It’s no secret that Google, like most big tech companies, has gone all-in on AI. The company believes it is the future, and, as such, has injected the technology into every one of its products, none more visibly than Google Search. Over the past two years, Google has introduced AI summaries that seek to answer your questions, pulling the information from websites that fewer and fewer users are actually visiting and reading for themselves.
Given this trend, it should hardly come as a surprise that during I/O 2026, Google announced “a new era for AI Search.” This “era” essentially marks an expansion of its investment in AI in Search: In addition to rolling out its new Gemini 3.5 Flash model to Search, Google is making it even easier to use its AI-generated results (or, perhaps, harder to avoid them). You can now expand an AI Overview to continue the conversation in AI Mode, and keep receiving answers without engaging with any primary sources yourself. Google will also soon offer select users access to Search “agents,” which can take actions on your behalf on the web.
Google’s goal is to make Search synonymous with AI, which will no doubt please Google’s investors, but will also alienate some users. Many of still search Google seeking good results for our queries, and not AI-generated summaries and chats. Personally, I’m not interested in “continuing the conversation” with Google’s AI: I want to find relevant websites to read and explore. As such, I went looking for Google Search alternatives that either don’t use AI, or let you disable all AI features entirely. Here are five of your best options.
Kagi
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Kagi is a favorite among tech fans who want more control over their search experience. It includes perks like ad-free search and a high level of customization, but the real benefit for this discussion concerns its AI features: Kagi has them, and you can use them if you want to, but you can also avoid them entirely—and even use the browser to fight back against AI results on the web.
By default, Kagi keeps its AI “Quick Answer” setting behind a keyboard shortcut. If you want to use it, you’ll need to enter a question mark at the end of your query. If you don’t use question marks, you’ll never see Kagi’s version of AI Overviews, but you can also disable the feature entirely from Kagi’s settings. That way, even if you ask Kagi a more formal question, you’ll get the usual website links—not an AI-generated answer. Kagi also includes an option (appropriately called SlopStop) to block certain results that the search engine believes are AI-generated. That applies to both image and video results, too.
Kagi not only allows you to return to a simpler time of endless blue links and zero AI-generated answers, but it actively works to block any known AI content from entering your feed. The only downside is that Kagi isn’t free: With other search engines, you pay for your use by being shown ads, but with Kagi, you pay with actual money. Your first 100 searches are free, and paid plans start at $5 per month.
Startpage
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Startpage’s shtick is all about user privacy. According to the company, this search engine removes your personally identifying information each time you search. Rather than sending your request from you directly, Startpage will anonymously send the query to its search providers on your behalf and return the results to you without sharing your data. The search engine doesn’t save your search history, and its measures should prevent your searches from being tracked across sites.
These privacy perks aside, Starpage has few AI features to worry about. By default, you shouldn’t have to deal with them at all on the web app, but you can check under settings for any that may appear—Startpage says it has an optional Summary feature that uses AI to generate result synopses, but I don’t even have the option in my Startpage settings. (Summary appears to be separate from Startpage’s Instant Answer feature, which doesn’t seem to use AI, but which can also be turned off in settings.) It’s a similar story on mobile: If you’re using the iOS app, the company says it offers optional AI features, but I don’t see them in my settings there either. The company also offers a private AI app called Vanish, but that’s unrelated to its search engine.
Startpage isn’t as feature-filled as other search engines, but that might be to its benefit. In my experience, it offers a standard search experience out of the box, without much (if any) AI.
Qwant
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Qwant, as far as I can tell, has only one AI feature to speak of, called Flash Answer. Like other search engine, this feature uses AI to offer a summary of whatever it is you’re asking about. Luckily, if you’re looking to use a search engine free of AI, it’s quite easy to disable.
What do you think so far?
The first time you use Qwant—at least, in my experience—Flash Answer will appear if Qwant’s AI deems it appropriate. You’ll see the option at the top of the search results window, complete with stars that denote its AI abilities. Click “Flash Answer,” then choose “Deactivated,” rather than “Activated by Qwant” (the default), or “Always activated.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like you can strip away the option itself, so you’ll always have to stare at the “Flash Answer” button, but at least you can quickly scroll down to view your straightforward links.
DuckDuckGo
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DuckDuckGo has long been a go-to option for users looking for a privacy-focused search engine. However, in recent years, the company has taken a bit of a headfirst approach to AI, adding new features and chatbot integrations to keep up with the rest of the industry. If you use DuckDuckGo’s defaults, you’ll indeed see “Search Assist,” its version of AI Overviews, and you’ll be invited to try Duck.ai, the company’s original chatbot. Fortunately, like other entries on this list, you can disable these options for the most part, and keep the focus on the links.
In DuckDuckGo’s search engine, click the three lines to find the site’s Settings. Here, choose “AI Features,” where you’ll see all of DuckDuckGo’s AI options. Disable Duck.ai, then set Search Assist to “Never.” Finally, you can choose to hide AI-generated images, if you really want a search engine experience devoid of AI.
Ecosia
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Ecosia has long been the choice for eco-conscious web surfers. The company uses its ad revenue to plant trees all over the world, which makes for an engaging pitch: If you’re not going to use Google anyway, perhaps you should use a search engine that makes the world a better (or at least greener) place.
While Ecosia’s main mission hasn’t changed, it has added new AI features to the mix. Notably, there are now Overviews, which are Ecosia’s AI-generated summaries, as well as AI Chat, which uses models from OpenAI to run. While Overviews are enabled by default, you can disable them at any time from Ecosia’s settings (which you’ll find at the bottom of any given search results). However, Ecosia doesn’t let you disable its AI Chat button, even if you aren’t using the feature. That might not be a dealbreaker for you, since the feature isn’t engaged unless you click the button, but it’s a bit disappointing that Ecosia forces you to look at an invitation to use AI Chat every time you search.
