Stop Gen AI

Mutual Aid and Political Activism

getting ai out of your searches

by

Dally

A snapshot of the Search Engine Map, which shows the major search engines and how they are interconnected.
A screenshot of the Search Engine Map

WE’D LOVE LESS “AI” IN OUR INTERNET, KTHX

Hey folks, Dally here!

I know, I know– it’s exhausting lately. The user experience on the internet seems more and more to be some corpo-generated product forced down our throats at every twist and turn. Quirky videos and niche forums are long gone, killed by the capitalist. In their wakes? We’re increasingly fed “promoted” posts from search engines, hammered with social media influencers, and of course flat out TOLD by companies that, in no uncertain terms: You. Need. More. STUFF. Even something as simple as a Google search now generates revenue for Big Tech and turns your browsing into an unpaid training tool for their “next big thing” aka generative AI.

What’s a girl to do in this big, bad world of corporate genAI?

Well, I wondered exactly the same thing, friends. As a long-time search engine worker myself, watching the increasingly boring progression of what was once a vibrant digital playground broke me. So, I set out to see what else is out there. Is there a search engine that breaks free of the hold that generative AI has seemingly enacted overnight?

The answer is: IT’S COMPLICATED BUT NOT THAT COMPLICATED.

This blog post will go over what I discovered super quickly, as well as discuss some reasonable ways that you, me, and all of us can start breaking free of Big Tech’s hold on search engines. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, merely some suggestions that every day people like you and I can, in small ways, find genAI-free ways to surf the web.

UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS

Let’s start by checking out this very cool map of the major search engines for a second: Search Engine Map

Click around a little bit and you’ll notice something pretty quickly: most major search engines are feeding their indexes (an ever-growing collection of available websites accessible to the search engine) from just a few centralized locations. In fact, Bing, Google, and Yandex are the biggest three on this map. Each one, unfortunately, has some kind of “AI” program that’s been integrated into their search engines (Bing is your AI-powered search and answer engine, Google’s AI in Search, Integrating AI into search engines: How Yandex is making AI more sophisticated).

This means that no matter where you go or what you use, in some way you’re feeling the sting of AI being forced onto the larger internet if you’re using these corporate indexes. These search engines and their results are generally currently compiled from decades of webscraping but are now being fed every day more and more into “AI” programs. This reduces not only the security of your web browsing but also the quality of search results you get when using the engine.

Now, by this point you’re probably wondering, and rightfully so: what the hell do we do?? Let me note, as someone who worked in search engine quality for over a decade, I hear you loud and clear. It got overwhelming looking through statement after statement from these companies, each one touting in some way the “greatness” of the “AI Boom” (despite evidence to the contrary). After digging (and some very kind folks who have done oodles of research before me), I found some starting points that I think are worth sharing. Below, I divide the results into two separate categories: search engines with no discernible AI use (or flat out anti-AI statements), and search engines with limited user-side experience with genAI.

Independent Indexes (no genAI user experience, no genAI footprint– hit and miss results)

First, let’s get into the generalist engines that are built off of independent indexes. These are significantly smaller, but won’t rely on the big tech pages (Google, Bing, Yandex) to build their available search results. This means, of course, that sometimes you won’t find what you need on these search engines. It never hurts to check their indexes first because you won’t be creating ANY footprint with these. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but merely what some general research and toying with each engine returned. As far as I could tell, none of them used genAI or LLMs for webcrawling and not in search results integration, either.

Marginalia Search

Marginalia Search is a particularly unique engine. It notes in its About page that it doesn’t believe itself a full replacement for the big three but rather “complementary” to what already exists. Some general queries return pretty standard gossip pages, which isn’t an experience out of the realm of expectation! Other results are a bit dated, but still pan out. Overall, this is a solid place to issue general queries and can get you something similar to what you’re seeking.

Right Dao

Another engine that’s got the same sort of “browsy” approach to the internet is Right Dao. Its General Mission Explanation specifically takes aim at Big Tech and cites the team’s goal as a reason for building their independent index. Silly searches return a lot of pages that no longer exist and some social media sites appear fully censored. It’s a small but strong start and probably better used when you don’t have a clear direction, are wanting to learn more about a general topic, or need information that isn’t time or region specific.

