13 Alternative Search Engines You Can Use Instead of Google

Google processes about 8.5 billion queries per day, which is part of what makes it such a valuable marketing tool. But there are search engines other than Google in the world. Google has a lot of competitors, and they all have their own share of the search market.

For example, Bing has over 100 million active users daily — and that’s not even to mention all of the other alternative search engines out there. If you’re looking to use a different search engine for your research, or if you’re keeping an eye out for other platforms to target with your online marketing, those search engines are worth a look.

On this page, we’ll look at a variety of different Google alternatives. Here’s a summary of how they stack up:

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Search engines vs. answer engines: What’s the difference and which should you use?

On this page, we’ll be looking primarily at two categories: Search engines and answer engines. These both qualify as Google alternatives, but they’re two separate kinds of tools. So, what’s the difference between them?

Essentially, search engines are like Google — you type a query into a search bar, and in return you get a list of relevant web pages that address that query (sometimes alongside other types of search features). Answer engines, meanwhile, are tools that use artificial intelligence (AI) to generate a specific response to your query.

With that difference in mind, which should you use — search engines or answer engines?

The answer depends on your needs and interests. Many people prefer traditional search engines because that’s what they’re used to. Search engines are also better if you want to prioritize human-written content. That said, you’ll have to contend with the possibility that some searches may not have relevant results, depending on what types of pages are out there.

As for answer engines, some users prefer them because they’re seen as cutting-edge and can give more customized responses. Answer engines also typically allow you to converse back and forth with them to get more information.

However, while this list will focus mainly on the pros of those tools, it’s important to note that there are some serious cons as well — particularly the fact that AI answer engines commonly “hallucinate” false information.

Those who keep up with pop culture news may recall the 2024 incident in which a trailer for the film Megalopolis was lambasted for featuring made-up quotes from prominent film critics. This turned out to be because someone on the film’s marketing team had searched for some quotes in an AI tool, and the AI had just made them up without the marketer realizing it.

That’s the risk you take whenever you use answer engines, which is another reason why many people continue to rely on search engines instead. Ultimately, though, the choice of platform is yours to make.

Standard search engines

Let’s start by looking at some standard alternative search engines. These platforms are search engines in the traditional sense, where you type in a query and get a list of relevant links in response. However, each of these options has unique characteristics that set it apart from Google.

The search engines we’ll look at are:

1. Bing
2. DuckDuckGo
3. AOL/Yahoo
4. Gibiru
5. Brave

Read on for more info about each one.

1. Bing

Best for: Similarity to Google

After Google, Bing is the most well-known search engine in the world. It’s commonly cited as the main Google alternative, and while it’s less widely used than Google is, it still gets tons of traffic.

For the most part, Bing has followed Google pretty closely in regard to its layout and features. There are definitely some distinctions in its interface, but not enough to make it feel like an entirely different beast.

So, is Bing a good alternative to Google? That depends on why you’re trying to avoid Google. If your issue with Google has to do with its interface or features, Bing probably won’t be any better. But if you have another reason for avoiding Google, and you still want a Google-like interface, Bing is the best choice.

2. DuckDuckGo

Best for: Data privacy

Google hasn’t exactly established a reputation for respecting users’ data (despite their efforts to change that image), so a lot of people have looked for an alternative that will allow them to make searches without feeling like a corporate overlord is tracking their every move. Enter DuckDuckGo.

DuckDuckGo’s whole thing is data privacy. They famously despise data tracking, to the point that they’ve built their whole brand on the fact that they don’t do it. Plus, they have a pretty clean and simple interface (one that isn’t as bloated with different search features as Google’s has gotten), which is a big win for some people.

3. AOL/Yahoo

Best for: Web portal features

AOL and Yahoo are technically two different search engines. However, they’re run by the same company. So, even though they have slightly different interfaces, the search results will be the same between them, and they have pretty much all the same features.

There were a few years there when Yahoo was widely derided for its poor-quality search engine, but it’s since caught up with the times. You’ll notice that its search results page, and also (to a lesser degree) AOL’s, look almost identical to Google’s.

The standout feature for both of these platforms, though, is that they aren’t just search engines — they’re also web portals.

The homepage for each of them features a range of current info like news, weather, stock prices, and so on, which are recommended to you without you even having to search for anything specific.

4. Gibiru

Best for: Simplicity

Like DuckDuckGo, Gibiru makes a big deal out of data privacy. It advertises that it’s committed to keeping your data secure, to the point that the same company also offers a VPN for further protection.

Another standout feature of Gibiru is its simplicity. Though it does have some paid ads, its search results pages don’t feature any of the extraneous panels you’ll find in Google. If you find yourself missing the days when Google was just “10 blue links,” you might like Gibiru.

By the way, Gibiru also features a mobile app you can use, so it’s not limited to Internet browsers.

5. Brave

Best for: Refining search results with Goggles

In Brave, we have yet another search engine that claims to be built for user privacy. It allows for fully anonymous searches, and not only that, but it also uses its own web index — it’s fully independent from other search engines like Google and Bing.

Brave also contains a couple of different innovative features. One of those features is called “Goggles,” which lets you narrow the search results to a particular type of page. For example, you could choose to filter out Pinterest results, or you could refine your search to boost content from respected medical sites.

The other innovative feature from Brave is an AI-enhanced search, which leads us neatly into the next section on our list.

AI answer engines

Though traditional search engines are still all the rage, recent years have also seen a rise in answer engines, which use machine learning to generate highly specific answers rather than simply providing links to human-made pages.

