Cloudflare’s Web Search API makes it a gatekeeper for agent discovery
A new infrastructure layer routes agent searches, records demand and passes through provider pricing.
Cloudflare’s beta Web Search API lets agents query live web results through AI Gateway using one of three providers, either by REST API or a Workers AI binding. Requests appear in gateway logs and are billed at the selected provider’s list price with no Cloudflare markup, while all three launch providers support zero data retention and have committed to Cloudflare’s verified-bot crawling standards. By sitting between agents and search suppliers, Cloudflare gains influence over which discovery providers receive demand and how machine access to web information is logged and paid for.