Tencent has launched Yuanbao Search, a standalone AI search engine at so.qq.com that returns full answers with reference sources by default. The site went live on November 11 and puts Tencent back into direct competition with Baidu and Google in web search.
AI search is the default mode. A user types a question, gets a complete answer with cited sources, and can keep asking follow-up questions. Traditional web search is still available, alongside dedicated entry points for WeChat official accounts, video accounts, images and academic content.
Tencent rebuilt the full search chain on its Yuanbao large model, covering query understanding, retrieval, ranking and how answers are organized, according to details reported by PANews. The index spans web pages, WeChat official accounts, video accounts and academic literature, and connects to 157 authoritative sources. Searches can be made by text, voice or photo.
Key facts
- 01Tencent launched Yuanbao Search, a standalone AI search engine at so.qq.com, on November 11, 2026.
- 02AI answers with reference sources are the default; classic web search, images, video accounts and academic content remain.
- 03The index connects to 157 authoritative sources and supports text, voice and photo search.
- 04Some Sogou searches already redirect to Yuanbao results, and QQ Browser lets users select it as the search engine.
- 05The service handles hundreds of millions of calls a day and supports more than 50 internal Tencent businesses.
On advertising, Yuanbao Search keeps ads separate from answers and gives users an option to collapse ads.
Tencent is already moving existing search traffic onto the new product. Some keyword searches entered in Sogou Search now redirect straight to Yuanbao Search results pages, and the latest version of QQ Browser lets users set Yuanbao Search as its search engine. Tencent is gradually folding its other search entry points into Yuanbao.
The infrastructure behind the launch is already running at scale. The Yuanbao search service indexes on the order of a hundred billion entries, handles hundreds of millions of calls a day on average, and supports more than 50 internal Tencent businesses, including Tencent Video, ima and WorkBuddy.
The consumer site is the latest step in a build-out that began in 2024, when Tencent started Yuanbao AI Search by integrating WeChat Search and Sogou Search. Tencent then opened those search capabilities to enterprises and developers, and in October 2026 the service was renamed Yuanbao Search with support for API, MCP and Skill integration.
Search is familiar ground for Tencent. It launched Soso in 2006 and recruited technical executives including Wu Jun from Google, but the product did not overtake Baidu. In 2013 Tencent merged Soso's search business into Sogou and invested $448 million for a 36.5% stake, then completed a full acquisition of Sogou in 2021.
MarsBit described the launch as Tencent's return to the search engine market, with Yuanbao Search positioned directly against Baidu and Google.
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