Anthropic has unveiled a new web search functionality for its AI assistant, Claude, enabling users to access real-time information with source citations. This feature transforms search results into conversational answers, similar to tools offered by competitors like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini.

Currently, the web search capability is limited to paying users in the US participating in the feature preview and is exclusive to the Claude 3.7 Sonnet model. Anthropic employs a reasoning model to ensure accuracy and plans to extend this functionality to other regions and free accounts in the future.

As AI assistants increasingly converge in features and pricing, platforms like Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Deepseek, and Mistral now offer comparable services. When one platform introduces a new feature, others typically follow suit within weeks. The primary distinctions lie in AI model performance and prompt usability, which are particularly relevant to professional users and developers. Moving forward, platforms may differentiate themselves by allowing users to select the most suitable AI model for specific tasks.

However, chatbot-based search presents significant challenges. Beyond concerns about accuracy, website owners face a critical issue: when users obtain information through a chatbot, their likelihood of visiting the original website drops dramatically. Studies indicate that traffic can decrease by as much as 96% compared to traditional search engines. This poses a severe threat to websites that rely on traffic for revenue.

Notably, Anthropic has yet to secure licensing agreements with media companies for using their articles as sources in Claude's responses. This contrasts with many competitors who have already established such partnerships.

Key Points

1. Claude now offers web search functionality with real-time source citations.
2. The feature is currently available only to US-based paying users using the Claude 3.7 Sonnet model.
3. Chatbot-based search reduces website traffic by up to 96%, posing challenges for content creators.
4. Anthropic lacks licensing agreements with media companies for sourcing content.
5. Future differentiation among AI platforms may focus on allowing users to choose task-specific models.