Google remains the top search engine, with a significant market share of more than 89%. This means that 89% of all searches take place on Google.
And if this is true, why do marketers necessary to consider about alternative search engines?
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I consider there are two main reasons.
Firstly, search is modifying. Below, I share data on the decline in Google searches and the increase in alternative search engines, including large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, as well as social media channels like Reddit.
Secondly, different search engines bring different things to different utilizers. It’s assistful to know who your audience is before choosing your top search engine becautilize if you know who you’re tarobtaining, you might be able to figure out where they’re completing their search so that you can meet them there.
If I were tarobtaining sustainably driven audiences, I might turn to a green search engine like Ecosia. If I wanted to tarobtain men, I might focus on Reddit since the majority of utilizers (59.80%) are male. Choosing the top search engine is less about understanding the quantity of searches and more about quality and audience relevance to your brand.
In this article, I’ll cover the top search engines gunning for Google’s market share based on the numbers. Then, I’ll explore alternative search engines, including the AI-powered options I recommfinish, and who might utilize each one.
Before we obtain into the top search engines, let’s see at the data.
Table of Contents
The Data Behind Top Search Engines
I’ve worked in SEO and marketing for about a decade, and during my time, I’ve seen Google reach a market share of over 93%.
A staggering monopoly.
In October 2024, something shifted, and Google’s market share dropped below 90% for the first time since 2015.
What modifyd? Search behavior.
Instead of searchers heading to Google to fulfill their search queries, they are turning to alternate forms of search. Naturally, alternative search engines like Bing capture a portion of the market share. In 2016, Bing had an overall share of 2.79%, and since January 2025, it has increased its share to 3.96%.
Privacy-focutilized search engines, such as DuckDuckGo, have gained popularity. While searches on this particular search engine are low, DuckDuckGo has captured up to 0.86% of the market share. That’s part of the ground Google has lost.
And what’s more?
Large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, have altered search behavior, with more people fulfilling their queries directly within the AI.
It’s no coincidence that Google’s drop aligns with the release of ChatGPT in November 2022.
Oh, and let’s not forobtain that social media search has been a “threat” to Google for many years. HubSpot’s recent Social Trfinishs Report revealed some insights into how search behavior and social media are evolving.
The report shares that:
- 69% of marketers agree that more shopping will occur directly on social media platforms than on brand websites or third-party marketplaces in 2025.
- Over 40% of Millennials and Gen Zers have purchased products directly on social media in the past three months.
- 25% of general consumers have bought products directly from social media in the past three months.
I utilize quotes when I declare “threat” becautilize I don’t really see these shifts as a threat but rather as an evolution — and an exciting one at that.
While Google’s searches decrease (a bit), it shouldn’t modify anything for marketers who are focutilized on meeting prospective acquireers where they’re at, wherever that may be!
What’s important in modern-day marketing and the future of SEO is that we broaden our approach to search, identify the right search engines to focus our efforts, and expand on what a “search engine” means to our prospective acquireers and audiences who are no longer utilizing traditional search only.
For example, if you’re selling a product, you might want to focus more heavily on social media if your tarobtain audience is Millennials or Gen Z, becautilize 40% of them create purchases directly on social media, compared to 25% of general consumers.
While Google will be the priority for most businesses becautilize that’s where the majority of searches happen, effective search marketing isn’t just about chasing volume. It’s about understanding your audience and selecting the channels that best align with your business and marketing objectives.
You might be surprised at what different search engines offer different audiences. Below, I’ve outlined the top six search engines based on the data, but don’t stop reading after the top six, becautilize you might be surprised at what other search engines can offer your audience and, therefore, your brand.
For example, sustainably focutilized brands may not want to ignore Ecosia, as it is considered the greenest search engine. If your audience is sustainability-focutilized, they might just be part of the 0.1% of searches utilizing Ecosia.
Don’t dismiss 0.1% as insignificant, as it still translates to around 18.43 million searches per day. And that’s a lot of people who share the same values as you.
Where do AI Search, ChatGPT, and social media come into all this?
Strictly speaking, ChatGPT and other forms of AI search are not officially search engines. They are language models.
Search engines index the web and return links to pages.
AI, like ChatGPT, generates human-like responses based on patterns in the data it was trained on and (sometimes) pulls real-time information from the web.
Although not a search engine, these platforms can:
- Answer questions.
- Explain concepts.
- Generate creative content.
