AI search engines are changing how people find information — and how your personal information gets found. Tools like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot do not just link to web pages. They synthesize answers from vast datasets that often include your name, address, phone number, and other personal details scraped from data broker sites, social media profiles, and public records. If you have ever searched your own name in an AI chatbot and been unsettled by what it knows, this guide will show you how to take back control.
How AI Search Engines Get Your Personal Information
Understanding the problem is the first step to solving it. AI search engines pull your data from several sources:
- Web scraping: AI models are trained on massive datasets built from publicly available web content. If your name, address, or phone number appears on a people-search site like Spokeo, Whitepages, Radaris, or BeenVerified, that information can be absorbed into an AI model's training data.
- Real-time retrieval: Some AI search tools — particularly Perplexity and Google AI Overviews — pull live information from the web to generate answers. Even if you were not part of the original training data, your information can appear in AI-generated responses if it exists on any indexed website.
- User-submitted data: Anything you type into an AI chatbot — your name, questions about your medical conditions, financial details — may be stored and used to train future models unless you explicitly opt out.
Your Data May Already Be Baked In
Once personal information is included in an AI model's training data, it generally cannot be removed retroactively. The model has already "learned" from it. This is why acting quickly matters — the sooner you reduce your public data footprint and opt out of training, the less of your information ends up permanently embedded in AI systems.
Step 1: Remove Your Data From the Source
The most impactful thing you can do is eliminate your personal information from the websites AI systems scrape. This means targeting data brokers — the companies that collect, package, and sell your personal details.
Key Data Broker Sites to Opt Out Of
- Spokeo
- Whitepages and Whitepages Premium
- BeenVerified
- Radaris
- Intelius
- FastPeopleSearch
- TruthFinder
- PeekYou
- MyLife
- FamilyTreeNow
Each site has its own opt-out process, and many are deliberately tedious — requiring you to submit forms, verify your identity, and then follow up weeks later. Worse, data brokers frequently re-list your information after you remove it.
This is where a service like PrivacyOn becomes essential. Rather than manually opting out of dozens of sites, PrivacyOn monitors over 100 data broker sites with 24/7 scanning, submits removal requests on your behalf, and continuously checks to make sure your data stays removed. Plans start at $8.33 per month and include family coverage for up to five people — so you can protect your entire household from AI data exposure.
Step 2: Opt Out of AI Training on Major Platforms
Even after you clean up your public data, you should prevent the AI platforms themselves from using your conversations and inputs to train their models.
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
By default, OpenAI uses your ChatGPT conversations to train its models — this applies to Free, Plus, and Pro plans. To opt out:
- Click your profile icon and go to Settings.
- Select Data Controls.
- Toggle off "Improve the model for everyone."
You can also use Temporary Chat mode for conversations that will not be saved or used for training. Note that even after opting out, OpenAI may retain deleted data for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring and legal compliance.
Perplexity AI
Perplexity trains on user data by default for Free, Pro, and Max plans. To opt out:
- Click your account name in the sidebar.
- Scroll to the Account section.
- Turn off the "AI Data Retention" toggle under Preferences.
To delete existing data, you can request full account deletion through Settings or by emailing support@perplexity.ai.
Google Gemini and AI Overviews
Google AI Overviews appear automatically in search results and cannot be fully disabled. However, you can reduce your exposure:
- Opt out of Gemini training: Go to your Google Account > Data & Privacy > Gemini Apps Activity, and pause the setting.
- Use the "Web" filter: After searching on Google, click the "Web" tab to see traditional results without AI-generated summaries.
- Use browser extensions: Tools like the "Ten Blue Links" extension help filter out AI overlays.
Microsoft Copilot
Copilot pulls data from Bing, Edge, MSN, and your Microsoft account by default. To limit this:
- Open Copilot and click your profile icon.
- Go to Memory > Microsoft usage data and toggle it off.
- Click "Delete all memory" to remove existing stored data.
- In the Copilot mobile app, go to Account > Privacy and disable "Training on conversation activity" and "Training on voice conversations."
Enable Global Privacy Control (GPC)
Global Privacy Control is a browser-level signal that automatically tells websites not to sell or share your data. It is supported by browsers like Firefox and Brave, and by extensions like Privacy Badger. Under laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act, websites are legally required to honor GPC signals. Enabling it adds a baseline layer of protection across every site you visit, including those that feed data to AI systems.
Step 3: Request Removal From Google Search Results
Even if AI training is your primary concern, traditional search results feed AI answers. Google allows you to request removal of specific personal information from its search results, including:
- Phone numbers and email addresses
- Home addresses
- Bank account and credit card numbers
- Government-issued ID numbers
- Confidential medical records
- Handwritten signatures
To submit a request, go to Google's "Results About You" tool in your Google Account settings or use the removal request form at support.google.com. Google reviews each request and typically responds within a few days. Note that this removes the result from Google Search — the source website must separately delete the actual content.
Step 4: Clean Up Social Media and Public Profiles
AI models scrape social media aggressively. Reduce your exposure by:
- Auditing privacy settings on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter). Set profiles to private where possible.
- Removing old posts that contain personal details like your birthday, location, workplace, or family members' names.
- Deleting unused accounts. Old forums, dating profiles, and abandoned social media accounts are easy targets for scrapers.
- Searching for yourself regularly. Run your name through Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Bing Copilot periodically to see what information surfaces, and take action on anything new.
Step 5: Stay Protected Going Forward
Removing your information from AI search engines is not a one-time task. Data brokers re-list profiles, new AI models train on fresh data, and your digital footprint expands every time you interact online. Ongoing vigilance is critical.
PrivacyOn offers continuous protection with 24/7 monitoring of over 100 data broker sites, automatic re-removal when your data reappears, and dark web monitoring to catch leaked information before it spreads further. With family plans covering up to five people, you can ensure that everyone in your household stays protected as AI systems continue to grow more powerful and more invasive.
The AI search landscape is evolving rapidly, but your right to control your personal information is not going away. The steps in this guide give you a practical framework to minimize your exposure — starting today.