The best AI search engines in 2025

Scouring the SERPs to find high-quality content while avoiding ads and spammy sites can be a time sink at best and a major frustration at worst. This raises two important questions. Is googling becoming more effort than it’s worth, and can AI search engines do it better?

AI search engines leverage artificial intelligence to automatically produce relevant answers to your questions. They’re context-aware, making research more conversational. They also provide direct information rather than making you dig through site lists, which makes them much more efficient.

Whether you’re a freelancer, IT professional, or business leader seeking a more effective way to gather insights, there’s an AI search tool that will align with your needs. We’ve tested all of the options currently on the market to narrow down the best for every situation. Here are the results.

Want to get straight into our top picks? Click the links below to navigate to the reviews.

• Google AI mode for up-to-date information
• Perplexity for research and Q&A
• Salesforce Einstein Search for secure, enterprise-ready AI search embedded in CRM
• Arc Search for mobile browsing
• Komo for ad-free, privacy-first search

An AI search engine is a search tool that uses AI tech, such as natural language processing (NLP) and large language models (LLMs), to provide context-aware answers in response to prompts. It’s a bit like having a research assistant who already knows exactly what you’re looking for.

As you might expect, this can save a lot of time. Rather than providing you with a list of links you have to sift through yourself, AI search technology automatically summarises the most valuable info from the web. It will also list its sources so you can dive deeper if needed.

We’re already seeing how impactful this tech can be. Due to Search Generative Experience (SGE), Google’s AI overviews currently appear in more than half of all searches on the site, and 65% of searches in Australia now end without a click. That means millions of people are finding the information they need without ever visiting a site to get it.

At their core, AI search engines turn plain-English queries into direct, sourced answers. You ask a question, and they understand it, respond to it, and remember the context for future interactions. This is made possible through a collection of intelligent technologies:

• Natural language processing (NLP): This technology interprets the search intent behind your questions, even if you phrase them conversationally.
• Large language models (LLMs): After NLP understands your question, LLMs draft a natural response, synthesising facts and examples from multiple source links into one comprehensive answer.
• Contextual understanding: The AI search engine remembers all past interactions, meaning you don’t need to start from scratch with each query. You could, for instance, say ‘make that a bullet list’ without having to reiterate your initial query.

All of this results in three significant benefits: improved speed, greater accuracy, and increased productivity when uncovering information.

While AI search engines work on the same tech, this doesn’t mean they’re all the same. Each applies the fundamentals differently, shaping the end results and the value they deliver.

So, how do you separate the good from the great? We’ve narrowed down our assessment criteria to seven core elements:

1. Accuracy: Does the engine provide consistently factual, well-sourced answers?
2. Personalisation: Can it tailor responses to individual needs or business contexts?
3. UX: How is the user experience? Is it easy to navigate for everyday use?
4. Integration: Does it connect smoothly with other workflows and tools?
5. Privacy: How well does it protect sensitive data?
6. Cost: Does the tool offer good value for money?
7. Enterprise readiness: Can it scale securely to meet the needs of larger businesses?

With these metrics in mind, here’s how our top five picks stack up:

Out of all the tools we tested, here are the five AI search engines that stood out.

Google AI Mode builds upon the tech found in Gemini 2.5 to provide a more well-rounded search experience. Simply type in a query, and the engine will provide a synthesised answer from the most relevant, valuable sources on the web, plus clickable links for more info.

As you’d expect from a Google product, it’s fast, secure, and easy to use. It also hooks seamlessly into the existing Google ecosystem. For example, you can ask for ‘running routes near me’ without having to specify your location first or get live traffic data from Google Maps when planning a route, all without having to leave the main interface.

The free solution is great for getting accurate, up-to-date information. That said, the tool leans more heavily toward everyday tasks and broad queries than business-specific use cases. Storage and power could also pose a problem; the free version has limited utilities. Users will need to pay for the Pro or Ultra packages to access higher limits across Google’s suite of tools.

Pros:

• Intuitive and personalised, with an easy-to-use interface
• Supports inputs from text, voice, image and camera
• Can pull data from the wider Google ecosystem for live results

Cons:

• Storage and AI credit limitations on the free plan could pose problems
• Limited additional integrations, especially for business owners

Pricing:

• Free to use, with limited AI features
• Google AI Pro: around AU$32.99/month
• Google AI Ultra: around AU$199.99/month

Perplexity is one of the first independent generative AI tools built exclusively for advanced AI search functionalities. It features everything you’d expect, such as fast speeds and a minimal interface.

