What isAI search?
In AI search your customers read a finished answer first, and only then decide whether to open a link.
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Check your AI visibility or call: +49 151 1576 5566AI search describes search features that return a written AI answer with links to websites instead of only a list of results. At Google that includes AI Overviews and AI Mode, outside Google for example web search in ChatGPT and Perplexity. Whether your company appears in such an answer is measured differently from a position in a results list.
- The answer is based on current web pages, which Google calls grounding.
- ChatGPT searches the web only when needed, Perplexity does so for every question.
- Success is measured by mentions, citations and correct statements, not just by rankings.
How AI search brings your customers to you in a different way
In classic search you see a list and decide for yourself which result to open. In AI search you first read a finished answer that often names only a handful of brands, and the links it relies on sit below or beside it. If you are not named there, you are out before the first click, and no ranking report will show it.
Google breaks a question into subtopics and runs several related searches. Your page can therefore be cited even if it only answers one sub-question well, which to us is honestly the good news here.
Which crawlers must reach your pages for AI search
ChatGPT answers either from its model knowledge or searches the web when needed, and only then does it link the pages it relied on. For that search the OAI-SearchBot crawler has to be allowed to read your pages (GPTBot only collects data for training). Perplexity, according to its own help pages, searches the web in real time for every question, and its index is filled by PerplexityBot.
What AI search changes in your SEO work and what stays
The foundation is still classic SEO, and Google's own guide says that optimising for generative search is still SEO. What is new is really the goal and the yardstick. It is less about position one and more about whether your brand appears in the answer at all, whether it is cited as a source and whether what is said about you is correct.
Frequently asked questions
What is AI search and how does it differ from classic Google search?
AI search returns a written answer with links instead of only a list of results. At Google, it rests on the same ranking and quality systems as classic search, according to Google.
Can you rank first in ChatGPT?
There is no fixed ranking list in ChatGPT like there is on Google. Every answer is written anew, so a better goal is to be named and linked in as many relevant answers as possible.
Terms you should know in the same context
AI Mode (Google) · AI Overviews · AI visibility · OAI-SearchBot · GEO (generative engine optimization) · Back to the AI glossary A to Z
In AI search the longest page does not win, the one that answers a question clearly and is confirmed by others does.