Claude enters the web search chat, rivalling Perplexity and ChatGPT

Anthropic‘s Claude chatbot is catching up to competitors by finally adding web search capabilities, expanding its functionality beyond its native knowledge base. This development marks a significant shift in the AI chatbot landscape as these tools increasingly compete with traditional search engines, offering users conversational interfaces that process and deliver search results with cited sources.

The big picture: Anthropic has announced that Claude can now search the web, joining competitors like ChatGPT Search and Perplexity in offering real-time internet access to supplement its built-in knowledge.

How it works: Claude processes internet information and delivers relevant sources in a conversational format with inline citations that allow users to verify the accuracy of its responses.

• The web search feature builds upon the recently released Claude 3.7 Sonnet model, which has a knowledge cutoff of November 2024.
• Users can activate the feature by toggling it on in settings, after which Claude will automatically access the web when needed based on queries.

Rollout details: The web search feature is currently available in preview for paid Claude users in the United States.

• Anthropic plans to extend access to free users and other countries “soon,” though no specific timeline was provided.
• The feature leverages Claude 3.7 Sonnet, described by Anthropic as its “most intelligent model” to date.

Market context: While Google maintains its lead in traditional web search market share, AI chatbot search tools like Claude are steadily gaining popularity.

• This addition makes Claude one of the last major AI chatbots to incorporate web search functionality.
• The inclusion of inline citations addresses a critical need, as recent research has highlighted accuracy concerns with AI-powered search tools.