What is AI Search?
AI search describes search experiences powered by generative AI that return a synthesized, conversational answer with citations — ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Google AI Mode — rather than a ranked list of links to click through.
AI search is the umbrella term for the new generation of search products where the primary result is a written answer, not a ranked list. ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Google's AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot and DuckDuckGo's AI features all fall under it: a user asks a question in natural language, and gets back a synthesized paragraph or two with sources cited, often with room for a conversational follow-up.
The behavioral shift matters more than the technology. Classic search trained users to scan ten results and pick one; AI search trains users to read one answer and, increasingly, accept it without checking the sources at all. That collapses the competitive field from "be in the top ten" to "be one of the two or three things mentioned by name" — a much higher bar, and one where a brand can go from ranking #3 organically to being completely absent from the AI answer for the same query.
Each AI search product has its own retrieval stack, its own crawler, and its own citation behavior, so visibility isn't a single score — it's a portfolio, tracked engine by engine, which is exactly what prompt tracking and share-of-voice measurement exist to do.