I rigorously tested the most popular AI search engines to discover their strengths and weaknesses.
I conducted this test for two reasons:
- As a human being, I want to use the best search engine. I’ve spent my whole life online. I want to find information the fastest and easiest way.
- As a marketer, I want to know where the trends are heading. Will artificial intelligence search engines replace “traditional” search engines? Are artificial intelligence chatbots really enough to overthrow Google? Should I start putting more effort into LL.M. Optimization?
There are basically a thousand products claiming to be artificial intelligence search engines, but I’m focusing on the largest and most popular.
I tested the AI capabilities offered by two existing search giants (Google’s AI Overviews and Bing AI) as well as two popular AI upstarts (ChatGPT Search and Perplexity).
In my opinion, the best artificial intelligence search engine isChatGPT search For the best chatbot experience, and Google’s artificial intelligence overview The best all-around search engine.
Read on for the pros and cons of the search experience, screenshots, and a short video.
| Artificial intelligence search engine | Best for… | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT search | The best artificial intelligence chatbot search experience | Free; Pro version $20/month |
| Google artificial intelligence overview | The best combination of traditional search and artificial intelligence functions | free |
| Puzzled | Best for research and journalism | Free; Pro version $20/month |
| Bing Artificial Intelligence | Best for simple searches | free |
To properly judge the quality of each search engine result, I focus on one topic on which I am a world-class expert: digital marketing Role playing video games horizon.
Since I’m an SEO, I also want to test as many different ones as possible type Search as many queries as possible. I brainstormed horizon Searches grouped by different categories, including:
- short tail query (For example horizon)
- Long tail query (For example How to solve mzulft eye problems)
- Transaction query (For example The most expensive Skyrim mods)
- Information inquiry (For example How to quickly improve your forging level in Skyrim)
- Navigation query (For example uesp skyrim map)
- local query (For example Buy Skyrim near me)
- Image query (For example skyline scenery)
- Popular queries (For example Skyrim Novus)
How to find tons of keywords for any topic
intent filter keyword browser Great help for brainstorming keywords. I searched for “skyrim”, navigated to the matching terms report, and filtered by different intents to find ideas.
I conducted these searches through each artificial intelligence search engine and recorded my experiences. I pay special attention to:
- Related: Do the results fit my query?
- accuracy: Are search engines returning valid, up-to-date information?
- usefulness: Did I achieve the purpose of my search? Was I happy when I left?
- speed: How soon will I get an answer?
- Easy to use: How much effort does this require?
This is completely unscientific but Very An interesting analysis of the best artificial intelligence search engines. Let’s get started.
My opinion: A research assistant who specializes in news and summaries, but doesn’t “feel” like a search engine.
price: Free; Pro version $20/month
Related: https://www.perplexity.ai/
advantage
- Good at summarizing large amounts of resources.
- Great for news related topics.
- The “Related Topics” feature is useful.
shortcoming
- Lots of incorrect answers and hallucinations.
- Not good at images, commerce, and local search.
- It really doesn’t feel like a search engine.
Perplexity feels more like a wiki or a knowledge base than a search engine. Many of its responses are succinct bulleted lists and are good at summarizing technical queries (e.g. DA09 Dawnbreaker) or news-related topics (e.g. The Elder Scrolls VI News).
I also noticed a lot of errors and illusions in its output. An example: for Should I be a vampire or a werewolf in Skyrim? Confusion reveals that werewolves are immune to silver weapons – they actually take extra damage from silver weapons. (To be honest, confused.)
Information also often appears outdated. Perplexity says that Skyrim SE will be available on Steam for $7.99 (which is not the case) and that the sale will last until May 30, 2024.
Perplexity also frequently failed to “understand” the intent behind my searches and defaulted to text salad paragraphs. When I searched for “Steam skyrim” I got a long, rambling reply with no actual link to Steam. For Skyrim Creations, it doesn’t list any actual creations, just sharing a wiki-style overview of the creation concepts.
Confusion also had trouble with image searches, business queries were very unsatisfactory, local searches were decidedly not local, and the sites and stores that responded to recommendations were nowhere near me.
My opinion: A great all-around search engine that incorporates artificial intelligence in a limited but useful way.
price: free
Related: https://www.google.com/
advantage
- Overviews of artificial intelligence are often helpful (when they appear).
- Expertise in rendering different media formats such as images and videos.
- Specializes in business and deal hunting.
shortcoming
- Search results are very confusing, with frequent duplication between the AI overview and featured snippets.
- Artificial intelligence overviews feel like a dead end – you can’t continue to interact with them.
- It feels a bit strange that Reddit appears in most SERPs.
It’s fun to evaluate Google search through a new lens. As expected, Google Very Ideal for business and local inquiries: The interactive product carousel makes it easy to find relevant products instantly, and the map pack is great for finding local stores.