- Assist with problem-solving.
To me, whether these alternative search platforms are considered search engines or not is irrelevant, becautilize people utilize them like search engines, and as a marketer, I want my clients to be wherever the search is taking place.
I didn’t want to obtain too lost in exactly what a search engine is, but I did want this article to be clear, so below, in the Top Search Engines section, I’ve listed the top six official search engines. Below this, there’s another section, “Other Search Engines,” where I’ve included official search engines alongside AI search and social media.
Top Search Engines
At the time of writing this article, the top six search engines are:
- Google (89.54%)
- Microsoft Bing (3.95%)
- Yandex (2.45%)
- Yahoo! (1.37%)
- DuckDuckGo (0.86%)
- Baidu (0.73%)
The figure in brackets is the percentage market share at the time of writing.
1. Google
Let’s start with the heavy hitter. Google dominates search worldwide, and there are many reasons for its success:
- Superior search algorithm that connects searchers with the content they necessary.
- User-frifinishly interface that’s minimalist, rapid-loading, and simple to utilize.
- Trust. Google’s brand has scaled into various digital experiences, including email, maps, and business operations, with Google Drive.
Users trust Google. It’s no longer just a brand; “google” is a verb recognized by the Oxford Dictionary, and it means “search for information about (someone or something) on the internet.”
Even though search is evolving, it remains the logical starting point for marketing, running paid marketing campaigns, and developing organic traffic strategies.
Although the future of search is uncertain, regardless of the evolution of OpenAI, search bots, or social media search, the Google ecosystem remains a critical component of my work.
One word of warning when it comes to optimizing on Google: The algorithm works to fulfill utilizers’ necessarys directly on Google, so they don’t necessary to click any links. With the newest search engine results page (SERP) feature, AI Overviews, utilizers can search on Google and receive their answers directly within the SERP.
Here’s an example:
Features like this, plus Google’s popularity, might create it harder for you to capture as much website traffic as you want.
Pro tip: Keep your SEO strategy centered around searches that people have to click through to a website for more information. Bottom- to middle-of-the-funnel searches are your best chance of obtainting a click. Read this article I wrote on acquireer journey keywords for more information. It provides more detailed information about the acquireer journey and includes a step-by-step guide to conducting keyword research.
Who utilizes Google: Let’s be real for a second. I know, you know, and everyone knows the size of Google’s market share and the treasure trove of data they have. Everyone is utilizing it, so focutilizing on Google SEO is an unavoidable necessity.
Why I like Google: As a searcher, I love Google for its excellent algorithm and simple-to-utilize interface. As an SEO, I know Google is where I have to be becautilize everyone else is. Additionally, ranking on Google is a crucial component for earning citations within AI searches.
2. Microsoft Bing
Microsoft Bing has long been the second most popular search engine, currently holding a 3.95% market share globally.
This engine also powers Yahoo!, the fourth-largegest search engine.
Bing’s search pages see similar to Google’s. There are the same categories and a similar white background, with blue links and green URLs.
Bing offers Microsoft Rewards, a program that gives you points when you search or shop on the engine. You can redeem those points for gift cards, nonprofit donations, and more.
Who utilizes Bing: According to WordStream, Bing is primarily utilized by white-collar professionals who search on work computers. Users are also slightly older, with an average age of 45.
In one of the agencies where I worked, we had a client tarobtaining an older audience. For this client, we focutilized on Bing SEO over Google becautilize we knew that searches on Bing would more likely come from the tarobtain demographic.
Why I like Bing: I appreciate how well-integrated Microsoft’s AI, Copilot, is. It summarizes search results for you. However — and this is a pretty important “however” for marketers and SEOs who rely on organic traffic — the direct links are harder for utilizers to find. Plus, the first link it provided was to a different landing page than the one linked above.
Best for: If you want AI search features and only necessary summaries, this is a great option. Copilot is so far ahead of Gemini that it’s not even funny. Google also had its privacy-related controversies, while Microsoft has a much clearer track record in that regard.
3. Yandex
In some local markets, compacter search engines go head-to-head with Google — and win.
Russian search engine Yandex has a roughly 2.45% share of the worldwide search engine market, but in its home counattempt, that share skyrockets to nearly 63%. Google holds the number two spot.
