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<\/a><\/p>\nI tested nearly a dozen search engines and narrowed the list to these nine options, which include the best for mobile, the best for users new to AI search, and lots more. Take a sip of your coffee (or coffee alternative), and let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n
Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n AI search engines use some combination of web crawlers, innate artificial intelligence, and user data to improve users\u2019 search experiences and provide more relevant information. Ironically, these machine-powered engines are some of the most intuitive, and ranking among the overall top search engines<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since AI search engines are built to better understand human intent, they can save you time guessing the combination of keywords that will return your desired results. And search engine results pages (SERPs) will often include AI-generated summaries with cited sources, so you don\u2019t have to click through several URLs to check their relevance.<\/p>\n Want to improve your company\u2019s performance in today\u2019s search landscape? Our new AI Search Grader<\/a> takes your site and summarizes how your company will perform in AI search. The tool then recommends how you can perform your performance.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n I tested each search engine on Chrome by asking the same question: What are the latest content marketing trends for SaaS companies in 2025?<\/strong> I used incognito mode and cleared the cache between each new search. I stayed logged out except where I\u2019ve noted otherwise (a few require free logins).<\/p>\n All the search engines touched on the same core trends, so my rankings focus on comprehensiveness, readability, overall user experience, citations, and whether a particular search engine is better for certain users.<\/p>\n A note on pricing: Many of these search engines have slightly complicated pricing structures, but most offer a free and at least one paid option. The paid options usually have additional features like extended access to the most recent AI models, but whether you need those models will depend on how you use AI.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Perplexity came out on top for its familiar and easy-to-use UX, comprehensive and skimmable results, and depth of resources.<\/p>\n It has a very similar interface to ChatGPT since it uses OpenAI’s language models, so it will feel familiar to a lot of users:<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Perplexity\u2019s results include a \u201cSources\u201d tab at the top, so you can easily toggle to see the list of citations. It\u2019s a great way to skim and make sure its sources are reputable and high-quality.<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Unique among all the search engines I tested, Perplexity includes a summary table in its results, which I found immensely helpful \u2014 sometimes my eyes cross when I see all that information scroll down my screen, so I appreciated the skimmable summary.<\/p>\n Perplexity cited 20 sources, nearly twice as many as any other AI search engine I tested. It was one of only two that pulled results from YouTube, and it was the only one that also<\/em> included Reddit (which can be a goldmine if you find the right subreddit).<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Perplexity provides a detailed breakdown of trends, plenty of citations, and a summary table. That makes it the best option for experienced marketers, who may need to do deeper research \u2014 but also the best for less-experienced marketers who may want to start with the summary.<\/p>\n Perplexity has a two-tier pricing plan<\/a>, plus Perplexity Enterprise<\/a> accounts.<\/p>\n Komo\u2019s search results begin with a nifty color-coded \u201cPerspective Pulse\u201d \u2014 the clearest and cleanest summary of any search engine I tested.<\/p>\n Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Komo has two other features that make it stand out in a crowd: You can select both a search corpus (e.g., the web, academic sources, socials, news, video, blogs) and one of 10 pre-defined personas.<\/p>\n Personas let you choose how you want the information organized \u2014 options include gathering quotes, providing an explainer or a TL;DR, or gathering data. I didn\u2019t test personas for this article, as they require a paid subscription.<\/p>\n Komo also lets you choose which AI model<\/a> to use for your search. The options include various models from Gemini, Claude, and OpenAI. This is great for experienced AI searchers who have a handle on the pros and cons of all the options out there.<\/p>\n I tested Arc Search on an iPhone 14 Pro using the free Arc app for iOS; it\u2019s also available for Android.<\/p>\n Arc is easy to use and easy to read on mobile, and its results were similar in quality to the web-based browsers I tested. Plus, its voice search worked seamlessly, easily working out what \u201cSaaS\u201d was (I pronounced it \u201csass\u201d).<\/p>\n It also makes it easy to see all the sources at a glance, and Arc and Perplexity were the only AI-powered search engines I tested that pulled results from YouTube videos. Arc cited 11 different sources, which is on par with other AI search engines.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re already fully integrated into the Google ecosystem, Gemini is an easy choice for AI-powered search. Formerly known as Bard, the AI chatbot may be attractive to those who have grown accustomed to Google\u2019s many products.<\/p>\n Gabrielle Herrera<\/a>, a senior marketing manager of community growth at HubSpot, sums it up: \u201cI really enjoy Gemini because it’s integrated with the Google Ecosystem \u2014 which was my preferred search engine to begin with.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/p>\n Gemini is separate from Google\u2019s AI Overviews<\/a>, which appear at the top of some Google search results (and which I\u2019m not covering here, since it\u2019s not a separate search engine).<\/p>\n Gemini\u2019s results were some of the most comprehensive of the bunch, and it included more information about AI\u2019s role in content marketing trends, including Google\u2019s E-E-A-T search quality rater guidelines.<\/a><\/p>\n Gemini has three plan tiers<\/a>, including one that provides Gemini Advanced free to U.S. college students.<\/p>\n Brave Search is the AI-powered engine of choice if privacy is your top concern. It doesn\u2019t track users or their queries, meaning it can\u2019t share or sell personal data \u2014 because it never collected it in the first place.<\/p>\n Its AI-powered search engine promises it\u2019s \u201cthe only large real-time answer engine that puts privacy first and does not rely on Big Tech search engines.\u201d It wasn\u2019t the best or most powerful search engine I tested, but the quality of information is on par with the rest.<\/p>\n Brave Search also looks a lot like Google, so it\u2019s a great place for AI beginners to start.<\/p>\n Brave offers a number of products like a VPN, a proprietary browser, Brave Search API, and lots more.<\/p>\n In an informal HubSpot Slack survey on favorite AI search engines, Claude<\/a> and ChatGPT<\/a> \u2014 despite not actually<\/em> being search engines \u2014 were the top two responses. And if they look like search engines and quack like search engines, I decided they\u2019d pass the duck test.<\/p>\n\n
What are AI search engines?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How I Tested AI Search Engines<\/strong><\/h2>\n
9 Best AI Search Engines<\/strong><\/h2>\n
1. Best Overall: Perplexity<\/a><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nWhat I Like<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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What Needs Improvement<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Pricing<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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2. Best for Visual Learners (and Second-Best Overall): Komo<\/a><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nWhat I Like<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Source<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n
What Needs Improvement<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Pricing<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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3. Best for Mobile: Arc Search<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n![\"screenshot](\"https:\/\/web-stil.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AI-search-engines-8-20250422-6977268.webp\" "\\"\\"")
Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nWhat I Like<\/h4>\n
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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nWhat Needs Improvement<\/h4>\n
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Pricing<\/h4>\n
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4. Best for Google Users: Gemini<\/a><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nWhat I Like<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nWhat Needs Improvement<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nPricing<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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5. Best for the Privacy-Concerned: Brave Search<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"gif](\"https:\/\/web-stil.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AI-search-engines-14-20250422-1524777.gif\" "\\"\\"")
Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nWhat I Like<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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What Needs Improvement<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Pricing<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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6. – 7. Best for People Who Hate Search Engines: Claude<\/a> and ChatGPT<\/a><\/h3>\n