Updated 7-30-2026 – Big Search Engine List: Who Indexes What?

Brett Tabkeon

Last updated: 7-30-2026

For SEOs working at scale, understanding which search engines actually crawl and index the web, and which simply license results, is operational knowledge, not trivia. It affects crawl strategy, international visibility, privacy positioning, and where content realistically has a chance to surface. This page breaks down which engines maintain their own indexes, which depend on third-party sources like Bing or Google, and which operate as aggregators or meta engines. It’s intended as a working reference for evaluating visibility beyond the dominant players, especially as AI-driven search products reshape how results are sourced and presented.

see also, big list of directories

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

Independent Search Engines

  • Yep.com
    Own Index: Search engine built by Ahrefs with its own crawler (YepBot) and growing web index. YepBot crawls and indexes the web independently, with a focus on surfacing quality content from across the internet.
    – URL: https://yep.com

  • Stract
    Own Index: Fully open-source search engine that allows advanced ranking customization. Started with Common Crawl, but has since developed its own independent crawler and index.
    – URL: https://stract.com

  • Seekport
    Own Index: German-language search engine (supports English) that maintains its own small but improving index. Focuses on European and German-language content.
    – URL: https://www.seekport.com

  • Petal Search
    Own Index: Developed by Huawei, Petal Search is a multilingual search engine that maintains its own index. Serves users globally with a focus on international content.
    – URL: https://www.petalsearch.com

  • Marginalia Search
    Own Index: Independent, open-source search engine with its own crawler and index. It prioritizes noncommercial, text-heavy and older websites that are often difficult to find in major search engines.
    – URL: https://marginalia-search.com

  • Wiby
    Own Index: Independent, human-seeded search engine for lightweight, older-style and small-web pages. Wiby operates its own crawler and searchable index.
    – URL: https://wiby.me

3rd Party Index

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

  • 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. SearchEngineWorld Review of Kagi Search Engine Subscription model.
    – URL:https://kagi.com

  • SearXNG Index Source: Privacy focused meta search engine that aggregates SERPs from various search engines without tracking users. Active fork of the discontinued Searx project.
    – URL: https://searxng.org

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

AI-Powered & Specialized Search

Related

Change Log

  • Added 360 Search, Shenma Search, Search, Daum Search, Marginalia Search and Wiby. (7/30/2026)
  • updated several. (7/30/2026)
  • Added Independent Search Engines section (Stract, Right Dao, Alexandria, Seekport, Petal Search, Yep.com) and corrected Qwant, Searx entries. (7/30/2026)
  • updated several deletes. (6/24/2026)
  • updated several with fresh indexes. (1/4/2026)
  • Added Yahoo Scout! (1/27/2026)
  • Cleaned two deep (AskJeeves) (rip) engines (4/27/2026)
  • Added AI-Powered & Specialized engines (Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, Wayback, X, LinkedIn, SlideShare) – 5/25/2026