Like Google AI mode, the platform remembers previous interactions and encourages follow-up questions. However, Perplexity takes this a step further by suggesting related queries, making it ideal for deeper research.

Perplexity also lets you export responses, save your conversation threads for later and even scan in your own documents that the AI tool can then summarise. These features are helpful for students and professionals looking to keep track of in-depth research notes and insights.

Accuracy is the biggest concern here. Perplexity is comprehensive and usually produces relevant results. However, it has come under fire in the past for providing fake information. It also isn't as updated as Google, meaning it sometimes struggles to keep up with recent news and events.

Pros:

• A handy ‘related’ section with different question options to gather more information
• Clear citations to support deeper research
• The ability to upload your own documents for deeper analysis

Cons:

• Limited integrations with other apps and systems
• Less effective for highly localised queries or real-time information
• Criticism related to accuracy issues in the past

Pricing

• Free to use, with limited features
• Perplexity Pro: around $20/month
• Perplexity Enterprise Pro: around $40/month/seat or $400/year

Salesforce Einstein Search is an AI search tool integrated directly into the Salesforce ecosystem. It’s built specifically for businesses , with the aim of helping leaders and employees find the information they need to make smarter decisions and deliver superior customer service.

As with Google’s AI mode, Salesforce Einstein lets you search in natural language, and then it provides the most relevant results in context. That said, the main point of difference is that Einstein Search is deeply embedded in a business’s data. This gives it several advantages over general-use tools, such as:

• Delivering personalised results based on a user’s role, department, current task, and recent activities
• Pulling real-time responses from business data, ensuring all insights are backed by real, accurate company information rather than web sources
• Keeping sensitive customer information secure and in-house, with compliance and governance built in through the Einstein Trust Layer
• Embedding search directly into workflows so employees don’t need to switch to a different tool to find information

This makes Einstein Search especially useful for teams that need reliable, context-specific information at speed. For instance, a sales employee could pull up the latest account history of a customer to personalise outreach, whereas a marketing team could ask the solution to produce a list of leads filtered by engagement scores to improve their campaign targeting.

The catch here is that Salesforce Einstein is only available within the Salesforce ecosystem and is limited to the data the business has already integrated through Salesforce’s suite of tools, meaning it isn’t suited to the everyday consumer.

Pros:

• Seamless integration with company data and workflows, making it ideal for businesses
• Responses pulled from real business data, improving accuracy
• Security and privacy by default with compliance and governance built in
• Role-based, secure and enterprise-ready tool

Cons:

• Limited to Salesforce data
• Subscription to the wider Salesforce ecosystem is required

Pricing

• Varies
• Included with Salesforce Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Performance and Unlimited

Arc Search takes a unique approach to AI search by embedding it directly into a mobile browser. Rather than just acting like a search bar, it uses AI to condense and organise web content directly on a single page for you to explore. It’s also completely free.

Think of it like a completely automated mobile browsing experience. Rather than searching for a keyword, scouring through the links and gathering information yourself, Arc takes your response, browses the web for you and presents all of the information it discovers in one place.

The caveat here is that Arc is only available on mobile through iOS, iPadOS or Google Play. You can access a version of the platform on Windows or macOS through the Arc Browser , but the search functionality isn’t the same. Accuracy is another concern; the responses aren’t always as up-to-date or reliable as those of competitors like Google.

Pros:

• Handles every aspect of the search process; ideal for multitasking
• Reduces the number of taps required to get information on mobile

Cons:

• Only available on iOS and iPadOS (iPhones and iPads)
• Sometimes struggles to produce accurate, real-time results

Pricing

• Free to use

Komo.ai is a simple search engine designed for those who want to get AI-generated answers quickly without any of the extra frills. Unlike alternatives, it doesn’t store any data or tailor results based on your search history. This means it comes out ahead of other consumer-grade tools when it comes to privacy.

The platform also offers some impressive features. We particularly like the ability to select a persona, such as ‘copywriter’, ‘equity researcher’, ‘shopper’ or ‘essay writer’ to tailor the search engine's answers to your needs. It also integrates with cloud storage services, APIs and browsers, letting you link up with the wider web.

