The best AI search engines of 2024: Google, Perplexity, and more

When ChatGPT launched in late 2022, the AI chatbot soared in recognition as a result of individuals had been amazed at its capacity to reply to any query with conversational and concise solutions. Nevertheless, ChatGPT lacked one main function — entry to present info. AI-powered engines like google emerged to fill that hole.

Additionally: The best AI chatbots of 2024: ChatGPT and alternatives

Inside months of ChatGPT launching, main engines like google, together with Google and Bing, infused generative AI (gen AI) into their platforms to supply conversational solutions primarily based on up-to-date info discovered throughout the web. Different corporations, corresponding to Perplexity AI, additionally entered the area, constructing AI engines like google from scratch to compete with the search engine giants. 

With the rise in competitors, ChatGPT has even unveiled a web-browsing feature of its own that permits ChatGPT to perform as a search engine. AI engines like google provide customers the identical fundamental service however with important variations in execution. Some choices are extra useful than others, together with variations in person interfaces, search outcomes, and recommendations. 

That will help you resolve which AI search engine is value utilizing, ZDNET has examined the perfect instruments we might discover and offered notes on key specs and hands-on experiences. Let’s dive in.

The most effective AI search engine of 2024

To check how every search engine capabilities, I entered the identical search question, “What’s a Yorkie?” into every engine and included screenshots of how they responded beneath. I encourage you to take a look at every picture carefully as a result of the outcomes differ, and what works finest for you might be extremely private. 

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Perplexity AI

Greatest AI search engine general

Not like the remainder of the picks on this record which have built-in AI into current engines like google, Perplexity AI has been constructed to be an AI search engine — and this strategy reveals in its interface, which completely blends the perfect options of AI chatbots and engines like google. Finally, this functionality units Perplexity aside from all of the opponents available on the market and makes it essentially the most compelling and complete AI search engine. 

Whenever you first go to the applying, you will notice a textbox that resembles what you see while you go to any AI chatbot. Nevertheless, while you click on on the textbox, you may be given many immediate recommendations primarily based on present occasions, very like when you will enter a search question in a search engine. These recommendations are useful for immediate ideation and set Perplexity aside from different AI chatbots. 

Additionally: Perplexity AI’s new tool makes researching the stock market ‘delightful’. Here’s how

When you enter your search question, the outcomes web page gives a number of hyperlinks on the prime, which is useful if you happen to use Perplexity as a search engine to search out essentially the most acceptable web site. The outcomes embody conversational, concise, bulleted AI-generated solutions with footnotes and web site hyperlinks. 

Lastly, beneath the AI insights, customers can benefit from a “associated” part, which resembles the expertise on a search engine software, corresponding to Google’s “individuals additionally ask” function. This “associated” part encourages discovery. Perplexity is free to make use of, and you do not want an account, making it straightforward to leap in and check out the software. 

Perplexity options: Free | Proprietary LLM | Premium subscription obtainable with entry to superior fashions corresponding to GPT-4 Turbo, Claude 3, and extra

Perplexity.ai

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Perplexity search results
Screenshot by Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET
Execs
  • ChatGPT interface
  • GPT-4o
  • Automated and handbook web-calling
Cons
  • Subscription
  • Not all web sites

Should you just like the look, really feel, and expertise of utilizing an AI chatbot, then ChatGPT is the perfect AI search engine for you. The search function retains the entire standout ChatGPT options, together with velocity, accuracy, and UI, which earned it a spot as ZDNET’s finest AI chatbot and provides real-time info from the net. 

Additionally: OpenAI just upgraded ChatGPT with a search engine to rival Google

The software could be known as on manually or activated at any time when a person immediate may benefit from web-based info. With ChatGPT Search, you’ll be able to enter your sentence as your practice of thought takes you, and the software will perceive the that means of your question by leveraging its NLP capabilities. This functionality means you’ll be able to spend much less time crafting a tailor-made search question and get precisely what you need. 

Nevertheless, you want a ChatGPT Plus subscription, which prices $20 month-to-month. If you’re a ChatGPT superuser, the associated fee could also be value it, as you get different perks corresponding to Voice Mode, picture technology, and Canvas. OpenAI plans to make this function obtainable to free customers within the coming months. 

 $20 per 30 days | GPT-4o

ChatGPT Search
Screenshot by Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

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Microsoft Bing

Greatest integration of AI into an current search engine

Microsoft infused its Bing search engine with its AI chatbot, Copilot, and the tech firm has seen its Bing every day lively customers enhance considerably, with over 40 million new users throughout the previous 12 months. In my testing, Copilot has confirmed itself to be an especially aggressive chatbot, with options that make it a extra enticing possibility than ChatGPT. 

Additionally: ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot vs. Gemini: Which is the best AI chatbot?

Microsoft collaborated with OpenAI when creating Copilot, and, consequently, the chatbot makes use of GPT-4, OpenAI’s very succesful LLM. With the mixing of Copilot in Bing, customers expertise high-quality responses once they seek for something via the field on the prime of the search web page outcomes. The most effective a part of Microsoft’s execution, which locations it over Google’s, is that the AI insights aren’t overwhelming and restricted to at least one field off to the aspect, as seen within the image beneath. 

This strategy means you’ll be able to simply broaden the outcomes to see extra AI-enabled insights. Nevertheless, if you wish to ignore the output and scroll via the conventional search outcomes, the AI insights are confined to a small portion of your desktop display screen you could ignore. Should you aren’t completely positive if you wish to decide to an AI search engine, Bing is a superb possibility. 

