Overview
Web Search (also called "grounding") lets your AI workflow steps access current information from the internet while generating content. Enable it per-step in the Workflow view by toggling the Web Search option on each step.
Five providers support web search, each with different capabilities and pricing.
Provider Comparison
| Provider | Cost | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | +$0.01/search | Citation styles, user location, reasoning effort, up to 20 searches, 100 domain filters |
| Anthropic | +$0.01/search | User location, domain filters, max searches |
| Grok (xAI) | +$0.005/search | Cheapest, X/Twitter search, image understanding, agentic turns |
| Gemini | +$0.035/prompt | Google search integration |
| Perplexity | Included | Always-on search, recency filter, academic mode |
OpenAI Web Search
Available on GPT-5 family, GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, and o-series models.
- Citation Style: Numbered references (academic style) or natural inline citations
- User Location: Bias results toward a specific geographic area
- Reasoning Effort: Control how much reasoning the model applies (low/medium/high)
- Max Searches: Limit the number of web searches per request (1-20, default 1)
- Domain Filters: Allow or block up to 100 specific domains
Anthropic Web Search
Available on Claude Sonnet 4 and newer models.
- User Location: Localize search results to a region
- Max Searches: Limit web searches per request
- Domain Filters: Allow or block specific domains
Grok (xAI) Web Search
The cheapest web search option at $0.005/search. Available on Grok 4 and 4.1 models.
- Max Searches: Limit web searches per request
- Max Agentic Turns: How many reasoning steps the model can take
- Image Understanding: Enable analysis of images found in search results
- Domain Filters: Allow or block up to 5 domains each
X/Twitter Search
Grok uniquely supports searching X (Twitter) for real-time social media content. Configure separately:
- Timeframe: How far back to search X posts
- Allowed/Excluded Handles: Filter by specific X accounts
- Image/Video Understanding: Analyze media in X posts
Gemini Web Search
Uses Google's search infrastructure. Available on Gemini 2.0 and newer models. Pricing is per-prompt ($0.035) or per-query ($0.014).
Perplexity
Perplexity is inherently a search-first AI — every request includes web search by default. There's no separate toggle.
- Recency Filter: Restrict results to the last day, week, or month
- Academic Mode: Prioritize academic and research sources
Tips
Use web search for research steps, not writing steps
Enable web search on your first workflow step (research) and let subsequent steps (writing, editing) work with that data. This avoids duplicate search costs.
Domain filtering improves relevance
Block low-quality domains and allow only trusted sources to improve the quality of information your AI receives.
Grok is best value for high-volume search
At $0.005/search (half the price of OpenAI/Anthropic), Grok is the most cost-effective option for workflows that run many searches.