Brave Sells Search Index to AI Companies

Brave sells its search index to AI companies Cohere, Mistral and Perplexity, according to Search Engine Journal. The publication also suggests a quick way for website owners to check whether their pages appear in the index: run a site-specific search. The report connects a familiar search visibility check with the question of where an index containing a site's pages is sold.

The three named buyers are Cohere, Mistral and Perplexity. Search Engine Journal identifies them as companies that purchase Brave's index, but the available summary does not describe the terms of those arrangements. It also does not specify how each company uses the index or which individual pages are included in the material sold.

To check a website, marketers can search Brave using the site: operator followed by their domain name. For example, a search for site:example.com is a way to look for pages from that domain. Search Engine Journal describes the check as taking about 30 seconds and says it can show whether pages from a site are part of Brave's index.

The result is useful as an index check, rather than a complete explanation of the commercial arrangements. Finding a page in a site-specific search does not, by itself, explain how a buyer uses the index. Equally, the information in the available summary does not establish the terms that apply to any particular website or page.

Marketers should distinguish the question the search can address from questions it cannot answer on its own. The check concerns whether a site's pages appear in Brave's index. It does not identify the purpose for which Cohere, Mistral or Perplexity purchased the index, and the summary provides no details on how those purchases affect individual sites.

What this means for marketers

Run a site-specific search on Brave for the domains you manage and review the pages returned. Treat the results as a starting point for assessing your site's presence in Brave's index, not as proof of a particular use by an AI company. If the commercial details matter to your organisation, note that the available summary does not supply those details.