What is AI Search?
AI search is when a person asks an AI assistant a question and gets a synthesized answer, rather than a list of links to click. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's AI Overviews read across sources and return one response, often naming specific brands and citing some pages.
How AI search differs from classic search
Classic search returns ranked links and lets the user decide. AI search does the reading and summarizing, then hands back an answer. That moves the competition from ranking on a results page to being named inside the answer itself.
Why it matters for brands
If a buyer's question is answered without your brand appearing, there is no blue link to earn the click, because there may be no link at all. Being present, accurate, and recommended inside the answer becomes the goal.