I’m also reminded of how powerful Google’s integration with YouTube is: any query best solved by video content will almost always include a YouTube video (usually with a timestamp) in the SERP.
AI and machine learning power all Google searches, but in terms of specific AI features, the AI Overview only triggers on about 15% of my queries. These are all informational queries, and in most cases, they are very specific, long-tail queries.
The AI overview was actually very good, relevant and accurate – but I definitely missed the ability to stay interactive with the AI.
AI overviews often feel like enhanced feature snippets that provide direct, conclusive answers to long-tail queries in the SERP (in fact, many AI overviews compete directly with duplicate feature snippets that sit directly below them in the SERP).
It’s also a bit strange that Reddit appears in so many SERPs. Some queries are indeed best suited to user-generated content (such as those for which there is no objective “best” answer), but Reddit works all over the place.
My opinion: Best AI chatbot for specific, text-heavy searches (but still lacking some “classic” search features).
price: Free; Pro version $20/month
Related: https://chatgpt.com/
advantage
- Great for very specific long-tail queries.
- Excellent ability to ask follow-up questions.
- The “memory” function is very useful.
shortcoming
- Complete failure many times.
- Very bad for image search and business search.
- Lengthy, likes to write long answers, even to simple questions.
ChatGPT searches are great for very specific long-tail queries. Answer similar questions Should I be a vampire or a werewolf in Skyrim? It’s like reading a short blog post that simply sums up a bunch of sources written specifically for your query – because, well, it does.
Combined with the ability to ask follow-up questions, and ChatGPT’s ability to remember information from previous conversations (its “memory”), asking long, complex questions can be a lot of fun.
But this strength is also a weakness. ChatGPT is good at handling text-heavy queries, but a bit terrible for many other queries. Short tail queries feel more limited than Google. Navigation queries (e.g. Skyrim Creation Suite Download) Not satisfied: ChatGPT will explain accurately how Download Creation Kit (Skyrim’s modding engine), but it doesn’t actually let you Do it.
It’s also pretty weak at business queries, and very bad at image queries, with canned responses limited to four images (not nearly enough to satisfy my appetite) High resolution skyline landscape). But here’s the surprise: ChatGPT searches include playable YouTube videos directly in their responses.
ChatGPT searches failed outright for some queries, requiring multiple refreshes to get very basic query results. All in all, it’s strongest for queries that benefit from long, detailed text responses, and worse at almost every level for all other queries.
My opinion: A solid second-choice search engine with experimental AI features but nothing really delivered.
price: free
Related: https://www.bing.com/
advantage
- Good at navigation and business searching.
- Interesting search function for short-tail queries.
shortcoming
- Artificial intelligence capabilities are often broken and useless.
- Local and news hunting was a bit disappointing.
Bing has two distinct “artificial intelligence” features. One is text snippets, which are very similar to Google’s featured snippets and AI overviews. These jobs are decent, but not as good as Google’s artificial intelligence overview.
Often, AI answers don’t quite understand my searches (yes to Should I be a vampire or a werewolf in Skyrim? It doesn’t actually contain the answers – just the steps. become Either a vampire or a werewolf).
The other is the dynamically generated “catalog” mod, which although looks nice, is usually somewhere in between not helpful and completely brokendifferent modules appear out of order or missing steps.
Like Google Search, Bing excels at navigational queries and showcases a wealth of product and business search inspiration. It returns good results for newer popular topics (surprisingly, so do all search engines).
Most of all, I love the visual sidebar that appears in Bobtail Search, which provides a wealth of facts and trivia horizon. When search intent is so vague, it seems very helpful to think of the SERP as a mood board for inspiration and a wormhole of possible pursuits.
Surprisingly, I was disappointed with local searches and news searches (The Elder Scrolls VI News) Very bad.
final thoughts
“Traditional” search engines have decades of experience satisfying searchers and all the different types of searches they make. This experience is evident in business, local, and image search, where Google and Bing dominate newer tools.
But “pure” artificial intelligence search engines also unlock new types of search behaviors. Query “Skyrim” bosmer invisible archer construction background story ChatGPT made a splash and allowed me to actively brainstorm ideas and refine stories in a way that a Google search couldn’t. Puzzle is good at summarizing news and complex information.
Are the advantages of AI search engines enough to make up for its many weaknesses? Searchers will relinquish control of the company Currently 88.5% of the search engine market Trying a new, relatively unproven tool?
More likely (in my estimation), we will see existing search engines being built, integrated, and partnered with AI companies to bring the best features into existing search experiences (e.g. Bing’s partnership with OpenAI.)
At the same time, in my opinion, the best artificial intelligence search engines are ChatGPT Search, which provides the best chatbot experience, and Google AI Overviews, which provides the best all-around search engine.
