9 best AI search engines in 2026 [tested & reviewed]

AI search engines use AI to find information, bring relevant details together, and answer your questions directly instead of just giving you a list of links.

You can also ask AI search engines follow-up questions to refine their answers without starting an entirely new search.

Here are nine of the best AI search engines in 2026. I personally tested each one across multiple queries to see how they compare. Here’s a snapshot:

How I tested the AI search engines

For a more direct comparison, I ran an accounting software search across tools where it made sense, using the same budget and feature requirements. 

I also asked follow-up questions, opened cited sources, and checked important details against the original websites.

Where possible, I started with the free version and stayed signed out to see what a new user could access without paying or creating an account.

9 of the best AI search engines I personally tested

1. Google AI Mode

Best for: Product and local searches

Pricing: Basic access is free. Paid plans start at $9.99/month.

Google AI Mode is an AI search experience that combines Google’s Gemini models with Google Search to compile and synthesize information from across the web to compose direct answers.

You can access AI Mode at google.com/ai, selecting “AI Mode” on Google’s homepage when entering a search, or by switching to “AI Mode” from the results page after running a regular search.

You can search using text, voice, images, or files such as PDFs. AI Mode also includes links to webpages, so you can explore the sources behind its answers.

Strengths

• Useful for product searches: AI Mode can show product options with current prices, reviews, shipping details, and nearby inventory
• Useful for local searches: AI Mode can show nearby businesses along with details such as ratings, reviews, and opening hours
• Personalize answers using your Google activity: AI Mode can use your Search activity to tailor responses. You can also connect apps such as Gmail, Calendar, and Google Photos for additional personalization.

Limitations

• Some local features have limited availability: Features that let Google check prices or availability at local businesses are currently only available in the U.S., in English, and for certain types of local searches

My personal experience with Google AI Mode

Google AI Mode was great for quickly finding what I was looking for, but I trusted it less once I started checking the details.

I gave AI Mode several requirements for the accounting software I needed, including budget and key features. The first answer was clear, concise, and easy to scan.

I then asked more specific questions about the accounting software recommendations and checked important details on the companies’ websites. In some cases, AI Mode showed a product’s lowest price alongside features that were only included in more expensive plans.

I also found the results page harder to scan as I kept researching. The answer stayed clear, but source cards and follow-up suggestions made the interface feel busy.

2. ChatGPT

Best for: Research that involves several follow-up questions

Pricing: Basic access is free. Paid plans start at $8/month.

ChatGPT search is the web search feature built into ChatGPT that lets you get answers based on current information with linked sources.

You can use ChatGPT search without signing in.

ChatGPT can search the web automatically when your question needs current information, or you can choose “Web search” yourself. 

ChatGPT search responses can include inline citations and a “Sources” panel with the webpages behind the answer. Written responses can also include elements like images and tables, while mobile results may include maps when relevant.

Strengths

• Gives you more control over in-depth research: ChatGPT’s deep research feature lets you edit the research plan, choose or prioritize sources, and refine the research while it runs
• Has a dedicated shopping experience: ChatGPT can compare products, tailor recommendations to your preferences, and let you check out directly for eligible products and merchants

Limitations

• Free use has tight limits: Search queries count toward your ChatGPT plan limits, and paid plans provide higher limits than the free plan

My personal experience with ChatGPT search

ChatGPT worked especially well for research that involved refining what I was looking for through several follow-up questions.

I started with a detailed search for accounting software for a small U.S. marketing agency. 

Then I asked about individual products, compared the strongest options, added new requirements, and checked specific prices and features.

ChatGPT usually remembered the details I had already shared. I rarely had to repeat the type of business, budget, or features I was looking for, even as the conversation got longer.

I also liked the range of sources it checked. Across the conversation, ChatGPT used comparison pages as well as software companies’ own websites, which made important details easier to verify.

The main downside I noticed when using ChatGPT was the length. The answers were often more detailed than I needed, so I had to scan more text to find the specific information I wanted.

