AI Search

Ecosia’s AI Search brings the power of generative AI into a conversational chat experience, helping you explore complex questions, brainstorm ideas, or dig deeper into a topic. As always, we’re doing it our way: putting people and the planet first.

This article covers how the feature works; if you would like to find out more about our approach to AI, please read this blog article. 

What is AI Search on Ecosia

AI Search is a feature on Ecosia that uses generative AI to deliver full-text answers to your questions instead of a list of links. It allows you to explore topics in more depth, get explanations, compare concepts, or generate ideas — all through a natural conversation. Rather than typing multiple searches, you can simply ask follow-up questions or refine your query as you go.

This feature runs separately from Ecosia’s regular search. The standard search results on Ecosia are provided by our search partners as well as our own search index, EUSP. You can continue using Ecosia as usual, without interacting with AI Search.

Get started with AI Search 

If available in your country, you’ll find AI Search as a separate option on Ecosia. It’s designed to assist when you need more than a quick link. 

You can access AI Search when you start a new search on ecosia.org, from your navigation bar above your search results and within AI Overviews.

AI Search works like any other AI assistant: you can plan trips, organize your thoughts, and research a topic in a conversational format. It’s designed to give you clear, helpful answers and support deeper exploration of your questions.

What it cannot do:

• Generate images or videos
• Store historical conversations
• Share conversations with other people
• Analyse uploaded documentation
• Does not have a deep research mode

Model, training and adjustments

We use OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 mini because it strikes a strong balance between performance and efficiency. By choosing a smaller, mainstream model, we aim to deliver a high-quality experience while keeping our energy footprint low. We believe there is a need for greater transparency around AI’s environmental impact and continue to push for change across the tech industry.

We're also continuously exploring alternative models to ensure the experience we offer aligns with our values, including efficiency, affordability, and sustainability, while maintaining a high standard for quality. As part of our development process, we’ve implemented safeguards and moderation systems, and carefully evaluated outputs to help ensure trustworthy and responsible results.

Environmental impact

Our AI Search is built using smaller, more efficient models that consume up to 70 times less energy than larger ones, according to a recent study. We assessed the model’s impact using tools like EcoLogits, CodeCarbon or Hugging Face AI Energy Score. Additionally, we avoid energy-intensive functionalities like video generation or deep research. 

Like other Ecosia features, AI Search is powered entirely by renewable energy. In fact, we generate more clean energy from solar and wind than our AI features consume. The surplus goes into the electricity grid, helping to replace fossil fuels. While we can’t yet account for the emissions generated during the AI model’s training, using our AI Search features helps accelerate the energy transition towards renewables.

Privacy and data use

Ecosia only collects the minimum data necessary to provide and improve our services. We do not run services like email, maps, or payment platforms, which means we have no way to build a personal profile of you across different platforms. That’s not our business, and it never will be.

As a European company, we operate under strict privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This ensures that your personal data remains protected by default. We comply with the EU AI Act and carefully monitor developments.

Our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy apply. Please note that Ecosia forwards requests to external chat providers OpenAI, and your conversations are stored in your browser's local storage. AI is not designed to handle sensitive data, so we recommend never sharing personal information in the chat.

For in depth information about our data processing please visit our privacy page.

Give feedback to shape AI Search

At the moment AI Search is only available to some users but we’re planning on rolling it out more widely in the next months. If you want to support us to shape the product you can! In the feature we offer a feedback option, answers are reviewed by our respective team. 

Alternatively you can let us know how you think AI could serve both people and the planet. Drop us a line at AI.feedback@ecosia.org. While we can’t reply to every message, we read every one and genuinely value your input!