DUNkē tracking 12,847 prompts globally·+34% AI mentions for Mysthelle this week·WeaverStory now cited in 4/5 engines·Banana Club ranking #2 on Perplexity·Linen Trail · 11x backlink growth · Q2·DUNkē tracking 12,847 prompts globally·+34% AI mentions for Mysthelle this week·WeaverStory now cited in 4/5 engines·Banana Club ranking #2 on Perplexity·Linen Trail · 11x backlink growth · Q2·
Channel Log · live

The AI search
channel log.

Every meaningful shift across the eight engines now answering your customers — AI Mode, AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and Grok. Dated, sourced, written in plain language. Filter by engine; click any entry for the full breakdown.

44 updates across 8 engines
2026
Jun 2026Perplexity
Perplexity raises ~$200M at a ~$20B valuation
Fresh capital to keep Comet free and own the agent-economy front door; the company reported roughly $450M in annual recurring revenue earlier in the year.
via TechTimes · AI Tool AnalysisMay 2026AI Mode
Gemini 3.5 Flash becomes the default in AI Mode worldwide
At I/O 2026 Google made Gemini 3.5 Flash the global default in AI Mode, reported AI Mode past 1 billion monthly users, launched a reimagined AI Search box, and previewed background “information agents.”
via Google · Search Engine LandMay 2026Gemini
Gemini app hits 900M users with Omni, Spark and a redesign
I/O 2026 brought Gemini 3.5 Flash, the multimodal Omni model, a 24/7 personal agent called Spark, and a “Neural Expressive” redesign — the app is now past 900 million monthly users.
via 9to5GoogleApr 2026Copilot
Microsoft puts ads inside Copilot answers with AI Max for Search
Announced at Microsoft’s Spring Summit, AI Max expands ad matching across Copilot and Bing, adds Offer Highlights inside Copilot conversations, and introduces Copilot Checkout.
via Microsoft · MarketingTechMar 2026Perplexity
Perplexity makes the Comet browser free on every platform
Comet dropped its paywall across iOS, Android, Windows and Mac; a $5/mo Comet Plus tier adds licensed publisher content from partners like Condé Nast, CNN and Fortune.
via TechTimes · Fello AIMar 2026ChatGPT
OpenAI lays the groundwork for advertising inside ChatGPT
Reporting indicates OpenAI is building toward ads in ChatGPT, with privacy-preserving targeting that doesn’t read users’ chats — a potential new demand-capture channel.
via Search Engine LandMar 2026Grok
Grok 4.3 ships with the lowest hallucination rate among frontier models
xAI’s latest flagship pairs a 1-million-token context window with strong tool-calling and low hallucination; Grok surpassed 30 million monthly active users in early 2026.
via xAI · ReleasebotFeb 2026AI Overview
Google redesigns AI Overview source links and panels
Search VP Robby Stein announced more prominent links and richer source panels; the average AI Overview now cites around 15 links — more than double late–2024.
via SE RankingFeb 2026Gemini
Gemini 3.1 Pro launches as a benchmark leader
Google positioned 3.1 Pro at the front of the model race, citing a leap on abstract-reasoning benchmarks — part of a rapid cadence after Gemini 3 in November.
via Google · WikipediaFeb 2026Copilot
Microsoft Clarity adds AI Visibility citation tracking
A new Clarity feature shows AI bot activity and which of your pages get referenced in AI-generated answers — even when users don’t click through.
via Microsoft · MarketingTechJan 2026AI Overview
Ads inside AI Overviews reach parity with classic Search ads
Google’s global ads VP said engagement on AI Overview ads now matches traditional Search ads — a signal that AI search is a core monetisation surface.
via SE RankingJan 2026Perplexity
Perplexity formalises its publisher payout program
Comet Plus set aside a $42.5M pool paying publishers an 80% share — not just for clicks, but for citations in answers and for agent actions on their sites.
via Subscription Insider · DigidayJan 2026Grok
xAI rolls out Grok 5 amid a ~$230B valuation
Musk’s xAI shipped its next flagship and raised at a roughly $230 billion valuation, underscoring how fast the Grok line is iterating.
via Grokipedia · The Experiment
2025
Dec 2025ChatGPT
ChatGPT adds Shopping Research
Shopping Research compiles guided, personalised product comparisons in-chat (Dec 1); a day later, Sam Altman ordered a quality overhaul and paused advertising plans.
via OpenAI · Retail Dive · Search Engine LandDec 2025Gemini
Gemini 3 Flash becomes the new default in the Gemini app
Google made its speed-optimised Gemini 3 Flash the default for everyday use, following the Gemini 3 Pro launch a few weeks earlier.
via WikipediaDec 2025AI Mode
Search Console adds AI Mode performance data
Google began exposing AI Mode impressions and clicks in Search Console dimensions, giving sites their first real visibility into the new surface.
via Google · Claudio NovaglioNov 2025Copilot
Copilot's Fall Release makes answers citation-first
Copilot responses gained more prominent, clickable citations, an aggregated “Show all” sources pane, and a dedicated Search experience across web, mobile and Edge.
via Microsoft · Windows ForumNov 2025Gemini
Google launches Gemini 3
Pitched as Google’s most capable model yet with a Mixture-of-Experts design, Gemini 3 began rolling out as the foundation for the next wave of Search and app features.
via Google · Moin.aiNov 2025Claude
Claude starts powering Microsoft 365 Copilot’s Researcher agent
Anthropic and Microsoft expanded their partnership so Claude can drive multi-step research inside Copilot — making Claude a citation surface inside Microsoft’s stack.
via Anthropic · ClaudeLogOct 2025ChatGPT