Microsoft Bing options: Free | GPT-4 

Microsoft Bing

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Bing AI search engine
Screenshot by Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

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Google

Greatest AI search engine for Google customers

If you’re a loyal Google person and inquisitive about how AI can enhance the search expertise, then Google is likely to be your best choice. Final 12 months, Google launched its Search Generative Expertise (SGE), which was solely accessible through Search Labs and gave customers AI-generated insights on the prime of their search outcomes. Nevertheless, at Google I/O, the corporate introduced it was bringing these AI overviews to all customers within the U.S.

Additionally: Google’s new AI tool transforms dense research papers into accessible conversations – try it free

Which means while you kind a search question into Google that could possibly be optimized by AI overviews (which is not each entry), Google will routinely present you the AI insights. For the reason that AI insights usually are not as compact as Bing’s and take up the highest of the display screen, pushing natural search outcomes down will not be an strategy that works for everybody. 

Google options: Free | New Gemini mannequin custom-made for Google Search

Get AI Overviews on more searches

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Google SGE
Screenshot by Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

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You.com

Greatest AI search engine with LLM selection

The feel and appear of You.com are much like another AI chatbot, with the main distinction being the software is related to the web to behave as a search engine. 

You possibly can enter any query or matter you’d wish to study extra about and obtain real-time net outcomes, plus a conversational response. Nevertheless, the output displayed doesn’t resemble an everyday search engine, so if you happen to wish to see outcomes as a listing of internet sites, like conventional search outcomes, this software will not be the best choice.

Additionally: YouPro lets me access every popular premium AI chatbot for $20/month – but there’s a catch

As a substitute, You.com shows a conversational response with added footnotes that customers can click on on to confirm the supply and go to the web site. The software may even add photographs when related that elevate the solutions over these from a conventional AI chatbot like ChatGPT, as seen within the picture on the prime of the article. You.com additionally features a “Individuals additionally ask” part beneath its response and a “non-public mode”, much like Google’s incognito mode.

One of many largest standout options is you could toggle between the most well-liked AI fashions available on the market utilizing the Customized Mannequin Selector, together with GPT-4 Turbo, Anthropic’s Claude, and extra. 

You.com options: Free | Possibility for subscription | You.com proprietary LLM within the free model

You.com

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You.com search results
Screenshot by Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

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Courageous Search

Greatest AI search engine for privateness

Courageous Search’s attraction as a search engine comes from the elevated privateness and safety it gives customers whereas searching on-line. A few of Courageous’s standout options embody blocking trackers and advertisements on web sites, which additionally helps enhance gadget battery life and searching speeds. Lately, Courageous added an “Reply with AI” function that infuses generative AI into the search engine, providing an expertise almost equivalent to these within the instruments above whereas retaining the safety features customers get pleasure from. 

Additionally: Brave search engine adds privacy-focused AI – no Google or Bing needed

You possibly can obtain the Courageous browser to your pc for the complete expertise. Nevertheless, you can even use Courageous Search in any browser by visiting its site. Utilizing Courageous Search is intuitive, as all you need to do is enter a search question. Equally to Google and Microsoft’s search engine, you’ll get AI-generated insights on the prime of the search outcomes, as seen within the picture beneath. 

Though Courageous Search does not embody footnotes in its solutions, the software does embody “context” beneath the reply with hyperlinks to related content material, which could be helpful for verifying the supply. One other function that units Courageous Search aside is that the corporate says the solutions generated are primarily based on Courageous’s unbiased search index, in contrast to many opponents that depend on Google’s or Bing’s engines like google.

Courageous Search options: Free | Courageous’s unbiased search index

Brave search engine

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Brave AI search results
Screenshot by Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

AI Search Engine

Value

Giant Language Mannequin (LLM) at no cost model

Perplexity AI 

Free, premium  subscription obtainable 

Proprietary 

ChatGPT Search

ChatGPT Plus subscription; $20 per 30 days 

GPT-4o

Microsoft Bing

Free

OpenAI’s GPT-4

Google Search Generative Expertise (SGE) 

Free, choose into Search Labs

Superior model of MUM and PaLM2

You.com

Free, premium  subscription obtainable 

Proprietary

Courageous Search

Free

Proprietary 

I picked Perplexity AI as the perfect AI search engine general as a result of it has options most customers can profit from. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to select from many AI engines like google that is likely to be higher suited to your particular wants. 

For instance, in case you are a loyal Google person, Google’s Search Generative Expertise is likely to be your best choice. You possibly can see the complete breakdown beneath. 

Select this AI search engine…

Should you want…

Perplexity AI 

An AI search engine that mixes the perfect of AI chatbots and engines like google. 

ChatGPT Search 

An AI search engine that infuses the net into ChatGPT. 

Microsoft Bing

An AI search engine that integrates AI with out it being too overwhelming.

Google Search Generative Expertise (SGE) 

An AI search engine that builds on the Google interface.

You.com

An AI search engine that can be house to the main LLMs. 

Courageous Search

An AI search engine that prioritizes AI safety and privateness. 

I examined each AI search engine that made the record throughout components important to customers. A number of the components I thought of included: 

  • Value
  • High quality of the AI-enabled insights
  • Person interface
  • LLM

An AI search engine has built-in generative AI that provides customers AI insights in its search outcomes. For instance, the entire examples of AI engines like google above embody an AI-generated, summarized response to the person’s search question. 

An AI chatbot is an utility that makes use of generative AI to course of a person’s enter and supply a conversational response. An AI search engine produces related output however can be related to the web. 

All the AI engines like google above are free to make use of. Nevertheless, there are premium subscription upgrades of a few of the AI engines like google listed above if you wish to benefit from extra superior LLMs. 

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