Generative engine
A generative engine is a search tool that writes its own answer from the sources it finds, like ChatGPT search, Perplexity or Google AI Mode.
A generative engine is a search tool that writes its own answer to a question, using pages it finds on the web, instead of just listing those pages. ChatGPT with search, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI Mode all work this way.
The term comes from research. A 2023 paper used it to name the systems it studied, and in doing so coined generative engine optimization, or GEO. Most people outside research say answer engine or AI search, and they mean the same thing.
How it works
A generative engine usually does three things. It searches the web, sometimes running several searches for one question. It reads the pages it found. Then it writes an answer in its own words, often with links to some of the pages it used.
For example, ask "which coffee subscription lets you pause anytime?" and a generative engine might search for coffee subscriptions, read a few review articles and the subscription pages of Fernhill Coffee and Kestrel Roasters, and write that both let you pause from your account, with links to their pages.
How it differs from a search engine
A search engine ranks pages and leaves the reading to you. A generative engine does the reading for you and decides what to tell you. That shifts the question for a brand from "where do I rank?" to "do I get named, and what's said about me?"
It also means two people can get different answers to the same question, since the generative engine writes each answer fresh.
In AnswerOrbit
The six platforms we ask every day, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, are all generative engines. How we count shows which ones always search the web and which decide for themselves.