The closest thing to a search engine without AI in 2026 is noai.duckduckgo.com, DuckDuckGo’s version with every AI feature removed, followed by Mojeek, which runs its own index and keeps its summary feature hidden by default. If you’d rather stay on Google, you can’t switch AI Overviews off, but the Web filter (or adding &udm=14 to the search URL) gives you a page of plain links with no AI answer on top.
Almost every big engine now puts some kind of AI answer above its results, so “without AI” really means one of three things: no AI on the page by default, AI you can switch off in settings, or AI you can only avoid with a workaround. This guide sorts the main options into those three groups, using each company’s own help pages, checked on October 27, 2026. Settings move often, so each claim links to the page it came from.
Three kinds of “no AI”
Before you pick an engine, know which kind of “no AI” you’re getting. They behave very differently once you clear your cookies or switch devices.
The settings group has a catch: most engines store your choice in a browser cookie. Ecosia’s help page says so directly, and warns that if you regularly delete cookies or browse in private mode, your preferences may not be saved. If you clear cookies on exit, pick an engine from the first group or use a URL that carries the setting with it.
Search engines without AI, compared
| Engine | AI answers by default? | Can you turn them off? | Whose results | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DuckDuckGo No-AI | No | Already off | Same as DuckDuckGo | Free |
| Mojeek | Summary hidden by default | Yes, in Preferences | Its own index | Free |
| DuckDuckGo | Sometimes | Yes, set Search Assist to Never | Mostly Bing, plus its own | Free |
| Ecosia | Yes, where available | Yes, “AI-free searching” (desktop) | Search partners | Free |
| Brave Search | Yes | Mostly, “Answer with AI” toggle | Its own index | Free |
| Kagi | Only when you ask | Yes, turn off Auto Quick Answer | Its own index plus other providers | From $5 a month |
| Yes | No, use the Web filter | Its own index | Free | |
| Bing | Yes | No setting | Its own index | Free |
Sources are linked in each section below.
The engines that show no AI by default
DuckDuckGo No-AI
DuckDuckGo runs a separate front door at noai.duckduckgo.com. Its help page says searching there “works the same as search on duckduckgo.com, except all AI features are turned off and AI-generated images are filtered out of results by default.” The full list of what it blocks is Search Assist (DuckDuckGo’s AI answer), Duck.ai (its chat) and AI-generated images. DuckDuckGo also says the No-AI site will stay AI-free if it adds new AI features later.
Because the setting lives in the address rather than a cookie, it survives private windows and cleared browsing data. DuckDuckGo also offers No-AI browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox that make it your default search engine.
One honest limit: the AI image filter relies on public blocklists, such as the uBlacklist Huge AI Blocklist, and DuckDuckGo says these lists “are not exhaustive.” Some AI images will still get through, and so will AI-written web pages. No search engine can promise results free of AI-made content. What these engines can promise is no AI answer written by the engine itself.
Mojeek
Mojeek is a small search engine with its own crawler. Its about page says its results are “100% independent” and come from its own crawler and index, not from Google or Bing. That makes it one of the few engines that would still return the same results if Google and Microsoft both changed their terms tomorrow.
Mojeek does have an optional summary feature. In its Preferences, the summary box is set to “Don’t show” by default, and you can also hide the “Summarise these results” button and the Summary tab. Set those once and you get a plain list of links.
Expect thinner results than Google, especially for very local or very new topics. Mojeek’s index is much smaller, which is the price of not borrowing anyone else’s.
The engines where you switch AI off
DuckDuckGo (regular)
On the main duckduckgo.com, Search Assist shows “sometimes” by default. To turn it off, open Search Settings, then AI Features, choose Never from the Search Assist dropdown, then Save and Exit. The same panel lets you turn off Duck.ai buttons (DuckDuckGo’s opt-out steps). The other choices are often, sometimes and on-demand, so you can also keep it for the odd question by picking on-demand.
DuckDuckGo says its traditional links are largely sourced from Bing, alongside its own crawler, so the results will look familiar if you’re coming from Bing.
If you use the DuckDuckGo browser, the setting is under Settings, then AI Features, where you can also select Use DuckDuckGo Without AI.
Ecosia
Ecosia added a one-click switch in July 2026. Go to Profile, then Settings, and select AI-free searching. Ecosia’s announcement says it turns off “all AI features on Ecosia with one click”, including AI Overviews and AI Chat. Its help page adds that AI-free search is currently desktop only, with mobile support promised later. If you only want the overviews gone, uncheck AI Overviews in search settings instead.
Brave Search
Brave Search runs on its own index and shows AI answers by default. The switch is Answer with AI on the Brave Search settings page at search.brave.com/settings. This is separate from the Leo AI settings in the Brave browser, so turning Leo off does nothing to search.
The toggle isn’t airtight. In the Brave community forum, Brave staff explained that the toggle “is only meant to stop it from automatically responding”, so the Answer with AI button still works if you press it, and said some queries use a separate summary feature the toggle may not cover. Users in the same thread reported the setting turning itself back on. If you want zero AI, Brave is a second choice, not a first.