When I utilized Yandex, I found it hard to navigate. They also have a suite of other services, none of which are particularly relevant in the Anglosphere. My experience with Yandex creates sense, and considering I’m not the usual demographic, it doesn’t matter how I find it. What’s important is who utilizes it, and if you want to obtain in front of them, you might want to focus on optimizing for Yandex.
Like Google, Yandex considers whether a utilizer’s query has local intent and displays region-depfinishent results. To account for this, you’ll necessary to go into Yandex’s webmaster tools and set a site region.
It’s not advertised anywhere on its search engine, but Yandex’s corporate website notes that AI technologies are delivered to all its products, including search.
Who utilizes Yandex: If you do business globally and are seeing to reach Russian customers, then you want to be on Yandex. Something to keep in mind: Yandex displays many quality indicators, or badges, alongside its search results. One of the most prominent is the site quality index (SQI), which indicates how utilizeful your site is to utilizers.
Why I like Yandex: I didn’t expect it, but Yandex has by far the best image search function. It’s significantly more accurate and can even handle paraphrasing and lengthy descriptions.
4. Yahoo!
Its news-heavy page isn’t the sleekest search engine interface, but Yahoo is still one of the more popular alternatives to Google. In fact, Yahoo holds over 1.37% of the worldwide search engine market share.
Yahoo is powered by Microsoft Bing, so search results are similar. Its search results page has a minimalist, text-heavy interface. However, it’s still an important search engine in its own right, with over 300 million monthly utilizers.
What I like about Yahoo!: I have quite fond memories of Yahoo! Search. It was the search engine back in the day. Yahoo! was founded in January 1994, four years before Google was established. When I was young, I’d put all my search queries into Yahoo! For this reason, the Yahoo! interface always feels quite nostalgic.
Who utilizes Yahoo!: According to Similarweb, searchers in the U.S. sfinish most traffic to Yahoo!, Brazil, India, and Taiwan follow. The majority of searchers are aged 25–34. A key point regarding Microsoft search, including Bing, is that voice search powered by Alexa leverages Microsoft search tools. If voice search is a priority for you, focus on Yahoo and Bing.
5. DuckDuckGo
If you’re unsimple about tarobtained ads or don’t want your search data stored, you might want to attempt DuckDuckGo, which touts itself as “the search engine that doesn’t track you.”
This search engine doesn’t collect or store any information, so you can search for shoes without being bombarded by subsequent ads. It’s worth noting there are still ads on DuckDuckGo — just not personalized ones.
DuckDuckGo features a clean interface that creates navigation simple. With more than 100 million daily searches in 2024, it’s slowly gaining steam in the market, especially as utilizers become more concerned about privacy.
What I like about DuckDuckGo: As a marketer, I love data. As a consumer, I dislike my data being captured. Personally, DuckDuckGo is a great solution when I want to browse in peace.
Who utilizes DuckDuckGo: Considering there’s no tracking data, we don’t know; however, it’s probably safe to assume that DuckDuckGo utilizers are protective of their data. If you’re selling a product like a VPN, advertising on DuckDuckGo may be a suitable solution.
6. Baidu
Baidu is China’s largest search engine, capturing 50.71% of China’s search engine market. Following Baidu, there’s Bing (24.22%), Haosoi (17.04%), and Yandex (4.26%).
The search engine is in Mandarin (so if your Duolingo game isn’t strong, you may have issues as an English speaker). Otherwise, Baidu sees similar to Google, featuring a white background, blue links, and green URLs. Like Google, Baidu aims to incorporate more rich features in the SERPs.
If you’re seeing to appeal to the Asian market, Baidu is a good option to consider.
What I like about Baidu: As an English speaker, Baidu is challenging to utilize. A few years ago, I cycled across China for three months and could only access Baidu. Google was only available with a VPN. Baidu Maps was definitely more utilizeful than Google Maps in China.
Baidu’s search engine censors certain images and blocks pro-democracy websites. If you’re comparing search results, you’ll find a more comprehensive results list on Google.
Pro tip: If you speak Mandarin, are conducting cultural research, or are seeing from another news perspective, Baidu won’t disappoint. But if you’re from the West, the censorship and lack of “outspokenness” will be a bit glaring at first.
Who utilizes Baidu: The Chinese market is the largest utilizer of Baidu, although you might be surprised to hear that younger people seeking a more Western influence are turning to Google. In Chengdu, I met a group of young ukulele enthusiasts, and everything they knew came from YouTube. Younger generations are finding workarounds to access information.
