In short. Select Web Source Mode from the plus menu in Ecosia AI Chat to instruct it to use live web information for all queries.
Definition: Web Source Mode is an Ecosia AI Chat mode that instructs the AI to pull information directly from the live web for all of your queries. Ecosia describes it as a mode for researching current events, finding up-to-date facts, or gathering online sources.
Key facts
- Ecosia says Web Source Mode pulls information directly from the live web for all queries.
- You switch chat modes by clicking the
+icon in the chat bar and selecting the preferred mode. - Ecosia describes AI Chat as a conversational feature that provides full-text answers instead of a results page of links.
- AI Chat can be opened as a separate Ecosia option, from a new search, from the top navigation bar, or through search results using the star symbol.
- Ecosia’s help page describes AI Chat as a beta feature available only to some users during gradual rollout.
How do you activate Web Source Mode?
Open AI Chat on Ecosia, then use the mode selector in the chat bar. Ecosia’s documented path is:
Click the "+" icon in the chat bar
Select Web Source Mode
The selected mode applies to all of your queries in that chat according to the help page. Ecosia lists Guided Learning Mode and Think Longer Mode as other chat modes. The first is described as a tutor-like mode that asks guiding questions, while the second prompts the AI to take additional time to reason before responding. Those descriptions distinguish the web retrieval instruction from the other documented controls.
What does the mode change in an Ecosia chat?
Ecosia describes AI Chat as a conversational feature that delivers full-text answers to questions instead of a search results page of links. It supports follow-up exploration, explanations, comparisons, and idea generation in a natural conversation. Web Source Mode adds the instruction to pull information directly from the live web for every query, and Ecosia associates it with current events, up-to-date facts, and a wide range of online sources.
The help page says AI Chat has no deep research mode. It also says that AI Chat is a beta feature available only to some users while Ecosia tests and improves it during a gradual rollout. Region, browser, device, app version, privacy extensions, and network conditions can affect whether AI features load.
How is Web Source Mode different from turning AI features off?
Ecosia’s search settings documentation describes AI-free search as a more traditional search experience. Activating it disables AI Overviews, removes AI Chat from navigation and the autocomplete dropdown, disables AI-based auto-routing, and replaces the omnibox with the traditional Search Box. Web Source Mode is therefore a chat-mode selection inside AI Chat, while AI-free search changes which AI features appear in Ecosia Search.
The separate settings page records the same four changes and says that AI-free search gives a more traditional search experience. It does not describe the display of source links in Web Source Mode responses, so this entry makes no claim about that interface detail.
Related terms
FAQ
Does Web Source Mode apply to only one question?
Ecosia describes the mode as pulling information from the live web for all of your queries. Select it from the + menu in the chat bar before continuing the conversation.
Does Web Source Mode provide deep research?
Ecosia’s help page says AI Chat does not have a deep research mode. The same page lists Web Source Mode as a chat mode for live web information.
What if AI Chat is missing?
Ecosia says availability can depend on rollout stage, region, platform or version, privacy tools, and network environment. Its help page describes AI Chat as a beta feature available only to some users.
Sources
- Ecosia Help Center, "AI Search help", 9 October 2026
- Ecosia Help Center, "Customize your Ecosia Search through settings", 19 June 2026
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