AI answers on 4Search
On this page
4Search can answer a question in plain sentences as well as list results. There are two ways: the AI Overview, a short summary above your search results, and AI Mode, a conversation that reads the site's news for you and shows its sources.
#Which one to use
| AI Overview | AI Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Above the results of a search | Its own page: the AI Mode tab |
| What you get | A few sentences and bullet points | A full answer, then follow-up questions |
| Sources | Summarizes the topic of your search | Reads up to six of the site's news articles and cites them as [1], [2] ... |
| Best for | A quick sense of a subject before you read on | Working through a question, comparing, asking "and what about...?" |
Start with the overview when you search; select Dive deeper in AI Mode under it when you want to keep asking. See The AI Overview and AI Mode.
#Before you start: AI answers are off until you allow them
Nothing is sent to an AI service until you say so. The first time, the AI Overview box and AI Mode both show a short message with an Allow AI Answers (or Allow AI answers) button. Selecting it turns on the AI-assisted answers category in your privacy choices for this browser. You can turn it off again at any time: see Turn AI answers on or off.
#How far to trust an answer
AI answers can be wrong, out of date or incomplete, and both features say so under every answer. Treat an answer as a starting point:
- In AI Mode, open the numbered sources and read what the articles actually say. See Sources and citations.
- Compare with the regular results on the same page.
- For anything about health, money, law or safety, rely on a qualified professional, not on an AI answer.
#In this section
- The AI Overview above search results
- AI Mode: ask, follow up, and read the sources
- Sources and citations
- Follow-up questions and the results column
- Copy, share, save, listen and regenerate
- Ask AI about one topic
- Get better answers
- Accuracy, limits and your privacy
- Turn AI answers on or off
- When an AI answer does not appear
#Common questions
Do I need an account to use AI answers?
No. There is no account on 4Search. AI answers only need the AI-assisted answers choice to be on in your browser.
Is AI Mode on every 4Search site?
It is on the sites where AI answers are turned on. When a site has it, AI Mode is the first tab in the row of services, to the left of All, and it is in the Menu too.
Does the AI decide which results I see?
No. The regular results are the same whether AI answers are on or off. The AI only writes the overview box and the answers in AI Mode.