are handing over an answer, or a report someone else can check.
ChatGPT will go look on the web, and it will keep writing from what you say. SpanSearch waits for you to set the range: the built-in sources, a group you saved, or a site you are logged into. If you skip that, it only picks from sources it can open right then.
A smooth answer sometimes never gets past the title and the summary. The line that matters was on the page. SpanSearch finds the relevant pages and reads them. The report says what that page said.
ChatGPT may give you a title or a link. You still have to find the sentence. SpanSearch points the claim at that passage. Read it, then keep the line or drop it.
ChatGPT keeps the chat in your account. SpanSearch keeps the conversation, the library, attachments, and the sources you add on this device. A run is sent through the server to the model. It is not stored there afterward, and it is not used for training.
How a source gets in, how far the page is read, how a claim is checked, and where you edit when you are done.
Internal docs, small sites, and tools you are already logged into rarely have a connector waiting. Open the page in the browser: a search result, or Zhihu while you are signed in. No MCP server to stand up, and no password to hand over.
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After the sources are in, SpanSearch scans the relevant pages and opens them. Auto, low, medium, and high only change how much this run reads. The sources you set stay as they are. What gets written is what is on the page.
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The report goes into the library. Each claim is marked with the passage it came from. Open the page, read it, translate or shorten it if you need to, and decide if the line stays.
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The report, the picture, the map, and the board do not need another app.
| Feature | SpanSearch | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Research on sources you set, written up so it can be checked. | Answers, drafts, and chat. |
| Sources | Built-in sources, a group you saved, and sites you connect, including pages behind a login. | The public web and its own tools. Logged-in sites and small sites are often out of reach. |
| Reading | Find the relevant pages, then read them. | Often an excerpt, a summary, or something it already knows. |
| Citations | The claim points at the passage. | Sometimes a link or a title. You still find the sentence. |
| Where it lives | Chats, the library, and sources you add stay on this device by default. | The chat lives in your account. |
| What you leave with | The report stays in the text, image, vector, map, and whiteboard editors. | A reply in the chat. Turning it into a doc or a picture usually means another tool. |
| Use it when | You have to check it, redo it, or hand it to someone. | A quick answer, a brainstorm, or a short draft you will rewrite. |
If speed and one conversation are the job, use ChatGPT.
If it has to be checkable before you send it, use SpanSearch.
Start with a question. SpanSearch looks in the sources you allow, reads the page, and keeps the passage with the report.
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