SearchVisibility.wikiVisibility in search and AI answers

AI search engines

From Search Visibility Wiki · By the · Published · Last reviewed · How we research

AI search engines answer queries with generated, cited responses built from web search. The main ones are Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Claude. Each uses its own crawler or index, so visibility depends on letting the right crawler in and on that engine’s retrieval.

How do the main AI search engines source answers?

EngineLaunch (documented)Inclusion / crawler
Google AI Overviews / AI ModeAI Overviews US May 14, 2024;[1] AI Mode all US users from May 20, 2025[2]Google Search index; indexed, snippet-eligible pages[3]
ChatGPT searchOctober 31, 2024[4]OAI-SearchBot[5]
Perplexity—PerplexityBot[6]
Microsoft CopilotNew Bing chat February 7, 2023; renamed Copilot November 15, 2023[7][8]Bing; Copilot citations reported in Bing Webmaster Tools[9]
ClaudeWeb search March 20, 2025; all plans globally May 27, 2025[10]Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User[11]
Grok—xAI’s API documents a web search tool that returns citations[12]

Which is the best free AI search engine?

We do not rank them; we found no independent, current accuracy benchmark across all engines. Accuracy varies: a 2023 audit of four generative search engines found only 51.5% of sentences fully supported by citations.[13]

What do AI search engines mean for visibility?

Allow each engine’s search crawler, stay indexed in Google and Bing, and track each engine separately. See AI crawlers and AI rank tracking.

Frequently asked questions

Is Perplexity an AI search engine?

Yes. It answers questions with cited web sources and runs its own crawler, PerplexityBot.

Is ChatGPT a search engine?

ChatGPT includes a search feature (since October 31, 2024) that answers with linked sources.

What is an LLM search engine?

A search system where a large language model writes the answer from retrieved results.

References

Sources accessed October 14, 2026 unless another date is given. See all sources.

  1. “Google I/O 2024: New generative AI experiences in Search”. Google (The Keyword). May 14, 2024.
  2. “AI Mode in Google Search: Updates from Google I/O 2025”. Google (The Keyword). May 20, 2025.
  3. “AI features and your website”. Google Search Central. accessed October 14, 2026.
  4. “Introducing ChatGPT search”. OpenAI. October 31, 2024.
  5. “Overview of OpenAI Crawlers”. OpenAI. accessed October 14, 2026.
  6. “Perplexity Crawlers”. Perplexity. accessed October 14, 2026.
  7. “Reinventing search with a new AI-powered Microsoft Bing and Edge, your copilot for the web”. Microsoft. February 7, 2023.
  8. “Microsoft Ignite 2023: AI transformation and the technology driving change”. Microsoft. November 15, 2023.
  9. “AI Performance”. Bing Webmaster Tools Help. accessed October 14, 2026.
  10. “Claude can now search the web”. Anthropic. March 20, 2025; updated May 27, 2025.
  11. “Does Anthropic crawl data from the web, and how can site owners block the crawler?”. Anthropic (Claude Help Center). updated April 7, 2026.
  12. “Web Search (API guide)”. xAI documentation. accessed October 14, 2026.
  13. “Evaluating Verifiability in Generative Search Engines”. arXiv (Liu, Zhang, Liang; Stanford). April 2023; Findings of EMNLP 2023.
Categories: Engines