Claude AI Now Supports Web Search with Direct Source Links
As AI search tools grow in popularity, concerns about their accuracy and reliability are also rising. Recent studies indicate that AI chatbots sometimes provide incorrect information or misquote sources.
Anthropic has introduced a new web search feature for its AI chatbot, Claude, placing it alongside competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Mistral’s Le Chat. This feature allows Claude to fetch real-time information from the internet and include direct source links in its responses, making it easier for users to verify the information.
Currently, the web search option is only available to paid Claude users in the US. However, the company plans to extend it to free-tier users and expand access to more countries soon. Users can activate the feature by going to their profile settings in the Claude web app. The search capability runs on Anthropic’s latest AI model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet.
Claude’s web search utilizes Brave’s search index, which also powers Mistral’s Le Chat platform. Brave’s search API provides results, including updates on recent events.
Anthropic emphasized that Claude offers direct citations when using web data, making it easier to fact-check the information. The chatbot delivers results in a conversational format, offering up-to-date insights alongside its general knowledge base.
While AI-powered search tools are becoming more common, reports highlight their limitations. A study by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism revealed that ChatGPT and Gemini provided incorrect answers to over 60% of questions. Similarly, The Guardian noted that ChatGPT Search could sometimes be tricked into generating misleading summaries.
