Rethinking Search Authority
November 7, 2024
For too long, search engines have been seen as the authority. Users come looking for answers, assuming the top results/answer must be true simply because they appear first. Many search engines encourage this trust to increase user engagement and drive metrics.
But here's the reality: most search results today are ranked based on popularity. Whether we're talking about sophisticated algorithms or simple metrics, they're ultimately trying to show you the most clicked, most engaged, and most linked content. While this creates a form of social proof, it doesn't necessarily lead to truth – especially for heavily SEO-optimized queries that rank well but may not be accurate.
The consequences can be tragic. In 2016, a college student lost his life after trusting a promoted search result about cancer treatment. The hospital's claims ranked high, appeared trustworthy, but proved fatally misleading. This wasn't just a failure of technology – it was a failure of how we think about search authority.
Now AI has added another layer of complexity. While AI could cite sources and speak with confidence, they can still hallucinate or make mistakes, while appearing even more confident and authoritative than traditional search.
Today, we're rolling out three new features that reimagine how AI can make search better - not by claiming to know it all, but by empowering users to find truth.
Polls: See the Full Picture
Instead of presenting a single authoritative answer, Komo 2.0 now aggregates different perspectives on your query. We collect opinions from various sources and present them visually, helping you understand the range of viewpoints that exist. This feature:
Shows you how much consensus there is in the answers
Highlights differing opinions
Helps you make more informed decisions
Reference Check: Verify Claims
Users consistently tell us that verifying AI-generated information is frustrating. They have to click through multiple links and juggle different tabs – which defeats the purpose of using AI search in the first place. Our solution is simple but powerful: we now provide brief snippets showing exactly how information appears in source materials. You can:
Preview contexts instantly
See how citations are used in original sources
Verify key information without leaving your search
Clicking on the link will take you directly to the section of page that was quoted
Both opinion polls and reference checking are available for free on every applicable query. We've built intelligent triggers that activate these features when they're most relevant, rather than showing them for simple navigational queries.
Research Mode: For Complex Questions
For those deeper, more complex queries that need thorough investigation, we're officially launching Research Mode. It also significantly reduce hallucinations for complex queries.
Conducts step-by-step research for complex questions
Provides detailed, specific answers rather than generic overviews
Presents information in structured, digestible formats
Edit/Add research steps to refine your research process
How We Built Komo
Komo was built with both fine-tuned open-source AI models and closed source models. We use different models for different queries to achieve the best quality. Komo uses third-party search and content providers, while building proprietary search technology for query understanding, reranking, page understanding that serve answer generation and various features, such as poll, reference check, and research mode etc. We don't use user data for model training; user data is only used at an aggregated level for ranking and query generation.
Looking Forward
These features represent our first steps toward "Agentic Search" with human in the loop – where users have real control over how they find and verify information. While we're excited about this release, we know the quality isn't perfect yet. We're committed to iterating and improving based on your feedback.
Join Us
These are just the first steps towards our vision of a new search engine that you can trust. Your input is crucial as we continue building a more transparent and trustworthy search experience. We'd love to hear:
How you're using these new features
Where you see room for improvement
What features you'd like to see next
Feel free to reach out anytime with your thoughts on how we can make Komo more useful for you. If you like what we're building, please follow us on social media and share your experiences.
