ive gotten it once to tell me the closest mcdonalds im near. havent been able to get it to do it since.

Probably just using IP geolocation.

Kinda wild. Wasn't expecting that at all. Also, when I questioned it, it denied knowing (very gas-lighty!):

https://imgur.com/mpZ3xaW

A lying AI! Isn't that against Asimov rules?

Nope.

I think someone at OAI saw posts about this and blocked it. o1 gave a weirdly short response just "I do not know"

The system prompt contains some IP geolocation and current date and some other details to let ChatGPT up to date

TIL.

Definitely IP geolocation.

I think it may be linked to the Bing integration. If I ask about my location in a new conversation, I don't get back anything. But if I start with your example query, and then follow up with "is it available where I am?", I get

> To determine if Stripe Connect is available where you are, could you let me know your country? If you prefer, I can also look up Stripe's support availability based on the country linked to your query.

[me] yes, do that

> Yes, Stripe Connect is available in [my country], including [my city].

I have memory off, always use Temporary Chat, and never discuss my location.

Regardless, ChatGPT likes to give me recommendations and mentions by city by name (even though it is sometimes wrong and thinks I'm ~300 miles away).

I like the culprit is 4o using web search behind the scenes even when not explicitly enabled.

How quaint. You think that asking a big tech company to keep something private is enough to protect your privacy.