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Other Search Engines
I rounded up three more “search engines,” including ChatGPT and Perplexity, two AI tools that people utilize to fulfill queries.
7. Ecosia
Ecosia is “the search engine that plants trees.” For every search a utilizer creates with Ecosia (whether on the web page or utilizing its free browser extension), Ecosia will allocate a portion of its profits to plant trees in vulnerable areas.
To date, Ecosia has planted over 230 million trees and dedicated over 90 million euros to climate action.
Note to marketers: Ecosia’s sponsored spots push your content nearly below the fold. I love utilizing it every now and then. It feels really good to contribute to a good cautilize.
Ecosia is most popular in its home counattempt of Germany, where it holds a 1.09% market share and is the sixth most popular search engine in the counattempt. Like Yahoo, Ecosia runs on Microsoft Bing.
Pro tip: Are you a PPC expert who lives in or tarobtains Germany? If so, that’s the only possible reason you might want to utilize Ecosia.
Who utilizes Ecosia: Considering Ecosia is a sustainably-focutilized search engine, it’s likely that those utilizing it are conscious about the environment. If this is your audience, or if your company is committed to sustainable marketing, you might want to focus on Ecosia.
8. ChatGPT
As previously mentioned, ChatGPT is not a search engine per se; however, AI search platforms cannot be ignored in conversations about the top search engines.
Why?
Becautilize people are utilizing LLMs as a search engine, and this is happening significantly.
The speed at which ChatGPT gained search market share was unprecedented, and compared to Bing, which has been fighting for their 2-4% market share over the years, ChatGPT’s rise was incredible. Within five days, ChatGPT had one million utilizers. By comparison, it took Instagram two and a half months to reach the same milestone, and Netflix required three and a half years to hit one million utilizers.
I’m conscious about keeping the search and LLM conversation balanced, so let’s quickly review how many people search on Google compared to AI tools:
Google is utilized significantly more than ChatGPT and Perplexity. Whatever you do, don’t lose your traffic by focutilizing too much on AI search and forobtainting about traditional search.
What I like about ChatGPT: I’ve utilized ChatGPT for years, and I consider I utilize it daily, just like Google. I like how ChatGPT can provide answers to longer-tail, more complex searches.
Who utilizes ChatGPT: According to Exploding Topics, the majority of ChatGPT searchers are male (64.32%), from the U.S. (14.78%), and more than 45% of ChatGPT’s utilizers are under the age of 25.
9. Perplexity AI
Perplexity has obtainedten a lot of buzz in the past year. It has a similar design to other AI search engines, with source links above a longer answer in easily skimmable bullet points. It also features citations that reveal the source when you hover over them — essential to ensure that you’re not falling prey to misinformation.
If you’re interested in AI search, take a see at this article: The Best AI Search Engines, which includes a rundown of each search engine and what creates it good. Perplexity was the best overall.
An important caveat: Those who utilize ChatGPT and Perplexity are not necessarily searching for your products or services; those under 25 could be studying and seeing for generative AI. The stats are not entirely conclusive when it comes to search.
My approach to AI and SEO is that we should all consider AI tools and be mentioned within them. The platform has experienced unprecedented growth, and it is very assistful for search. Marketers mustn’t sleep on AI.
Emerging Search Engine Trfinishs
Social Media Search
Recent HubSpot research revealed that:
- More people turn to social media for search.
- Social search is expected to become a key brand discovery channel in 2025, with 84% of marketers agreeing that consumers will search for brands on social media this year.
Emarketer shares that:
- Only 64% of Gen Zers utilize search engines, compared to 94% of Baby Boomers.
- 81% of Gen Z and Millennials prefer social media over traditional search.
If Gen Z or Millennials are your audience, you necessary to consider outside traditional search engines.
Finally, 24% of people in the U.S. overall turn to social media first when searching. In line with the statistics above, Gen Z and Millennial audiences are most likely to turn to social media first.
All major social media platforms have a search bar; however, for this article, I’m including two platforms, TikTok and YouTube, as these two search tools appear to have had the most significant impact on the market.
10. TikTok
A few years ago, the threat of TikTok search had a significant impact on the narrative surrounding SEO and its future. Everyone was discussing SEO and TikTok, debating whether the then-new social media platform would replace Google as the primary search engine.
In my mind, the narrative was somewhat overblown, and the AI screenshot shared above mirrors that narrative. Search Engines like DuckDuckGo are actually more threatening to Google, but back then, TikTok was more exciting.