Stract

The most developed search engine on this list has got to be Stract. It focuses heavily on transparency and its open source model, encouraging users to customize their experience on the engine. This is by far and away the most interesting non GBY search engine: it received a grant for its work towards an independent internet and has, as a result, been able to expand its services accordingly. Silly searches don’t return the greatest content. I’d also note that sometimes, it seems to simply freeze and stop returning results. There isn’t a noted rhyme or reason, and it got frustrating to repeatedly try looking things up. Nonetheless, when it’s functioning smoothly, it’s a great starting place for queries that don’t have a narrow scope and aren’t time-sensitive (due to the fact that sometimes it simply won’t return results).

NOTES

Other independent run indexes such as Yep! seem great on the surface but spend a massive amount of resources to build their own LLMs. This is a step in the wrong direction– it’s not what users want, and it’s not how to keep the internet a free and fair space for all users equally. Some indexes could be useful in the future but are still developing English databases, and simply won’t meet user needs. I’ll include them in the sources for this post nonetheless for anyone interested!

GBY-Tangential Searches (limited genAI user experience, minor genAI footprint)

There are a few ways to work around the “rise of AI” when independent indexes fail you. Despite corporations continuing to inject these models that most users don’t even find “very” useful into search engines, there are some alternatives to reduce your genAI usage and interactions. Let’s peek a couple of major ones briefly.

These choices DO reference back to Google, Bing, or Yandex in some way, so unfortunately a background genAI footprint is still there. Your user-end experience will be less affected, but if you want to be completely genAI free, these sources may not be for you. Please keep in mind, this is by no means an exhaustive list. If you have other ideas or ways you avoid generative AI, let us know! (Note: I’ve omitted engines that explicitly integrate AI with NO WAY to filter out those search results. The Sauce below provides links to some information on those in more detail, such as Brave, Ecosia, and others often misleadingly listed as “AI-free”.)

UDM=14: AI-free Goog

People created an entire webpage that does a Google for you, sans the genAI experience: udm=14. Simply set this as your homepage and issue all your queries through the search function directly on the page. It’s a quick, easy way to see the Google you know and love without the AI slop ruining the experience.

DuckDuckGo: Turn off AI

Additionally, some search engines allow you to turn off receiving any sort of “support” from AI. DuckDuckGo (pulls its results from Bing) is one search engine that lets you disallow any AI results and still returns pretty good, accurate web search result blocks for general queries (silly search).

These options don’t do much to keep your results from being fed into the machines. However, coupled with a good browser like Tor or any of the others that focus on privacy and limit genAI, it’s a very reachable starting point for anyone who wants a better, less invasive internet experience in 2025.

Mojeek

One bright light seems to be Mojeek. True, their team uses the “both sides”  argument regarding generative AI as a whole. But when it comes to search engines, they argued as recently as September of 2025 that Generative AI is not the answer for search engines. Their explicit Privacy primer has a host of blog posts that discuss the dangers of the internet becoming a monoculture. They also pretty reliably return decent results for even mundane queries (silly search). 

Lilo

Another search engine that deserves a shout out is French-based Lilo (fed primarily by Bing). Its main mission is focused on funding a variety of projects put forth by users. The searches initiated on Lilo build up in the form of “water drops”, which are stored only if you choose to create an account. The Privacy Charter lays out exactly when and how data about you is stored. It’s quite popular in France, and well-regarded in anti-AI circles. Qwant recently purchased Lilo, though, so tread carefully in the coming months as they likely integrate their in-house “AI solutions” to the recent acquisition.

WITH THAT…

You’re on your way to getting one step further from AI and closer to privacy in your online experience! Now, please keep in mind that these brief suggestions are only basic starting points. It’s difficult knowing how to limit genAI’s access to you, and this is by no means an exhaustive list of ways to reduce your footprint with regards to search engines. I’d love to hear about ways you’re reducing your usage, and let me know if you try any of the methods I suggested over at itsdally@stopgenai.com.

Of course, there are some great guides already out there. I’ll include a variety of analyses as well as some commentary feeds for anyone who wants a deeper dive on the topic in The Sauce. All sources have either been cited as claims are made or are listed below.

Thanks for your time, and hopefully you learned something new about ways to combat genAI in your search engine experience. The internet should be a private, safe experience for every user. Hopefully you check out some of the options available. Also please consider donating to support these search engines’ continued work towards a free and fair internet, as well as our work at StopGenAI!

The Sauce

Additional data links

Additional independent index search engines

Chronological Links from Primer

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