Microsoft Teams Up with Cloudflare to Change Web Search Forever

Microsoft and Cloudflare are working together to transform regular websites into smart answer engines. This innovation aims to challenge Google’s long-standing dominance in search.

A New Way to Search

The goal of this partnership is to allow websites to act like conversational AI applications. Instead of searching through multiple links with keywords, users will be able to ask questions in natural language and get direct answers.

What are NLWeb and AutoRAG?

Microsoft is using its “NLWeb” standard alongside Cloudflare’s “AutoRAG” technology to create a better way to find information. R.V. Guha from Microsoft explains that this integration helps website owners make their sites ready for both humans and AI systems that can ask questions and receive structured answers.

Moving from Search Engines to Answer Engines

With this new system, any website can function like an AI app. This responds to growing user expectations shaped by tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, which give instant answers. Unlike traditional search engines that rely on keywords and require users to sift through pages, this new approach makes finding information more straightforward.

The Role of AI Agents

AI agents, which can automatically scrape pages for information, are becoming a new kind of visitor to websites. The partnership introduces a structured “MCP” (Managed Controlled Path) endpoint. This allows AI agents to access site data more efficiently and reduces the need for inefficient scraping methods. However, some questions remain. Website owners may face additional technical challenges, and it is uncertain whether they will see real benefits from these changes.

Cloudflare’s AutoRAG Technology

Cloudflare’s AutoRAG takes care of analyzing, indexing, and organizing website content in a database. It constantly updates the information to keep it current and allows website owners to see how their content is being accessed. However, this dependence on a third-party system raises concerns about costs and control over data.

Competition with Google

By positioning websites as main sources of data for AI tools, Microsoft and Cloudflare are directly competing with traditional search engines like Google. If new AI models increasingly rely on structured access, this could lead to significant changes in how people search online.

How to Get Started

For website owners looking to enable this new search feature through Cloudflare’s AutoRAG, the process is simple:

1. Log into the Cloudflare Dashboard.
2. Create a new AutoRAG instance using the NLWeb quick deploy option.
3. Choose the desired domain and start indexing.

Once set up, visitors can search the site using everyday language, and website owners can preview how the conversational interface will look.

Conclusion

The collaboration between Microsoft and Cloudflare has the potential to change how we interact with websites, making them smarter and more responsive. As this technology develops, it could redefine search engines and the way we find information online.