Komo can sometimes feel less intuitive than Google or Perplexity. You’ll get accurate, ad-free answers, but they might not always be as context-aware or tailored to your previous activity. That said, for those who want a straightforward browsing experience that puts privacy first, Komo strikes a solid balance between security and usability.

Pros:

• Ad-free, distraction-free search experience
• Solid privacy standards, with no data collection or profiling

Cons:

• Sometimes lacking the personalisation that larger AI search engines offer
• Less intuitive UI than competitors

Pricing

• Free to use

Salesforce AI search is the only AI-powered search engine purpose-built for enterprises.

Rather than surfing the web for answers, our tool grounds itself in your business data. This means every bit of information it provides is backed by data that’s accurate, secure and contextual to your organisation.

The best part about our search solution is that it integrates perfectly with the rest of the Salesforce ecosystem. Here’s how it all ties together:

• Data Cloud unifies real-time business data, acting as a foundation for accurate, reliable searches.
• Einstein Search, the core search feature, delivers role-aware, contextual CRM results to your teams.
• Agentforce takes search one step further by acting on results and automating workflows to boost productivity.
• CRM Analytics: Turns search results into actionable insights for faster, smarter business decision-making.

Together, these capabilities position Salesforce AI as the world’s first enterprise-ready alternative to consumer AI search tools, purpose-built for business performance.

Ready to find out how Salesforce AI can drive measurable growth for your organisation? See how Formula 1 uses our suite of AI tools to speed up service response by 80%, or watch the demo today to learn more.

For businesses, AI search engines offer more than a way to save time. They can directly drive business value. Grounding results in enterprise data and surfacing contextual insights have the potential to transform how employees work, make decisions and serve customers.

Here’s how Salesforce’s AI search solution can achieve results for your organisation:

Small business owners lose 1.5 hours each day to wasted time; searching for information and juggling between tools are cited as two of the biggest productivity killers.

Salesforce AI search tackles both of these challenges. First, it helps employees find information instantly, saving them from having to scour knowledge bases and customer records. Second, teams can do this directly in the CRM, meaning there’s no need to hop between apps. This results in faster workflows and greater day-to-day productivity.

Our latest State of the Connected Customer report reveals that 73% of consumers feel businesses treat them like unique individuals. To achieve this, companies need to collect data from their customers and use it to personalise their experiences. That’s something Salesforce AI can help with as well.

By unifying business data through Data Cloud, AI search can surface insights that make every customer interaction more relevant and personalised, whether that’s a sales rep pulling up recent interactions before a call to tailor their service or a marketing agent viewing customer preferences to personalise their email outreach.

Seventy-three per cent of business leaders say data helps reduce uncertainty and leads to more accurate business decisions, yet many organisations still struggle to make sense of all the information they possess due to a lack of time, resources and expertise.

By embedding business data and CRM analytics into AI search, Salesforce helps businesses turn queries into actionable intelligence in less time, without the usual skillset required to make sense of raw information. This enables businesses to make insight-driven decisions with greater confidence, delivering measurable outcomes for enterprises.

As you can see, AI search engines offer countless benefits for businesses, but this doesn’t mean they’re without their risks and challenges. Here are some to consider:

• Adoption gap: AI search engines are easy to use, but this doesn’t mean employees will be ready to change their workflow immediately. Businesses need to invest in ongoing training to bridge the gap .
• Accuracy: Even advanced models aren’t always reliable, which could result in poor decisions if left unvalidated. Grounding AI search results in real-time business data helps to mitigate this by ensuring every result is backed by actual evidence.
• Bias: AI systems can inadvertently reflect biases present in their training data. Monitoring and governance frameworks are essential to combat this and ensure AI use remains ethical.
• Legacy integration: Connecting AI search to existing IT infrastructure can be complex and time-consuming. It’s essential to use an enterprise-ready solution that can unify your data and integrate your existing systems with your AI search functionality.

Salesforce addresses this challenge with an enterprise-ready AI built for accuracy and compliance. Combining Einstein Search with Agentforce and Data Cloud grounds results in real-time verified data that employees can access directly, encouraging adoption. And, with policy-based data access, encryption and our trusted AI principles, we ensure all of our AI solutions are private, transparent and free from bias.