FAQ

What is Sifte?

Sifte is a human-curated search engine. It is built to help people discover real websites again, not just read summaries and never click.

How is Sifte different from Google?

Google is a crawler-first, index-everything machine. It is built around scale, ads, and automation. It has to be.

Sifte is the opposite. We do not crawl the web. We do not try to index everything. Each search phrase is intentionally small, and the results are there because a real person reviewed them and decided they belong.

Do you use AI summaries?

No. Sifte is not trying to replace the page. If you want a chat tool, ChatGPT and Claude already exist and they do that job well. Search should send people to websites. That is the point.

Do you crawl the web or run a big index?

No. Sifte does not crawl. We keep the system small on purpose. The web does not need another infinite index stuffed with SEO noise.

Why are there fewer results?

Because fewer results can be better results. When you are human-curating, you are making a judgment call. You are saying, "These are the sites worth seeing for this phrase."

How do results get added?

A person reviews the site, checks the fit for the phrase, and decides whether it belongs. For obvious official sites and major brands, we include the clear source. For everything else, we rely on human review before it shows up.

What is “paid review” and is it pay-to-rank?

Paid review pays for time. It does not buy placement. It does not guarantee ranking. It is a way to keep Sifte honest about what it is: a small system where a human has to actually look at the site and make a decision.

Can I submit my site?

Yes. Use the submission form and we will review it for the phrase you care about. If it is a fit, it can be added. If it is not a fit, it will not. Either way, you get a real decision from a real person.

Submit here: Submit a site for review

Do you track me like big search engines?

Sifte is built to be simple. We are not trying to be your identity provider, your ad network, and your browser all at the same time. If you ever see Sifte drifting into surveillance behavior, call it out. That is the whole point of building something smaller.

If you need legal-level privacy policy language, that will live on a dedicated page. This FAQ is the plain-English intent.

What if I do not see what I want?

That is the tradeoff. A curated system will never cover the entire web, and that is not the goal. If you want exhaustive coverage, use Google. If you want fewer results with more judgment, use Sifte.