AI search
Finding information by asking an AI tool, which writes an answer, instead of scanning a list of links.
In plain English
AI search covers ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot and the AI answers now built into Google and Bing. The tool reads sources, sums them up and often names the businesses it trusts. For a buyer, the answer is the result. For a business, being in that answer is the new top spot.
In practice
A homeowner asks ChatGPT “who installs heat pumps near Asheville?” and gets three company names with a sentence on each, without opening a single website.
Related terms
AI search basicsStarter Answer engine Any tool that replies with a written answer instead of a list of links, like ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini. In practice, and related terms → AI search basicsStarter AI Overview The AI-written summary Google shows above its normal results, with a handful of linked sources. In practice, and related terms → AI search basicsStarter Generative engine optimizationGEO Earning a place in the longer answers, comparisons and shortlists that AI tools write. In practice, and related terms →