Claude Can Now Search the Web — Here's What That Means
- Patrick Law
- Mar 20
- 2 min read
Anthropic has rolled out a long-anticipated feature for its AI chatbot, Claude: web search. With this new capability, Claude can now pull real-time information from the internet, bringing it in line with tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Here's a quick look at what this update brings—and where it still falls short.
What Works Well
Claude's web search feature is currently available in preview for paid users in the U.S., with broader access expected in the near future. The feature is powered by Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Anthropic’s latest model.
One standout element is that Claude includes direct citations when pulling from the web. This makes it easier for users to check sources and verify facts—something many AI users have been asking for.
This upgrade also means that Claude no longer has to rely solely on its training data. Now it can answer questions using up-to-date information from the web, which is particularly useful for news, trends, and other fast-changing topics.
With this update, Claude reaches feature parity with competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Mistral’s Le Chat—making the AI chatbot race even more competitive.
Where It Falls Short
Even with web access, Claude doesn’t always use it—especially when it comes to questions about current events. This means users might still get outdated or incomplete responses.
There’s also the ongoing challenge of misinformation. Like other chatbots, Claude can hallucinate facts or misattribute sources, even when pulling from real-time data.
In fact, recent studies show that popular AI chatbots, including ChatGPT and Gemini, get things wrong more than 60% of the time. Claude, despite the web search upgrade, is likely to face similar issues.
Final Thoughts
Claude’s new web search feature is a significant step forward, offering users better access to timely, sourced information. But like all AI tools, it still needs improvement in accuracy.
Check out the video.
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