What is AI Search Results?

AI Search Results are search outputs that include AI-generated summaries or conversational answers, often alongside links and citations. AI Search Results can appear as AI overviews, chat-style results, or answer panels.

Quick definition

AI Search Results are search results that include an AI-written answer instead of only a list of links.

How AI Search Results works

  • AI Search Results typically combine retrieval of sources with generation of a summary or answer.
  • AI Search Results may show citations, source attribution, or links, depending on the interface.
  • AI Search Results can be influenced by query intent, contextual relevance, and trust signals.
  • AI Search Results may result in zero-click search behavior when the answer is complete.

Why AI Search Results matters

AI Search Results matters because AI interfaces can change what content is surfaced and how traffic is distributed.

AI Search Results affects:

  • which sources receive clicks when citations are present
  • how entities are represented in generated answers
  • how SEO foundations and AEO practices translate into visibility

Example use cases

  • Auditing which pages are cited in AI search results for product comparison queries.
  • Publishing pages that answer specific questions with clear headings and structured data.
  • Monitoring changes in answer ranking across repeated runs for the same prompt.

Related terms