3. Perplexity

Best for: Research that needs academic sources

Pricing: Basic access is free. Paid plans start at $20/month.

Perplexity is an AI search engine that lets you focus searches on specific source types, such as academic papers.

You can run some searches in Perplexity without signing in. An account is required for features such as Pro Search, file uploads, and saving your sessions.

A standard Perplexity search gives you a quick answer with citations. More advanced search options run more searches, review more sources, and can produce detailed research reports.

Strengths

• Lets you choose the AI model: Pro users can choose models from Perplexity and providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI 
• Includes premium research sources: You can search sources such as Wiley, Statista, PitchBook Essentials, and CB Insights without separate subscriptions

Limitations

• Advanced-search limits aren’t fixed: Perplexity doesn’t publish a set number of Pro searches or Research queries for Pro users, so your true limits can be hard to predict

My personal experience with Perplexity

Perplexity consistently gave me detailed answers with plenty of sources upfront, so I usually needed fewer follow-up questions than I did with most of the other AI search engines.

I asked Perplexity to compare accounting software options for a small U.S. marketing agency based on its budget and feature requirements. The first answer explained the main options clearly and gave me enough information to start comparing them.

I then opened several citations to see where the information came from and checked important pricing details on the software companies’ websites. The details I checked were accurate, and Perplexity used a wide range of sources.

Choosing between models such as GPT, Claude, and Gemini is one of Perplexity’s standout features, but it requires a paid plan. I'd have liked limited access to test it for free first.

4. Microsoft Copilot

Best for: Researching and summarizing webpages in Microsoft Edge

Pricing: Basic access is free. Microsoft 365 plans with higher Copilot usage start at $9.99/month.

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant, and its built-in integration with Microsoft Edge can use the page you’re viewing, your open tabs, and browsing history as context for its answers.

You can use it at copilot.microsoft.com, use it inside the Microsoft Edge browser, and access it through desktop and mobile apps. Whether you need to sign in depends on how you access Copilot. 

Microsoft Edge also has a Copilot feature called Journeys that helps you pick up research where you left off. Once enabled, it groups related browsing activity into topic cards with a short summary and suggested next step, so you can easily continue your research later.

Strengths

• Can work with what you’re viewing in Edge: Copilot can answer questions about a webpage, video, or PDF you have open and use relevant browsing context such as your open tabs
• Has built-in shopping and price-tracking tools: Copilot can compare products, summarize reviews, show price history, and track price drops in supported markets

Limitations

• Researching what you already have open requires Edge: Copilot can use the webpage, PDF, and open tabs you’re viewing only in Microsoft Edge. And you need to be signed in.

My personal experience with Microsoft Copilot

Copilot gave me some of the clearest answers among the AI search engines I tested, but I found it more useful inside Edge than as a standalone search tool.

I asked Copilot to recommend accounting software for a small U.S. marketing agency with several price and feature requirements. The answer was concise, easy to scan, and accurate based on the pricing details I checked.

I then asked more questions about individual products and reviewed the sources behind the recommendations. Copilot used fewer sources than ChatGPT and Perplexity, so I had less supporting information to inspect when I wanted to verify a recommendation.

Copilot made more sense when I used it alongside webpages in Microsoft Edge. I could ask questions about information already open in the browser instead of moving it into a separate chat.

5. Brave Leo

Best for: Private AI search while browsing in Brave browser

Pricing: Basic access is free. Paid plans start at $14.99/month.

Brave Leo is a privacy-focused AI assistant built into the Brave browser that can find current information online, and the free version doesn’t require an account.

Brave Leo lets you switch between several AI models. A Premium plan gives you access to more models and higher limits.

When Leo needs current information, it uses the Brave Search API to find relevant web results and uses them to inform its answer.

Leo can also use content from webpages, PDFs, videos, and multiple tabs you have open in the Brave browser.

