Glossary · Technical
Retrieval-Augmented Search
The search step that runs before an AI platform generates an answer — fetching relevant pages or passages so the model can ground its response in current, external content.
How it fits together
Retrieval-augmented search is the same underlying mechanism as retrieval-augmented generation, applied specifically to the moment a consumer AI product decides what to look up. A query comes in, the system runs one or more searches, and the results get pulled into the model's context before it writes anything.
Why it matters for AI visibility
This is the step that determines the candidate pool a brand has to be in before it can even be considered for a mention. If a page never surfaces in the retrieval step — because it's not indexed, not well-matched to the query, or outranked by other sources — it has no chance of influencing the generated answer, no matter how good the content is.
See more terms in the full glossary, or read the AI Visibility 101 guide for the full picture.