How 2search search works

#Searching

Type a few words — for example "passport fee" or "heat pump cost" — and press Enter. Suggestions appear as you type. Press / anywhere to jump to the search box.

You can filter results by topic and country on the results page.

#Quick answer mode

Switch to Quick answer on the home page to see a short answer at the top of the results, taken from the "Quick answer" box of the best matching article, with a link to the full article and its sources. It isn't a chatbot and it doesn't make up text — every answer comes from an article we've researched and checked.

#How results are ranked

Results are ranked by how well they match your words, in this order: title, keywords, description and headings, quick answer, then the article text. Articles that match all your words rank higher, and newer articles get a small boost. We understand common short forms and synonyms (like "AC" for air conditioner) and partly typed words.

Nobody can pay to rank higher.

#What happens to what you type

• Search runs in your browser: it downloads only the small parts of our index it needs, so your words aren't sent to us to match.
• If you use our public search API, requests reach our servers and may appear briefly in server logs.
• We don't build a search history about you, and we don't share searches with advertisers.

See the privacy policy.