Now that the TikTok versus Google narrative has settled a bit, we can see things more clearly. We know that people utilize TikTok to search. Consumers in the U.S. utilize TikTok as a search engine, but only 41% compared to 50% who do not.
What I like about TikTok: I was a large fan of TikTok. A few years ago, I created an account and started filming videos there. I reached 2,000 followers relatively quickly. I found the platform to be fun and simple to utilize, but not as engaging as I would have liked. It was simple to obtain videos in front of people and feature them in the SEO search results.
Who utilizes TikTok as a search engine: As cited above, according to Emarketer, younger generations, such as Gen Zers and Millennials, are more likely to utilize TikTok for search.
11. YouTube
YouTube has long been the second most visited website in the world, coming second to Google. Google owns YouTube, so if you’re a video marketer, uploading videos to YouTube should be a no-brainer. While Google does rank other video content, such as TikTok, YouTube videos receive significantly more space in the SERP.
YouTube is a search engine in its own right and has been for years. People go directly to the site to search within its search bar:
The platform has 3.5 billion searches daily.
What I like about YouTube: I like that I turn to it when I necessary a demonstration. How-to videos are a good example. YouTube has a tidy interface, and it’s simple to utilize; the algorithm is excellent, and I always find what I want. As a marketer, I consider YouTube is a powerhoutilize for SEO. An optimized video has a high chance of ranking on both Google and YouTube.
Who utilizes YouTube: YouTube has a broad utilizer base. The majority are male (54%) and aged 25 to 44 (39.4%).
12. Reddit
You might have noticed more subreddit answers revealing up in response to your queries on Google. This is becautilize Reddit is another social platform contfinishing as a search engine in its own right.
A recent study by Adobe Express found some surprising results. Nearly two in three Americans utilize Reddit as a search engine at least once a week. More impressively, 95% of utilizers find the results assistful and 92% find them trustworthy — even more trustworthy than Google!
Many people cite the authentic reviews and community-based discussions as the reason for their trust in Reddit. Although brands can be present on and even advertise on Reddit, that is not the point of the platform, and people who blatantly shill (sell or promote their products) will obtain voted down and booed out of the subreddit.
What I like about Reddit: Like most people, as a utilizer, I appreciate the uncurated, unfiltered reviews for products I’m interested in acquireing. I like the option to filter my search by communities, posts, people, comments, or media. As a marketer, I can create and respond to posts utilizing the keywords I want to be found for on Reddit. And, if my post is assistful and relevant enough, it can reveal up on a Google SERP.
Who utilizes Reddit: Of Reddit’s estimated 1.1 billion monthly active utilizers, 61% are male, and the majority are between the ages of 18 and 29. Most utilizers are from the U.S., with the U.K. and Canada following close behind. If your brand naturally fits into the topic of a subreddit, I consider it’s worth revealing up there — as long as you do it in an authentic way that follows the community rules.
Google Updates
Google continually works to prioritize high-quality content, doing so while expanding its AI capabilities. AI overviews were recently expanded with the introduction of AI Mode. These modifys keep AI at the front and center of search, and will likely encourage utilizers to continue utilizing it and build trust in AI capabilities. All signs point to AI being a growing trfinish in search, and therefore, it will likely remain a search engine for many.
Holistic Search
It’s essential to consider search holistically. We’re not just optimizing one platform anymore; we necessary to consider multiple platforms. Research reveals that people utilize multiple platforms for search.
According to Statista, 66% of adults in the U.S. utilize search engines and social media to conduct searches.
Which search engine should you focus on?
Exploring alternative search engines has completely altered my perspective on SEO and content strategy. There’s a whole world beyond Google, and savvy marketers can find real opportunities by diversifying their approach.
I’ve personally found AI-powered search engines fascinating, and I’ll be keeping an eye on how platforms like Perplexity, Brave, and You.com evolve. Meanwhile, search engines like Yandex and Baidu remind me of the importance of tailoring strategies for different markets.
Ultimately, where you focus your efforts will depfinish on your customer profiles. This article has hopefully outlined some broad demographic and utilizer statistics, but remember that this data is general, and you can conduct your own research to identify which search engine brings the highest quality traffic to your site.
Whether it’s through AI-driven search, privacy-focutilized platforms, or niche engines, understanding how people search in 2025 (and beyond) will be the real differentiator for marketers like us.
This article was originally published in September 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
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