AI search
AI search is a program you ask questions in plain language, like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Perplexity, which writes you an answer instead of handing you a list of links.
In a little more detail
The difference that matters for a business is the shape of what comes back. A search engine returns a list you can be anywhere on. AI search returns a few sentences that name two or three companies, and there is no position eleven. Either you are in the sentence or you are absent from it.
Related terms
- Generative engine: A generative engine is software that writes a new answer to your question rather than retrieving an existing page for you to read.
- Citation: A citation is a link or source name AI search shows next to its answer to indicate where a piece of information came from.
See it on your own site
The scan reads your site the way AI search does and reports where you stand on this and sixteen other checks.