DeepSeek R1 has created quite a storm in the AI chatbot space. So much so, that it has secured the top downloads spot on the Apple App Store beating the previous champion OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The Chinese AI chatbot has been praised by users globally for its ‘simply better and faster responses along with other abilities such as coding, PDF analysis, etc. Apart from these, the DeepSeek R1 also comes with a built-in Search feature that digs the internet archive and websites to provide users with the most up-to-date results and replies and this raises the big question: How is it when compared to people’s favourite – Google Search?
We decided to put it to the test and to do that we asked the same questions from both DeepSeek R1 Search and Google Search and the results were a little more surprising than we were expecting.
Before that, let’s understand the core difference between DeepSeek R1 Search and Google Search:
The process of asking questions is similar on both DeepSeek and Google. However, the difference lies in the way they present results to users. Google – we all are familiar with the results as it shows websites and some additional information related to the key topic asked from it.
On the other hand, the DeepSeek R1 takes a natural approach. Instead of showing users the websites, it curates data from the websites and presents them in an article format with things that are more important to users. Here are some examples for your reference.
Example 1: We asked DeepSeek R1 Search and Google – “Tell me 10 different places to travel from New Delhi”.
Google, simply returned the websites where you can find the places you can visit from Delhi. However, DeepSeek’s response was much more intuitive and easy to understand. On top of it, the DeepSeek R1 also presents the top websites you can click and find more information on the asked topic. There’s more. You can even ask more questions around the same topic in continuity and DeepSeek picks up where you left. That’s interesting.
Example 2: Tata Motors Showroom Noida
The second question was about finding a location around me. Google again did the same thing with a list of all the Tata showrooms in Noida, including their times, website, and direction details.
DeepSeek R1 is not that capable here as it only lists down the showroom name, address, timing and features. The deal breaker here is that you can’t ask DeepSeek to find something “Near me” which you can do on Google. In response to the “Near Me” question, DeepSeek returned a how-to guide on how you can find Tata Motors showrooms nearby. Which is kind of pointless, especially when it comes to search.
Example 3: Galaxy S25 Ultra first impressions
Again, both Google and DeepSeek replied in their way. Google took the high road by listing all the first impressions published in recent days about the Galaxy S25 Ultra. And, DeepSeek R1 created an article out of it and also listed the websites for reference. One thing that we noted is that DeepSeek R1 is not location-aware and also listed Chinese websites which is pointless, but not completely.
Example 4: Room heater for small room
With three of the above examples, you must have an idea about the results that you are going to get here. The DeepSeek again listed down room heaters from websites, but they were mostly US-centric and not India. The problem lies in the location access which Google has and DeepSeek does not.
Who wins
When it comes to the accuracy of the results, Google is way ahead of the DeepSeek. However, Google’s response is more generic and lists only the websites that users can click on one by one to find the information they want.
DeepSeek's responses are more natural and easy to understand when it gets it right. However, like every other AI, DeepSeek’s result should come with the disclaimer—” AI can make mistakes; verify the information.”
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