Kagi
Kagi is the paid option. Its pricing page promises ad-free results, and it only summarizes results when you ask, by pressing q or by selecting Quick Answer. The one automatic trigger: if your query ends in a question mark, Quick Answer runs on its own. Turn off Auto Quick Answer in the Search AI settings and that stops too.
Pricing on Kagi’s pricing page in October 2026: a free trial with 100 searches, Starter at $5 a month for 300 searches, Professional at $10 a month for unlimited searches, and Ultimate at $25 a month, all plus sales tax. For most people who search all day, that means the $10 plan. Results come from Kagi’s own index plus calls to other search providers, with pages heavy on ads and trackers ranked lower.
How to search Google without AI
Google is clear that you can’t turn AI Overviews off. Its help page says AI Overviews “are a core Google Search feature, like knowledge panels. Features cannot be turned off.” It then points to the alternative: select the Web filter after you search, which “displays only text-based links without features like AI Overviews”.
The Web filter arrived on May 15, 2024. Behind the scenes it is the URL parameter udm=14, which is why tenbluelinks.org and similar sites can set it up as a browser default. On a computer, the filter sits in the row under the search box with All, Images, News and the rest. If you don’t see it, look under More.
You’ll also see tips online about adding “-ai” or a swear word to your query to stop an AI Overview. Google doesn’t document any of them, and they change the query you’re searching for. The Web filter is the only method Google itself recommends, so use that.
What doesn’t work: the “AI in Search” switch in Google’s Labs. Turning it off only opts you out of Labs experiments, according to the same help page. It doesn’t remove AI Overviews from normal results.
Make Google’s Web filter your default in Chrome
These steps follow Google’s own Chrome help page on site search shortcuts, with the URL from tenbluelinks.org.
- Open Chrome, select the three-dot menu, then Settings.
- On the left, select Search engine, then Manage search engines and site search.
- Next to “Site search”, select Add.
- Fill in a name such as
Google Web, a shortcut such as@web, and this URL:{google:baseURL}search?q=%s&udm=14 - Select Add, then next to your new entry open the More menu and choose Make default.
Step 4 is the one that matters. The udm=14 at the end is what removes the AI Overview, so copy it exactly. Get it wrong and Chrome will still search Google, just with the AI answer back on top. Chrome’s help page notes that work or school devices can block this if an admin manages your search settings.
On Firefox, tenbluelinks.org has a one-step version: visit the site, right-click the address bar, choose Add “Google Web”, then pick it as the default under Settings, then Search. The same site walks through Chrome on Android and iPhone, which take a few more taps.
A browser extension that hides the AI Overview box is the other route. It changes how the page looks, not what Google sends, and it can break whenever Google changes its page code. The Web filter is built into Google, so it keeps working.
What about Bing?
Bing has no switch. A June 2026 answer on Microsoft’s Q&A forum says “Bing does not provide an option to turn off Copilot answers in their search results” and suggests sending feedback through the button at the bottom of the page instead (Microsoft Q&A). If you want Bing-style results without the AI, regular DuckDuckGo with Search Assist set to Never is the easier fix.
What this means if you run a website
Most of your customers are not leaving Google. A Pew Research Center survey of US adults in February 2026 found that 60% say they have read the AI summaries at the top of search results.
So the no-AI engines are useful to you in two ways, but not as a place to chase traffic.
- Use the Web filter to check your plain rankings. When you want to see where your page sits among the blue links, the
udm=14view strips out the AI Overview and other features that push results down. Just remember it isn’t what most searchers see. - Check what the AI answer says about you on the normal page. If an AI Overview sits above your result, it is the first thing people read. Our guide to checking whether AI tools cite your site has a one-hour manual method for this.
If you’re deciding whether to keep AI systems away from your content altogether, that is a separate choice from which engine you use. We cover the trade-offs in should you block AI crawlers in robots.txt.
Source for the survey: Pew Research Center, June 2026.
FAQ
Is there a search engine that doesn't use AI at all?
No engine can promise results free of AI-written pages, but noai.duckduckgo.com removes every AI feature DuckDuckGo itself offers, and Mojeek keeps its summary hidden by default. Both give you a plain list of links.
Can I turn off AI Overviews in Google?
No. Google’s help page says AI Overviews are a core feature and can’t be turned off. Select the Web filter after you search, or add &udm=14 to the URL, to get text links without them.
Is DuckDuckGo AI-free?
Not by default. The main site shows Search Assist answers “sometimes”, but you can set them to Never under Search Settings, AI Features. The noai.duckduckgo.com version has all AI features off from the start.
Why did AI answers come back after I turned them off?
Most engines save the setting in a browser cookie, so clearing cookies or using a private window resets it. Use noai.duckduckgo.com or a udm=14 Google shortcut, which carry the setting in the address instead.
The short version
For no AI with zero setup, bookmark noai.duckduckgo.com or try Mojeek. If you want to stay on Google, add the udm=14 Web filter as your default search in Chrome or Firefox. Brave, Ecosia and Kagi all let you switch AI off, as long as the setting stays saved. Bing, for now, gives you no switch at all.
