xAI · last updated 2026-05-27
Grok
Grok is xAI's chatbot, originally exclusive to X (Twitter) Premium subscribers and broadly accessible at grok.com from 2025. Grok 3 introduced DeepSearch in early 2025, a multi-step research mode that crawls the web and assembles long-form cited answers. Distinctive feature: heavy weighting of real-time X (Twitter) posts as a grounding source, which gives Grok citation behaviour unlike any other major engine. Strong on breaking news, weak on long-tail editorial content where X conversation is sparse.
Grounding model
Hybrid retrieval combining standard web crawl with privileged access to X (Twitter) firehose data. DeepSearch mode runs multi-turn agentic retrieval: the model formulates sub-queries, retrieves, evaluates, and iterates before answering. Standard mode is more lightweight, grounding when the model judges current information is needed.
Citation style
Inline numbered citation chips plus a sources panel that distinguishes web sources from X posts. Each X post citation includes author handle and timestamp; web citations show title and domain. Click-through opens in a new tab.
What it rewards
- Content that's actively discussed on X around the same topic (boosts retrieval probability)
- Recent dates and breaking-news relevance
- Strong author presence on X with a credible profile (entity disambiguation favours linkable X presence)
- Direct, declarative writing that survives Grok's quotation style
What it penalizes
- Editorial-only content with no corresponding X discussion (cited less than peers with X presence)
- Pages blocked from xAI's crawler
- Heavily SEO-formulaic content (Grok's style tends to prefer more direct sources)