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The World’s Top 10 AI Search Engines in 2025

Jim Liu

AI-powered discovery is reshaping how people find answers online, replacing page-hopping with concise, single-prompt results and letting users steer responses instead of rephrasing queries repeatedly. We assess engines that accept follow-up prompts, use LLMs to scan the live web, and cite sources, while reminding readers that AI can occasionally err. Our top contenders include Google AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot (Bing AI), Google Gemini, Perplexity AI, Duck.ai (DuckDuckGo), DeepSeek, ERNIE (Baidu), Sogou, and Shenma AI Search.

Let’s begin with ChatGPT Search, where conversational prompts anchor a faster, source-backed search experience today.

1. ChatGPT Search


ChatGPT Search stands out among the world’s top AI search engines in 2025. We feature it for credible sourcing, conversational depth, and accessible tools that support serious research.

  1. Evidence-backed answers and context: ChatGPT Search adds a Sources button that opens a sidebar linking supporting materials. According to PCMag, it also suggests follow-ups and keeps conversation context for iterative research. Users can rate results with thumbs, and hear lifelike read-aloud responses when desired.
  2. Access, pricing, and platforms: Originally limited to Plus subscribers at $20 per month, search now reaches free users. It accepts speech input, with apps available on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. Some features require sign-in, and a Chrome extension can set it as default.
  3. Research modes and limits: Limited free access includes the GPT-5 model with Think Longer and Deep Research. Daily question caps apply, encouraging precise prompting and efficient planning during extended investigations. For global top-tier lists, this balance of depth and discipline signals mature capability.

2. Google AI Mode


Google AI Mode elevates search with concise, cited answers embedded directly in results. We include it among the year’s top AI search engines for reliable, real-time intelligence.

  1. Natural language understanding: It interprets conversational questions without exact keywords, resolving ambiguity and multi-step intent effectively. In testing, it handled US Open schedules and latest flagship comparisons with precise, current summaries.
  2. Verified citations and accountability: Answers surface linked citations for verification, reflecting criteria that prioritize transparent sourcing and follow-up exploration. We value this because trustworthy AI search must show provenance when summarizing rapidly changing information.
  3. Real-time relevance and guardrails: Google AI Mode emphasizes up-to-the-minute results while avoiding speculative details about unannounced products or events. During evaluations, it prioritized official pages and schedules, reducing outdated data and hallucinated specifications.

3. Microsoft Copilot (Bing AI)


Ranked among the world’s top AI search engines, Microsoft Copilot advances everyday discovery and creation. We highlight its conversational answers, integrated tools, and Windows-first workflow that supports efficient research.

  1. Conversational search and synthesis: Copilot understands natural language questions and responds directly, summarizing information from multiple sources. Launched in February 2023, it pairs large language models with a connected knowledge graph. Conversation depth can be limited, but follow-up prompts still refine context and answers.
  2. Creative and visual tools: AI-powered content creation helps draft emails, outlines, scripts, and code for research and productivity. Image Creator enables visual search by content, context, and relevance, refining results with conversational prompts. These capabilities reduce switching between apps and accelerate ideation across Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365.
  3. Personalization, integration, and safeguards: Machine learning personalizes results based on history and preferences, improving relevance across sessions and devices. Deep integration with Windows and Edge streamlines workflows, while enterprise controls support compliance and data governance. As with any AI, accuracy, bias, privacy, and explainability remain ongoing areas for transparent improvement.

4. Google Gemini


Among the leaders in AI search, Gemini stands out for speed and scale. We consider Google Gemini essential to any 2025 shortlist of world-class AI engines.

  1. AI Overviews momentum: Google reports AI Overviews ranks among Search’s most successful launches in a decade. It also delivers the industry’s fastest AI responses, leading to higher satisfaction and more frequent searches. In India, eligible queries saw over a 10% usage lift after adoption.
  2. Gemini 2.5 in Search: A custom version of Gemini 2.5 now powers AI Overviews in the United States. It’s described as their most intelligent model, advancing reasoning and multimodal understanding. These upgrades help AI search answer complex tasks faster, while surfacing helpful links to explore.
  3. Live, multimodal experiences: Google cites more than 1.5 billion monthly Lens users searching what they see. New live capabilities let people talk with Search about scenes through the camera. These real-time interactions push AI search beyond information into intelligence, aligning with top-tier expectations.

5. Perplexity AI


Perplexity AI delivers concise, sourced answers directly within the results pane. It blends classic search with an assistant feel, and handles recent events quickly. Two modes accelerate discovery, with Quick Search for simple questions and a deeper, multi-step option.

The system decomposes queries, consults more sources, and explains reasoning with linked citations. Transparency builds trust, and we appreciate how users can open sources to verify claims. Conversations feel natural, carrying context across follow-ups like a knowledgeable research partner.

Pro and Enterprise users get file uploads and Focus filters for journals, news, and forums. Pricing stays accessible, with a free tier and Pro at $20/month plus advanced model access and priority support. In January 2025, a mobile Assistant launched for cross-app tasks, and Comet beta added a side-panel browser on ARM-based Macs.

6. Duck.ai (DuckDuckGo)


Privacy-focused Duck.ai, powered by DuckDuckGo, earns a place among 2025’s top AI search engines. We highlight it for strong non-tracking policies and growing appeal among privacy-conscious searchers.

