I find it faster and easier than Google resultsand you might too.
Here are some AI search engines that Ive been using.
How would you do it?
How Does Google Work?
Well, if youre Google, youll deploy bots calledcrawlersor spiders that browse those billions of web pages.
Google then analyzes what the crawlers have scanned and creates an index out of it.
Perplexity AI
Those are the famous 10 blue links.
Its an oversimplification, but thats basically how weve searched the web ever since the first computers came online.
Perhaps, a long query that even needs follow up.
Those wont return super relevant matches.
Youll end up with a dozen tabs and notes reading them all to synthesize your own answer.
Thats where AI comes in.
They can also browse the internet just like you would, but a lot faster.
Finally, AI can write quick and easy-to-digest answers based on what it finds.
Combine those three things, and youve got a recipe for a search engine that runs on AI.
Let’s Run a Little Test
Heres what I mean.
I asked Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, What are some good vacation spots for families in Europe?
It gave me a list.
It served up another list.
I followed up with Any of these good for a long vacation on a low budget?
And I got ten stay options in Tuscany that met my preferences.
So I asked the AI search engine to give me vacation spots that Id like in Spain.
It answered my questions with a question to narrow down the results.
And it added that to my list of other preferences.
It even has a helpful related section just like Google.
The whole search process took me about a minute.
I also Googled vacation spots for a couple with a baby in Europe for an affordable long-term stay.
And unsurprisingly, it didnt return a single one-to-one match.
Just some guides on how to travel with a toddler and some random vacation spots in Europe.
Thats the power of generative AI in search.
Thats why Google and Bing are trying to integrateAI overviewsinto their search engines.
But you dont need to limit yourself to the hybrid search experience of these engines.
I recommend not using these bots for medical, financial, or legal advice.
When researching critical information, always fact-check what an AI tells you.
Privacy is another concern because these bots may be able to use your information for training purposes.
Be sure to never share any sensitive personal information like your banking details or passwords.
Perplexity AI
Perplexityis currently the most popular AI-powered search engine.
Its built on ChatGPT, except it uses sources from the internet to give you answers.
It understands context cues, remembers them, and adapts to my preferences as the conversation continues.
I used Perplexity for the demonstration above.
What makes it different fromChatGPTis that it browses the web for every question and provides references.
The results are usually more precise and accurate.
Its not perfect because it can just make up citations.
Or sometimes it fails to cite a claim.
Exa
Exais another generative AI-based search engine.
It understands what youre trying to look for and serves up relevant results based on that.
But it works on link embeddings.
Link embeddings are how people describe links online.
Something like these are the best vacation spots in Europe with a link attached to it.
It scans the text in your query and predicts links relevant to it.
Based on those predictions, it delivers a list of links.
But unlike Googles 10 blue links, the Exa links dont rely on keywords.
Theyre based on prompts.
But you might sidestep that hassle by turning on Improve My Prompt.
Exa will automatically build a prompt off your query and surface search results based on that.
I also love the filters Exa has (way better than Googles in my opinion).
That way you’re free to get all ofGoogles filtersand more.
you’re free to even paste a link and find similar ones.
You AI
You AIis similar to Perplexity in its design and features.
However, it can work with a bunch of LLMs other than ChatGPT.
It also has a really beautiful interface and formats the answers really well.
you’re able to upload different kinds of files or use voice commands.
Just like Perplexity, sources are attached with every answer.
Plus, it has a helpful You May Want to Ask section.
Andi AI
Andi Searchis a privacy-friendly AI search assistant.
Its completely free and designed to deliver factual, accurate, and precise results based on generative AI.
Andis search results were pretty different from what I found on Google or Bing.
If youre in a rush, you dont have to read the whole webpage.
Just let Andi summarize it for you with a single click.
It isnt trying to be as feature-rich as the other engines on this list.
Andi also respects your privacy and doesnt store user data or track you.
Andi can be a little slower than the rest though because its still in active development.
Try these AI search engines and save yourself the hassle of scrolling through irrelevant Google search pages.
