ChatGPT
OpenAI's assistant searches the web for many questions and links its sources in search answers.
You getRelies on: OAI-SearchBot access, search partners
AI Answer Engines · USA
AI answer engines, and how the six compare
An answer engine replies with a written answer instead of a list of links. Here's what that means, and where each of the six major platforms gets its information.
- 6 AI platforms
- 60 buyer prompts
- No obligation
One buyer question, six answer engines
What should I look for in a commercial lease in Columbus, Ohio?
ChatGPTNamed
AI OverviewsNamed
AI ModeNot named
GeminiWrong hours
PerplexityNamed
CopilotNot named
In short
AI answer engines are tools that respond to a question with a written answer, often citing sources, instead of a ranked list of links. The six that matter most for US businesses are ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot. They draw on different indexes and crawlers, so a business can be visible in one and missing from another.
- Platforms we track
- Six
- Grounded in Google
- AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini
- Grounded in Bing
- Microsoft Copilot
- Own search crawlers
- OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot
Why it matters
What makes an AI answer engine different from a search engine
ChatGPTAI OverviewsAI ModeGeminiPerplexityCopilot
A search engine hands you options and lets you choose. An answer engine reads sources on your behalf and gives you its summary, sometimes with links, sometimes with only a few names. For a buyer, that is faster. For a business, it means the selection happens before anyone visits your website, and the criteria behind it aren't the same ones you've been tracking in a rank report.
The scale is real. Google reports AI Overviews at more than 2 billion monthly users (Google, 2025) and the Gemini app at 950 million (Google, Q2 2026), while OpenAI has reported more than 900 million weekly ChatGPT users (as reported Feb 2026). Those figures come from the companies themselves and are measured in different ways, so treat them as a sense of scale rather than a league table.
How it works
How AI answer engines put an answer together
The details differ by platform, but most follow a similar sequence.
- 01
Interpret the question
The system works out what's being asked, including location and intent, and may split it into several smaller searches.
- 02
Retrieve sources
It pulls candidate pages from an index or a live crawl, whether that's Google's index, Bing, or the platform's own crawler.
- 03
Write the answer
A language model summarizes what it found, blending retrieved sources with what it learned in training.
- 04
Show citations
Most platforms link some of their sources. Which ones, and how prominently, varies from product to product.
What we do
The six AI answer engines compared
These are the six platforms we track for every client, and what each one depends on.
Google AI Overviews
AI-written summaries shown above the regular Google results for many searches.
You getRelies on: Google index, snippet eligibility
Google AI Mode
A conversational mode inside Google Search, built for longer questions and follow-ups.
You getRelies on: Google index, useful pages
Gemini
Google's assistant app, which grounds its answers in Google Search's index.
You getRelies on: Google indexing, entity facts
Perplexity
An answer engine built around live retrieval, with numbered citations under every answer.
You getRelies on: PerplexityBot access, freshness
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft's assistant, whose answers are grounded in Bing.
You getRelies on: Bing index, IndexNow
Side by side
Search engine vs answer engine
| Classic search engine | AI answer engine | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get back | A ranked list of links | A written answer, often with sources |
| Who does the reading | You | The AI system |
| How many businesses you see | Many, across pages of results | Usually only a few |
| Follow-up questions | A new search each time | A conversation that keeps context |
| What earns visibility | Rankings | Being retrieved, trusted and cited |
| What it's built on | Crawling and indexing | Crawling and indexing, plus a language model |
Answer engines still depend on the web being crawled, which is why SEO basics carry over.
Working with us
How to check your visibility across all six
No lock-in surprises. You see the plan, the work and the results.
Get an AEO quote- Phase 1
List your buyer questions
Write down the questions customers ask before they hire you, in their own words rather than keyword shorthand.
- Phase 2
Ask each platform
Run those questions in all six, ideally signed out and from the locations you serve.
- Phase 3
Record the pattern
Note who is named, which sources are cited, and how your business is described.
- Phase 4
Get a proper audit
Our AI Visibility Audit does this with 60 prompts, consistently, and turns the gaps into a prioritized fix list.
What is an AI answer engine?
It's a tool that answers questions in written form instead of showing a list of links. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode are the main examples.
Is ChatGPT a search engine?
Not in the classic sense, but ChatGPT search does look things up on the web and cite sources. For many buyers it now fills part of the role a search engine used to play.
Which AI answer engine matters most for my business?
It depends on your buyers. Google's AI features reach the largest audience by Google's own figures, while B2B buyers may lean on ChatGPT or Perplexity for research. We track all six so data, not assumptions, guides where you focus.
Do all AI answer engines use the same sources?
No. Gemini and Google's AI features rely on Google's index, Copilot is grounded in Bing, and ChatGPT and Perplexity run their own crawlers. That's why visibility can differ sharply between platforms.
Why does my business appear in one AI tool but not another?
Usually because of a difference in access or indexing: one crawler is blocked, or you're indexed well in Google but poorly in Bing. Gaps in content and reputation play a part too.
Are AI answer engines replacing Google?
Google is itself one of the biggest answer engines, through AI Overviews and AI Mode. The shift is less about leaving Google and more about answers replacing lists, on Google and everywhere else.
See how all six answer engines see you
Run the free AI visibility check for a quick read across the platforms your buyers use.