Tired of AI Overviews? I found 9 Google Search alternatives that showed me links again

Google alternatives with little to no AI still exist. Startpage and DuckDuckGo are the top options. Mojeek is best for an independent search index.

I'm not the biggest AI critic in the world, but even I'll admit it: I don't always want Google summarizing the internet for me.

Honestly, I wish I could turn off AI Overviews. I also don't want to be nudged into AI Mode with every query. Sometimes, I just want to type a few words, get a wall of blue links, and decide what to open myself. Yes, I know there are ways to make Google feel a little more like old Google, but they're clunky. And, sure, I could switch to a different search engine, but that's weird, right?

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Still, it got me wondering: Are Google's competitors going all in on AI, too? So, I went hunting for alternatives -- ones that use little to no AI and still feel like a classic search engine. Apparently, that version of the internet is getting harder to find.

For most people, I would start with Startpage or DuckDuckGo's no-AI page.

Startpage is best if I want Google-like results without using Google directly. DuckDuckGo is best if I want the quickest no-AI option. But if I want independence from big search indexes, I would try Mojeek. Dogpile and Metacrawler are also metasearch engines offering a more traditional links-first experience without any AI Overview-like summaries or an AI Mode.

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Google may be turning Search into AI Search by default, but the classic search engine experience still exists. I can still find search engines that give me links, with little to no AI getting in the way. There are not many left, and plenty of them are slowly moving in the same direction as Google. But for now, at least, the old way of searching the web has not disappeared.

You just have to know where to look and where to turn off certain settings. Luckily, I already did that part.