Strengths

• Offers strong privacy protection: Brave Leo doesn’t require an account for free use, retain your prompts or responses on Brave’s servers, or use your conversations for model training
• Lets you connect your own AI model: You can connect Leo to a model running locally on your computer or to another AI service through its “Bring Your Own Model” feature

Limitations

• Requires the Brave browser: Leo AI is built into Brave, so you need to use that browser to access it

My personal experience with Brave Leo

Leo gave me short, useful answers to questions about accounting software with very little setup, but it returned fewer options than most of the other AI search engines. And I found some of its current product information less reliable.

I gave Leo several requirements for the accounting software I needed and then asked more specific questions about the recommendations. The answers stayed concise, so I could quickly review each option, but I had fewer products to evaluate from the start.

I then opened the sources Leo used. Most were third-party review sites and software marketplaces, and I didn’t see official vendor websites among them.

When I checked the prices Leo offered, I found that a couple of figures were outdated compared with the software companies’ current pricing pages.

I also tried different AI models inside Leo. I liked having that choice without needing an account, although the responses were slower than with most of the other AI search engines.

6. Duck.ai

Best for: Private AI search without creating an account

Pricing: Basic access is free. Paid DuckDuckGo plans with higher Duck.ai limits start at $9.99/month.

DuckDuckGo’s Duck.ai is a privacy-focused AI chat tool that lets you chat with models from different companies in one place, from any browser and without creating an account.

You can choose models from providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral. Several are available for free, while some are only available with a paid plan.

Duck.ai removes identifying information such as your IP address before sending your prompt to the model provider. And your conversations aren’t used to train those models.

Strengths

• Keeps your chat history private by default: Recent chats are stored on your device rather than on DuckDuckGo’s servers, unless you choose to sync them
• Offers detailed response controls: You get a dedicated “Customize Responses” panel where you can control how the AI responds by setting things like tone and length, defining the role you want the AI to take, and choosing whether it should ask clarifying questions

Limitations

• No standalone paid Duck.ai plan: You need a paid DuckDuckGo subscription to get higher limits or advanced models, and that subscription also includes other privacy services such as a VPN

My personal experience with Duck.ai

Duck.ai was fast and provided concise answers across my searches, and its follow-up questions made it easy to narrow down what I was looking for. But its initial answers often felt less complete than what I got from some of the other AI search engines.

I asked Duck.ai to recommend accounting software for a small U.S. marketing agency with specific budget and feature requirements. It gave me a short, easy-to-scan answer.

Duck.ai also asked relevant follow-up questions about what I needed, which helped me refine the recommendations through conversation.

I also liked the “2nd opinion” option at the end of the response, which made it easy to switch models and compare the answers.

I then asked about individual products and checked important pricing and feature details on the companies’ websites. The information I verified was accurate.

For this test, the source coverage felt thinner than I would have liked. Duck.ai cited relatively few sources, and they came from fewer types of websites than I saw with other AI search engines such as Perplexity.

7. Claude

Best for: Complex questions that require more control over reasoning depth

Pricing: Basic access is free. Paid plans start at $20/month.

Claude is Anthropic’s AI tool with built-in web search, powered by models that consistently rank among the leading large language models (LLMs) on independent leaderboards such as Arena.

Even the free plan gives you access to the Sonnet model for search. So Claude is a strong choice for complex, iterative searches that involve comparing and reasoning through several pieces of information before arriving at an answer.

You can use Claude on the web or through its desktop and mobile apps, but you need to create an account and sign in.

Strengths

• Offers granular Effort controls: On supported models, Claude lets you choose from several effort levels: Low, Medium, High, Extra, and Max. So you can control how thoroughly Claude works through a query.
• Asks interactive follow-up questions: Claude sometimes asks you to choose from clickable options, such as multiple choice and multi-select when it needs more context, to help it return more relevant recommendations and answers

Limitations

• Free use can run out quickly: Longer conversations, web searches, file analysis, and higher-effort reasoning can use up your available allowance quickly

My personal experience with Claude

Claude gave me quick, useful answers across my searches, and the information I checked was generally accurate. But the free experience felt quite restrictive.

