Give Your AI Agent Live Web Search: Grounding LLM Answers

The fetch-then-cite pattern

Two functions: one fetches organic results, one turns them into a grounded prompt with numbered sources.

Python

# grounded_search.py
import requests

API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"

def search(q, num=10, gl="us", hl="en"):
    r = requests.get(
        "https://api.openwebninja.com/realtime-web-search/search",
        headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY},
        params={"q": q, "num": num, "gl": gl, "hl": hl},
        timeout=60,
    )
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()["data"]["organic_results"]

def grounded_prompt(question, results):
    sources = "\n".join(
        f"[{r['rank']}] {r['title']}\n    {r['url']}\n    {r['snippet']}"
        for r in results
    )
    return f"""Answer the question using ONLY the sources below.
Cite sources inline as [n]. If the sources do not contain the answer, say so.

Sources:
{sources}

Question: {question}
Answer:"""

if __name__ == "__main__":
    question = "What changed in EU AI Act enforcement in 2026?"
    print(grounded_prompt(question, search(question)))

Response (truncated, real capture)

Each organic result is small and citation-ready:

{
  "status": "OK",
  "data": {
    "organic_results": [
      {
        "rank": 1,
        "title": "AI Act | Shaping Europe's digital future - European Union",
        "url": "https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai",
        "domain": "digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu",
        "snippet": "The AI Act entered into force on 1 August 2024, and will be fully applicable 2 years later on 2 August 2026, with some exceptions: prohibited AI practices and ..."
      },
      {
        "rank": 2,
        "title": "AI Act Update: EU Resolves to Change Rules and Extend ...",
        "url": "https://www.lw.com/en/insights/ai-act-update-eu-resolves-to-change-rules-and-extend-deadlines",
        "domain": "www.lw.com",
        "snippet": "EU lawmakers have agreed to reduce overlap of rules, introduce new prohibitions, and extend deadlines for high-risk AI systems."
      }
    ],
    "has_ai_overviews": false
  }
}

Design notes from production use