Claude is one of the AI models Gumshoe tracks in your Visibility Audit (formerly known as a report). Claude's live web search is now available on Pro project subscriptions. This article explains how Claude generates its answers, how to include its live search in your Visibility Audit, and what to expect if you don't.
How does Claude answer questions?
Claude uses a combination of its foundational (training) knowledge and live web search. It decides on its own when to search the web and when to answer from what it already knows, so most answers blend both.
How do I include Claude's live search in my Visibility Audit?
On a Pro plan, Claude with live search appears as its own selectable model option alongside the standard Claude models: "Claude Opus 4.8 (Web Search)" and "Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Web Search)." Select it like any other model when setting up a project or editing an existing one's models.
What's the difference between Claude and Claude (Web Search)?
The standard Claude options reflect Claude's foundational training knowledge only, the same as before. The (Web Search) options let Claude search the live web before answering, so your Visibility Audit can capture what Claude says when it's actively pulling in current information, not just what it learned during training.
Is this available on Starter?
No. Claude's live web search is available on Pro only.
Can my content still show up in Claude without live search?
Yes. Claude's foundational knowledge refreshes on a training cycle, so strong content and third-party mentions can land you in Claude over time. We have seen client content picked up by Claude within a few months of publishing, which suggests those cycles are moving faster than they used to.
One thing to focus on: keep publishing high-quality content and earning mentions. If you're not running Claude's live search option, watch Perplexity as your early indicator; live-search models like Perplexity tend to reflect new content first, while foundational-only models follow on their own cycle. If you do have Claude's live search selected, you'll see it reflect new content faster too.