In my accounting software search, Claude gave me a smaller shortlist than most of the other AI search engines, but the recommendations were straightforward and relevant to what I asked for.

The pricing and product details Claude provided matched the companies’ official websites.

The source coverage was less impressive. Claude cited plenty of distinct pages, but many came from the same few software marketplaces and comparison sites. G2, for example, appeared repeatedly.

8. Consensus

Best for: Finding and comparing evidence from scientific research

Pricing: Basic access is free. Paid plans start at $20/month.

Consensus is an AI search engine for scientific research that searches peer-reviewed papers instead of the open web.

You can use Consensus without creating an account, but signing in gives you higher limits.

The Consensus database contains more than 220 million peer-reviewed research papers and is updated weekly. When full text is available, Consensus can analyze the full paper rather than relying only on the abstract.

When you enter a question, Consensus finds relevant papers, then uses AI to analyze and summarize their findings. Results link back to the underlying studies, so you can inspect the evidence yourself.

Strengths

• Offers advanced search filters: You can narrow results by factors such as study design, sample size, publication year, citation count, and journal rank
• Shows where studies agree or disagree: The “Consensus Meter” analyzes relevant papers for suitable yes-or-no questions and shows whether the findings lean Yes, No, Possibly, or Mixed

Limitations

• Not suited to general web research: Consensus focuses on academic literature, so it isn’t designed for current events, product searches, local information, or other questions that benefit from information on the broader web

My personal experience with Consensus

Consensus made it easier than any of the general-purpose AI search engines to check the research behind an answer.

I tested Consensus by asking whether influencer marketing increases consumers’ purchase intention. Consensus gave me a detailed answer, and I could see the individual papers, publication details, and research findings instead of relying only on an AI-generated summary.

The Consensus Meter was particularly useful because it showed how the studies leaned rather than presenting one confident answer as if every paper agreed.

9. DeepSeek

Best for: Free AI search with no paid plan

Pricing: Free. API use is billed separately.

DeepSeek is a free AI assistant with web search that gives you access to DeepSeek’s flagship models without a paid plan.

You can use DeepSeek through its website or mobile apps, but you need to create an account and sign in.

There’s no separate premium tier that unlocks better models or additional search features, so the main experience is available without upgrading, including its advanced reasoning mode.

DeepSeek also makes many of its models available to download through platforms such as Hugging Face. You can run them on your own systems or connect them to other tools, which gives you more control over privacy and lets you tailor the model to your specific research needs.

Strengths

• Includes DeepThink for complex queries: You can turn on DeepThink for free when a query needs more analysis, which makes DeepSeek work through the question more thoroughly and refer more sources before giving you an answer
• Handles very long research inputs: DeepSeek supports a 1 million-token context window, giving you room to work with long documents and have extended research conversations

Limitations

• Expert mode can’t use web search or file uploads: DeepSeek’s mode for complex problems is separate from its web-search workflow, so you need to use Instant or Vision mode when your question depends on current information

My personal experience with DeepSeek

DeepSeek helped me narrow options for a prompt about finding affordable accounting software, but it gave me outdated pricing multiple times.

When I gave DeepSeek several requirements for accounting software for a small U.S. marketing agency, the shortlist was focused and the recommendations matched what I had asked for.

I asked DeepSeek for current pricing, asked about specific plans, and followed up when something looked unclear. Some pricing information was inaccurate, and DeepSeek continued to rely heavily on third-party websites instead of checking the software companies’ own pricing pages.

When I turned on DeepThink, DeepSeek explained and compared the options in more detail. But it still returned outdated information.

Track your visibility in AI search engines

Tracking your AI search visibility shows whether your brand appears when potential customers use these AI search engines to research and compare options.

The more often your brand appears in relevant AI answers, the more opportunities you have to build familiarity and trust.

Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit shows where your brand appears across numerous AI search engines. 

For larger companies with more complex needs, Semrush’s Enterprise AIO supports large-scale tracking and offers more advanced features.