In one sentence
Grounded search is when an AI assistant looks up live web results before it answers, instead of relying only on what it learned in training, so the pages it finds today can shape what it tells shoppers.
How grounded search works
The shopper asks a question. The assistant runs one or more web searches, reads the top results, and writes an answer from what it found. Grounded answers usually link the pages they used.
Without grounding, the assistant answers from its training data alone. That knowledge stops at a cutoff date and can't see a page you published last week.
Grounded search vs. training data
Why grounded search matters for ecommerce brands
Grounding is the fast lane into AI answers. If an assistant searches before it answers, a clear, well-ranked page can get your brand named without waiting for the next model release.
It also means the pages that rank in classic search often become the pages AI reads. SEO still feeds AI visibility.
How to get picked up by grounded search
- Let AI crawlers in. Check your robots.txt.
- Answer the shopper question in the first lines of the page.
- Keep prices, stock and specs accurate and marked up with structured data.
- Earn mentions on the review and roundup pages assistants tend to cite.
Grounded search FAQs
Which AI assistants use grounded search?
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity can all search the web. Whether a given answer is grounded depends on the product, the settings and the question, so the same assistant can do both.
How can I tell if an answer was grounded?
Look for links or citations in the answer. A list of sources usually means the assistant searched before it wrote.
Does grounded search replace SEO?
No. Grounded answers start with a search, so ranking pages still get read first. SEO gets you found. Clear answers get you named.
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