OpenAI launches the Atlas AI browser
An agentic browser that can act on pages on a user’s behalf, raising fresh questions for analytics and how agent traffic is measured.
via Search Engine LandOct 2025Perplexity
Perplexity makes the Comet browser free worldwide
Comet moved from a $200/mo Max perk to a free worldwide download, accelerating Perplexity’s push to own the agentic-browsing habit.
via TechTimesOct 2025Grok
xAI launches Grokipedia
Musk introduced an AI-generated encyclopedia positioned as a Wikipedia alternative — a new, fast-growing source that AI answers can draw on.
via Wikipedia · The ExperimentOct 2025Copilot
Copilot gets a persona and moves fully into Edge
Microsoft introduced the “Mico” character and built Copilot directly into Edge as an opt-in Copilot Mode, with a refreshed Windows 11 experience.
via Microsoft · WikipediaSep 2025ChatGPT
ChatGPT gets Instant Checkout and a cleaner search update
Buy directly inside ChatGPT — launched with Etsy and Shopify merchants — alongside a search update that cut hallucinations and sharpened shopping intent.
via Retail Dive · Search Engine LandAug 2025ChatGPT
Reddit and Wikipedia come to dominate ChatGPT citations
With GPT-5 live, OpenAI began experimenting with answer-first citation weighting, and community sources surged — underscoring how earned presence drives AI visibility.
via Search Engine LandAug 2025Perplexity
Perplexity introduces the Comet Plus publisher revenue-share
A $42.5M pool, most of it paid to publishers, for human visits, citations in answers, and agent actions — an early model for the agentic web’s content toll.
via Subscription InsiderJul 2025Perplexity
Perplexity launches the Comet browser
Initially a $200/mo Max feature, Comet reimagined the browser around an assistant that works across the pages you visit.
via TechTimesJul 2025Grok
xAI launches Grok-4 with real-time search and native tool use
Grok-4 became xAI’s flagship with stronger reasoning, built-in real-time search, and a multi-agent “Grok 4 Heavy” tier.
via xAI · VoiceflowMay 2025AI Mode
Google launches AI Mode in the US
At I/O 2025, AI Mode — a separate, conversational search surface — rolled out in the US without a Labs sign-up.
via GoogleMay 2025AI Overview
AI Overviews expand to 200+ countries and 40+ languages
Also at I/O 2025, Google scaled AI Overviews worldwide, making generative answers a default surface for most searches.
via Google · SE RankingMay 2025Claude
Anthropic ships a Web Search API as Claude 4 lands
Alongside Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4, Anthropic released a developer Web Search API — so any app can return cited, up-to-date Claude answers.
via AnthropicApr 2025Copilot
Microsoft launches Copilot Search in Bing
A generative search experience that blends summaries with prominent, clickable citations using a “retrieve, generate, cite” flow grounded on Bing.
via Microsoft · Bing BlogApr 2025Claude
Claude introduces Research — agentic, cited investigations
Research runs multiple searches that build on each other and returns thorough answers with easy-to-check inline citations, plus a Google Workspace integration.
via AnthropicMar 2025Gemini
Gemini 2.5 Pro arrives as Google’s first “thinking model”
A reasoning model that works through steps before answering — part of Gemini’s shift toward agentic, multi-step tasks.
via Google · WikipediaMar 2025Claude
Claude adds web search with inline citations
Claude gained live web search with source attribution, letting it ground answers in current information and cite where each claim came from.
via AnthropicFeb 2025ChatGPT
ChatGPT Search opens to everyone, no signup required
OpenAI removed the login wall, turning ChatGPT into a mainstream, cited web-search surface for hundreds of millions of users.
via OpenAIFeb 2025Grok
Grok-3 launches with DeepSearch for live, cited answers
xAI’s first serious reasoning model introduced a “Think” mode and DeepSearch, which pulls and cites real-time sources from the web and X.
via xAI · Voiceflow
2024
Dec 2024Gemini
Gemini 2.0 and Deep Research launch the agentic era
Gemini 2.0 Flash added native multimodal output, and Deep Research began autonomously browsing and synthesising the web into cited research reports.
via Google · WikipediaDec 2024Grok
Grok opens free to all X users with web search and citations
xAI widened access from premium-only to every X user and added web search with citations — pushing Grok toward mass use.
via GrokipediaDec 2024ChatGPT
ChatGPT Search rolls out to all logged-in users
After its launch, OpenAI extended ChatGPT Search to every signed-in user, with links to sources beneath answers.
via OpenAIOct 2024ChatGPT
ChatGPT Search launches
OpenAI brought the SearchGPT prototype into ChatGPT, blending a chat interface with timely, cited web results.
via OpenAIOct 2024Copilot
Microsoft overhauls Copilot and splits it from Bing
A redesigned consumer Copilot introduced Voice, Vision and the Think Deeper reasoning mode, with its own identity separate from Bing search.
via Microsoft · WikipediaMay 2024AI Overview
Google launches AI Overviews at I/O
Rebranded from the Search Generative Experience, AI Overviews began appearing atop US search results — the start of generative answers as a default surface.
via GoogleFeb 2024Gemini
Google renames Bard to Gemini
Google unified its consumer AI under the Gemini brand and retired Duet AI, alongside the million-token Gemini 1.5 family.
via Google · Wikipedia

Entries summarise public reporting · sources noted per row · updated continuously

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