  1. Privacy-first foundation: It doesn’t track searches, profile users, or allow tracking across the web. That stance attracts devout tech aficionados and privacy purists within the top AI search set. We advise brands to emphasize transparency pages, consent-light experiences, and trustworthy, citation-rich content.
  2. AI, voice, and local optimization: AI, voice, and local queries are reshaping expectations for speed, clarity, and customization. We recommend concise answers, schema markup, and fast pages that surface in privacy-first result sets. Businesses increasingly hire best SEO services near me to optimize across platforms beyond dominant ecosystems.
  3. Advertising and measurement strategy: Targeting ads here is tricky, so organic authority and trust pull extra weight. We focus on privacy-friendly analytics, engagement signals, and brand searches to gauge growth. Clean Privacy content, helpful FAQs, and local accuracy improve visibility without invasive tracking.

7. DeepSeek


Following our look at a privacy-first option, we turn to DeepSeek’s rapid ascent. Within the world’s top AI search engines, DeepSeek has become a breakout contender.

  1. Origins and model release: DeepSeek was founded in 2023 in China, building steadily before mainstream visibility arrived. Momentum surged in January 2025 with its AI Assistant, powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model. Interest accelerated through February 2025 as global curiosity and early benchmarks drew sustained attention.
  2. Adoption and growth metrics: SimilarWeb’s January 2025 data shows approximately 277.9 million visits, underscoring extraordinary early traction. It reached top-rated free status on Apple’s App Store and logged 21.66 million cross-platform downloads. Active use appears strong, with 5–6 million users and over 1.8 million daily actives.
  3. Cost efficiency and positioning: The team claims development and training cost near $6 million, signaling exceptional cost efficiency. Even with rapid momentum, it remains an ambitious challenger rather than the category’s undisputed leader. Within our 2025 top ten, that efficiency and velocity make DeepSeek a must-watch player.

8. ERNIE (Baidu)


After reviewing a leading open-source reasoning model, focus turns to ERNIE (Baidu) as cost-efficient, accessible AI search.

  1. Value-focused reasoning performance: Baidu reports ERNIE X1 matches top reasoning performance while costing roughly 50% less. Analyst Jason Andersen of Moor Insights and Strategy adds its open-source path complicates differentiation beyond price.
  2. Integrated AI search ecosystem: Baidu plans deep ERNIE integration across its ecosystem, including Baidu Search and adjacent products. Via Qianfan on Baidu AI Cloud, ERNIE 4.5 APIs are live, with X1 arriving soon. Capabilities span advanced search, document QandA, image understanding, code interpreting, and specialized academic or business lookups.
  3. Accessibility and multimodal advances: ERNIE Bot was made free to the public earlier than planned, expanding grassroots access. Baidu cites improved reasoning, memory, coding, and hallucination prevention, plus multimodal text, image, audio, and video understanding. Company materials claim benchmark wins versus flagship models while costing about 1% of premium alternatives.

9. Sogou


Building on the prior section’s leading Chinese model, we now pivot directly to Sogou. As we survey the world’s top AI search engines in 2025, Sogou stands out.

  1. Market dynamics: China’s incumbent once held about 67% share, yet rivals reclaimed roughly 23% during 2023. On the global stage, that incumbent’s share hovered near 0.96%, underscoring international fragmentation. We view Sogou as a key beneficiary, translating competitive pressure into faster AI iteration.
  2. Language and input intelligence: Sogou focuses on Chinese-language understanding, blending semantic parsing with entity linking across topical graphs. This approach improves disambiguation for homophones, multi-character terms, and mixed-script queries common in daily searches. We expect continued investments in speech, visual text extraction, and translation to power multimodal retrieval experiences.
  3. Algorithmic heritage and direction: China’s search innovation stretches back to RankDex, developed by Robin Li in 1996. That algorithm, akin to PageRank, showcased early emphasis on relevance, authority, and link-based ranking. Sogou advances this lineage with neural ranking, reinforcement learning, and real-time feedback loops improving result quality.

10. Shenma AI Search


In the AI search landscape, Shenma AI Search earns serious global consideration. We evaluate it alongside shifting China market signals reported by The Egg.

  1. Mobile-first intelligence: Shenma is designed for mobile-native discovery, prioritizing instant answers, apps, and shopping flows. Its AI ranking models emphasize transactional intent, delivering product-rich results with streamlined handoffs to apps. This orientation aligns with leading engines privileging verticalized answers that reduce friction on small screens.
  2. SERP design and localization: According to The Egg, leading engines default to 10 organic results per page for speed. One engine even allows up to 50 results, while balancing verticals, owned properties, and ads. We map Shenma snippets, vertical placements, and localization to these benchmarks to maximize discoverability and satisfaction.
  3. Market dynamics and opportunity: The Egg reports one global engine surged from 18.02% in 2021 to 50.41% in 2024. Meanwhile, a local leader declined sharply, including nearly 15 percentage points over the past twelve months. We position Shenma within this shift, emphasizing responsive AI experiences and diverse, commerce-forward results.

Looking ahead, AI search engines redefine discovery with speed, context, and multimodal understanding. The leaders blend large models, authoritative sources, and guardrails to deliver trustworthy answers. We see gains in personalization, freshness, and transparency, especially across commerce, research, and productivity.

Mobile-first experiences and voice keep users engaged, while citations and provenance boost confidence. Enterprises benefit from governance, data controls, and APIs that integrate seamlessly into workflows. We recommend piloting two to three platforms, measuring accuracy, cost, adoption, and ROI quarterly.

Expect rapid iteration; 2025 brings safer, smarter, more open systems.