New benchmark ranks search APIs for AI agents on quality, cost, and speed
Seven search APIs benchmarked for agent performance: Luna, Parallel, and Exa lead on quality and cost.
Why it matters
As agents move into production, practitioners need measurable tooling choices. This benchmark translates agent search quality into cost-per-query and latency metrics — directly actionable for agent platform builders and operators.
The key facts
11 to knowArtificial Analysis released 'Search Index' benchmark
Seven search API providers tested
Top performers: GPT-5.6 Luna, Parallel, Exa, Firecrawl
Metrics: quality, cost, speed
Published August 18, 2026
Artificial Analysis released 'Search Index' benchmark for agent-grade search APIs
Seven providers tested: GPT-5.6, Luna, Parallel, Exa, Firecrawl, and two others not named
Measured on quality, cost, and speed—the three variables agents care about most
Luna and Parallel ranked highest on quality metrics
Exa and Firecrawl scored best on cost-performance tradeoff
Published August 2026
Go to the source
The Decoderthe-decoder.com
Publisher excerpt: Artificial Analysis has released the "Search Index," a benchmark that rates search API providers for AI agents on quality, cost, and speed. Of seven providers tested with GPT-5.6 Luna, Parallel, Exa, and Firecrawl scored highest.