The Big Search Engine List: Who Indexes What?

Views: 558

For SEOs working at scale or in technical roles, knowing which search engines crawl the web independently – and which license results – is more than trivia. It affects everything from link building strategy and international SEO, to privacy-first positioning and deep content discovery. We breakdown in this list which engines maintain their own indexes, which rely on third parties like Bing or Google, and which act as aggregators. It’s especially useful if you’re targeting emerging markets, experimenting with alternative SERP visibility, or evaluating sources for AI-driven search platforms. Use the list to expand your understanding of where your content shows up, who’s indexing it, and which engines are worth watching as AI transforms the entire search space and content discovery.

see also, big list of directories

updated: 5-4-2025

Here’s a list of the top search engines on the web, each with a brief description and source of their index:

• Google
  Own Index: Google utilizes its proprietary web crawlers and indexing algorithms to maintain its search index.
  – URL: https://www.google.com/

• Bing
  Own Index: Microsoft’s Bing employs its own web crawlers and indexing systems.
  – URL: https://www.bing.com/

• Baidu
  Own Index: Baidu operates its own web crawlers and indexing, primarily serving the Chinese market.
  – URL: https://www.baidu.com/

• Yandex
  Own Index: Yandex maintains its own search index, catering mainly to Russian-speaking users.
  – URL: https://www.yandex.com/

• WolframAlpha
  Own Index: WolframAlpha uses its own computational knowledge engine to provide answers.
  – URL: https://www.wolframalpha.com/

• Qwant
  Own Index: Qwant maintains its own indexing infrastructure.
  – URL: https://www.qwant.com/

• Mojeek
  Own Index: Mojeek operates its own web crawlers and maintains an independent index.
  – URL: https://www.mojeek.com/

• Sogou
  Own Index: Sogou maintains its own search index, serving primarily Chinese users.
  – URL: https://www.sogou.com/

• Seznam
  Own Index: Seznam operates its own search engine, primarily for the Czech market.
  – URL: https://www.seznam.cz/

• Naver
  Own Index: Naver maintains its own search index, serving primarily South Korea.
  – URL: https://www.naver.com/

• Boardreader
  Own Index: Boardreader specializes in indexing forums and message boards.
  – URL: https://boardreader.com/

• Infinity Search
  Own Index: Infinity Search maintains its own indexing infrastructure.
  – URL: https://infinitysearch.co/

• Brave Search
  Own Index: Brave Search operates its own independent search index.
  – URL: https://search.brave.com/

• Ask.com
  Index Source: Ask.com combines its own search technology with licensed results from other providers.(???)
  – URL: https://www.ask.com/

• Infinity Search https://infinitysearch.co/
  Index Source: Maintains its own indexing infrastructure, focusing on privacy and user-centric features.

• Yep.com
  Index Source: Search engine by Ahrefs – Ahrefs Bot remains the primary source of data for both Yep and Ahrefs. Currently, YepBot is used only to make requests according to IndexNow protocol, such as validating user keys and pinging other search engines.
  – URL: https://www.Yep.com

• Openverse
  Index Source: Common Crawl
  Openverse is a tool that allows openly licensed and public domain works to be discovered and used by everyone. (Our Review)
  – URL: https://openverse.org/

• KarmaSearch.org
  Index Source: Bing. (our review)
  It’s ad revenue goes to wildlife nonprofiles like RE:wild.
  – URL: https://karmasearch.org/

3rd Party Index

• Yahoo! Search
  Index Source: Yahoo! Search is powered by Bing’s index.
  – URL: https://search.yahoo.com/

• DuckDuckGo
  Index Source: Bing, but does supplement with a few sites.
  – URL: https://duckduckgo.com/

• Ecosia
  Index Source: Results are powered by Bing.
  – URL: https://www.ecosia.org/

• AOL Search
  Index Source: Powered by Bing.
  – URL: https://search.aol.com/

• Swisscows
  Index Source: Bing.
  – URL: https://swisscows.com/

• Lycos
  Index Source: Lycos currently sources its search results from other providers, but it seems like Bing to us.
  – URL: https://www.lycos.com/

• Oscobo
  Index Source: Oscobo sources its search results from Bing.
  – URL: https://www.oscobo.com/

• Ekoru
  Index Source: Ekoru’s search results are powered by Bing.
  – URL: https://www.ekoru.org/

• Startpage
  Index Source:– Google’s Index.
  – URL: https://www.startpage.com/

• Yahoo! Japan
  Index Source: Yahoo! Japan uses Google’s search technology for its results.
  – URL: https://www.yahoo.co.jp/

Multiple or Meta Search Index

• MetaGer
  Index Source: MetaGer is a metasearch engine that aggregates results from multiple search engines. Mainly uses Bing, Mojeek and Brave Search.
  – URL: https://metager.org/

• Yippy Index Source: Yippy is a metasearch engine that clusters results from various sources. It “clusters” from 30-40 search engines.
  – URL: https://www.yippysearchengine.com/

• Search Encrypt Index Source: Search Encrypt sources its results from a combination of search partners.
  – URL: https://www.searchencrypt.com/

• You.com Index Source: Combines its own indexing with AI capabilities to provide a customizable search experience.
  – URL: https://you.com/

• Dogpile Index Source: Metasearch engine that aggregates serps from multiple se’s including Google and Bing.
  – URL:https://www.dogpile.com/

• Kagi Index Source: Privacy-focused search engine that sources results from multiple search engines and its own indexing.
  – URL:https://kagi.com/

• Neeva Index Source: Ad-free, subscription-based search experience, combining its own indexing with results from other sources.
  – URL:https://neeva.com/

• Searx Index Source: Privacy focused meta se that aggregates serps from various se’s without tracking users.
  – URL: https://searx.github.io/

• Yippy Index Source: Deep web search engine that clusters results into topics, sourcing data from multiple search engines.
  – URL: https://www.yippy.com/

• Gibiru Index Source: Offers anonymous and uncensored search results, sourcing data from modified Google algorithms.
  – URL: https://gibiru.com/

• Ekoru Index Source: Environmentally conscious search engine that donates a portion of its revenue to ocean conservation, sourcing results from Bing.
  – URL: https://www.ekoru.org/

Related

• Big list of directories

Brett Tabke

As the CEO and founder of Pubcon Inc., Brett Tabke has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of online marketing and search engine optimization. His journey in the computer industry has spanned over three decades and has made him a pioneering force behind digital evolution. Full Bio
Visit Pubcon.com