Below are some of the best examples of these platforms:

1. Copilot
2. ChatGPT
3. Perplexity.ai
4. SearchGPT
5. Meta AI

Read on to learn more about each one!

1. Copilot

Best for: Integration with a traditional search engine

Since we began the list of traditional search engines with Bing, it only makes sense to begin the list of answer engines with Copilot. Copilot is an AI chatbot created by Microsoft, which you can access through Bing. It can answer search queries, generate images, and more.

One of the best things about Copilot is that it’s specifically built as an answer engine, so it’s perfect for submitting search queries like you might otherwise do in a search engine. Best of all, Copilot can remember the context of your previous searches when you make subsequent ones.

Finally, since Copilot is paired with Bing, it means you can easily jump between a traditional search engine and an AI answer engine as you search for your queries.

2. ChatGPT

Best for: Advanced and reliable AI model

If there’s one AI tool that everyone’s heard of, it’s ChatGPT. This is the most well-known and widely used AI chatbot, and crucially, it’s also among the most advanced. Most of the other, similar tools you’ll find out there have based a lot of their functionality on ChatGPT.

While ChatGPT wasn’t designed specifically for search queries, that’s still one of many things you can use it for. Just type in your queries as full questions and ChatGPT will quickly provide answers. And since ChatGPT’s latest model is quite advanced, you’ll get more reliable responses than you would from many other tools.

3. Perplexity.ai

Best for: Asking follow-up questions

Perplexity.ai has gained a lot of popularity recently as an interesting merger between a search engine format and a typical AI chatbot. It basically works like ChatGPT or Copilot, where you type in a query and it generates an answer for you. You can then ask follow-up questions to get more information, building off your previous searches.

But at the same time, its interface is vaguely reminiscent of a search engine, and it doesn’t just generate an answer seemingly out of nowhere like ChatGPT — it provides links to the sources it used to gather that information, so you can (at least in theory) double-check its accuracy.

4. SearchGPT

Best for: Linking to sources

The name of SearchGPT implies that it’s basically ChatGPT, but for search queries — which is pretty much exactly correct. Of course, as we’ve already noted, you can use ChatGPT for this purpose, too. But SearchGPT is specifically designed as an answer engine.

SearchGPT does pretty much the same thing as Perplexity.ai, including providing links to its sources. However, as of this writing, the tool is still in prototype form. So, the effectiveness of this platform is not yet determined. But early rumblings indicate that it’s a game-changing tool for online search.

5. Meta AI

Best for: Use on social media apps

Meta AI is an AI chatbot from Meta (shocking, I know) that can be used for a number of things, one of which is search queries. In all honesty, it basically works the same way as ChatGPT, right down to the interface layout. So, what does Meta AI have to offer that other tools don’t?

The main benefit is location. For anyone who already spends a lot of time on Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, Meta AI is convenient to access, always right there within the platform(s) you’re already using. Meta has made a point of integrating it into all their tools, which makes it the prime choice for many people.

Voice search assistants

Between traditional search engines and AI answer engines, we’ve seen a range of tools you can use to make searches online. But there’s one more category of search engine alternatives for us to touch on briefly: Voice search assistants.

Many of these assistants are built on AI, so you could technically put them into the previous section. But because these tools are typically used in a different context — such as speaking your queries aloud in your home rather than typing them into a phone or computer — they warrant having their own category.

The tools we’ll look at are:

1. Alexa
2. Siri
3. Google Assistant

Keep reading for more info about each one.

1. Alexa

Best for: At-home voice search

Alexa can do a lot of things. Even if you don’t have an Alexa device, you’ve probably seen or heard examples of people using one to play music or turn lights on or off in their homes. But one of the most common uses of the tool is to perform online searches.

Alexa uses Bing to make searches, so the results you get will be similar to those you would get in Bing. The main difference is the format — instead of pulling up the results on your phone, you simply call out your query aloud and ask Alexa to read out the responses to you.

That means Alexa is best used for searches when you’re at home and your hands are otherwise occupied.

2. Siri

Best for: Apple device voice search

Where Alexa is offered by Amazon, Siri is offered by Apple. The tools are pretty similar, accomplishing most of the same things, but they do have their differences. For one thing, Siri uses Google rather than Bing. Additionally, while Alexa is more of an overall home assistant, Siri is specifically for Apple devices like Macs and iPhones.

If you have a lot of Apple devices (or even just an iPhone) that you commonly use to make online searches — and if you like to use voice search — Siri is definitely the best option for you. It’s not an overly complicated platform, but it does exactly what you would want from a voice search tool.

3. Google Assistant

Best for: Android device voice search

Okay, yes, this one isn’t exactly a Google alternative — it literally has “Google” right in the name. But the reason it’s on this list is that it’s a very different experience than just typing a keyword into the Google search bar, given that it’s built around voice search.

Google Assistant is a lot like Siri, except that it comes with Android devices rather than Apple ones. Those with an Android phone may already have encountered Google Assistant, which allows you to make voice searches in Google just like you would with Siri or Alexa.

There’s no huge feature that stands out here — Google Assistant is a pretty simple tool that gets the job done for people who like to use voice searches, and that’s really all it needs to be. For Android users, it’s a solid choice.

Optimize your website for these alternative search engines with WebFX

If your business is looking to optimize your site to appear in any or all of these Google alternatives, you’ll have to master both search engine optimization (SEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO). To do that, you can benefit from partnering with a professional agency like WebFX.

Our SEO services can help you craft content and optimize your web pages to get them ranking in search results across many of the tools on this list. Ultimately, that increase in rankings will help you drive more traffic and earn more revenue.

Interested in partnering with us? Just give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online today!