Which term describes a search tool that queries multiple databases at once?

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A metasearch engine is designed to query multiple databases or search engines at once and then present a combined set of results. This means you can search several sources in a single query, instead of running separate searches in each database. Metasearch tools typically don’t host their own full index; they forward your query to partner engines or databases and then aggregate the results, sometimes harmonizing ranking to help you compare across sources.

This differs from a web browser, which pulls pages from individual websites you visit; a social media platform, which focuses on sharing and interacting within a network rather than comprehensive database searching; and an image search engine, which concentrates on locating image results rather than querying multiple databases for diverse content.