Web Search
Augment chat with live, current information. Privacy-focused metasearch.
What this is
Chat with web search enabled. IAN gets today's news, current prices, real-time data, recent announcements.
Answers are grounded in current information, not training data from months ago.
Before you start
You're in a chat. You have a question that needs current information.
How to use it
1. Enable web search (in settings or per-chat)
When creating a new chat, you'll see an option: [Enable Web Search] or similar toggle.
Click it. Blue/on = web search enabled.
2. Ask your question
"What's the current stock price of [company]?"
"Did [event] happen?"
"What are today's news on [topic]?"
"Current pricing for [service]?"
3. IAN searches and answers
IAN queries the web, finds relevant results, synthesizes them, and answers.
You get:
- The answer
- Links to sources
- A note saying "data as of [date]"
4. Click sources if you want details
Sources are linked. Click to verify or read the full article.
What works well
✅ Current news and events — "What happened with [company]?"
✅ Real-time pricing — "What's the going rate for [service]?"
✅ Recent research — "New studies on [topic]?"
✅ Status checks — "Is [service] down?"
✅ Recent announcements — "Did they release [product]?"
What doesn't work well
❌ Historical facts — Web search won't help you learn history. Regular chat is fine.
❌ Technical documentation — If you need API docs or old references, regular chat is faster.
❌ Private company data — If it's not on the public web, web search can't find it.
Privacy
IAN uses SearXNG, a privacy-focused metasearch:
- No tracking — Queries aren't tied to your identity
- No ads — Clean results
- Aggregated sources — Results from multiple search engines, distributed
- Your data stays on Xceedance servers — Queries aren't sent to Google or other search providers
Privacy Policy · Data Security
Examples
Example 1: Current event check
You ask: "What's the latest news on insurance regulation?"
IAN searches current news sources.
IAN responds: "As of [date], the main developments are [summary]. Key articles: [links]"
You: Click the links if you want full articles.
Example 2: Pricing research
You ask: "What's the current cost of cloud storage from major providers?"
IAN searches current pricing pages.
IAN responds: "As of [date], AWS costs $X, Azure costs $Y, GCP costs $Z. Details: [links]"
You: Use that info for budget planning.
Example 3: Competitor monitoring
You ask: "Did any competitors announce AI features this week?"
IAN searches recent announcements and tech news.
IAN responds: "Yes, Company A announced [feature] on [date]. Company B released [product] on [date]. Articles: [links]"
You: Stay informed.
Tips
Tip 1: Be specific about timeframe
❌ "Tell me about this company"
✅ "What's the latest news on this company?"
✅ "Has this company made any announcements in the past month?"
Tip 2: Combine web search with documents
Upload a document about [topic]. Enable web search. Ask about [topic].
IAN grounds answers in both your document AND current web info.
Useful for analyzing dated documents in light of new developments.
Tip 3: Verify important facts
Web search sources are generally reliable, but verify critical facts with official sources.
Tip 4: Use it for research, not primary analysis
Web search is great for gathering current info. Use regular chat for thinking through what it means.
Troubleshooting
"I'm not getting results"
- Make sure web search is actually enabled
- Try a more specific question
- Try a simpler question
"The results seem outdated"
Web search finds what's currently on the internet. If information hasn't been updated on the web, IAN can't find the latest version.
Try adding a date: "What's the latest [topic] news from the past week?"
"I see results but the synthesis seems wrong"
IAN found correct results but misinterpreted them. Ask a follow-up: "Explain the [source] article in more detail"
Comparison: Web search vs. regular chat
| Question | Use |
|---|---|
| "What's the capital of France?" | Regular chat |
| "What happened yesterday?" | Web search |
| "Explain how OAuth works" | Regular chat |
| "Is [service] down right now?" | Web search |
| "What's the main argument for [position]?" | Regular chat |
| "Did [company] announce layoffs?" | Web search |
Next
- Chat Interface — Ask questions without web search
- Document Analysis — Combine documents with web search
- Follow-Up Questions — Explore search results deeper