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When AI Started Searching

Memory answers from weights. Search answers from retrieved fragments. AIB scores them separately.

Parametric memory answers from weights. Grounded AI search answers from retrieved evidence — then language.

  1. SearchA query is issued to a live index or tool.
  2. RetrievePages and snippets come back as candidates.
  3. InterpretThe model reads those fragments, not your whole site.
  4. SynthesizeIt writes an answer in natural language.
  5. CiteSome systems attach sources. Some do not.

That is why SEO, GEO and AEO are colliding. Ranking a page is not the same as being used in an answer.

GEO · AEO · Methodology

AIB Classification: These tiers are an educational framework created by AIB to explain changes in AI capabilities. They are not an industry-standard classification and eras overlap.

Citations are ordinary editorial links to primary sources. They are not partnerships, sponsorships, or endorsements.

What does AI know about your organization?

History explains the ecosystem. An investigation shows where you sit inside it.

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