AI Search Engine
An AI search engine such as Perplexity or Google's AI Mode answers a query directly with a response written by a language model and backed by sources, instead of (only) showing a ranked list of links.
In practice
Alongside classic search rankings, appearing as a cited source in these AI-generated answers is becoming a visibility goal in its own right. Clear, well-structured and factually verifiable content is the precondition for qualifying as a citable source at all – which is what AEO and GEO strategies aim at. The providers do not, however, publish any reliable account of the criteria by which individual AI search engines choose their sources.