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

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:

• 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

• 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

• 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 and ours on Common Crawl DB)
  - 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

• 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

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

• 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