Top 4 AI Search Engines: A Deep Dive & Comparison
The article defines AI search engines as generative AI platforms capable of understanding queries, extracting information from sources, and delivering natural language answers. After testing eleven popular and lesser-known tools on accuracy, depth, user experience, transparency, and adaptability, only four stood out. The goal was to assess how each handled the customer journey from research to shopping, using running shoe prompts.
ChatGPT emerged as the overall leader, excelling in comprehensive research and shoppable product comparisons. Its visual layout, including tables and images, direct purchase links, and strong contextual memory across follow-up questions were significant benefits. However, it struggled with overly broad queries, occasionally displayed minor inaccuracies (e.g., shoe lifespan details), and was sometimes overly agreeable, even on safety topics (e.g., hiking with running shoes). Google AI Mode, conversely, was ideal for quick product searches, providing fast results with pricing and real buyer reviews, leveraging its ecosystem. Its drawback was vagueness on informational queries and a lack of comparison tables.
Sigma Chat (formerly Bagoodex) proved excellent for deep research, demonstrating strong conversational memory and suggesting insightful follow-up questions and content creation prompts. Yet, its presentation was weak for commercial intent, lacking product visuals, pricing, or direct purchase links. Microsoft Copilot offered fast answers in clean, skimmable formats with clear categorization. However, its depth was surface-level, and it lacked product links, making it unsuitable for shopping.
Several other AI search engines like Claude, Perplexity, Brave, Andi, Arc, and You didn't make the cut due to similarity to top performers, generic output, lack of comparison features, limited results, or inconvenient access. The overarching takeaway for brands is that AI search engines prioritize clear, credible, and well-structured content. Optimizing pages with comprehensive coverage, positive reviews, and clean markup is crucial for enhancing visibility across these evolving platforms.
(Source: https://backlinko.com/ai-search-engines)
