Glossary
Fan-out query
Definition
A fan-out query is one of the web searches an AI engine runs in the background to answer a single prompt; one question can fan out into several searches.
Why it matters
AI engines with web search don't look up your prompt word for word. Google says AI Mode uses a “query fan-out” technique: it breaks a question into subtopics and searches for each at the same time. ChatGPT shows the searches it ran. The pages found for those searches become the sources of the answer.
How to use fan-out queries
- Read the searches behind your important prompts: they show which aspects (price, reviews, alternatives) AI checks.
- Make sure a page of yours, or a page that names you, answers each of them.
- Watch them over time: they change when the engine's model changes.
In kennt.ai
kennt.ai stores the web searches ChatGPT ran for each answer and, for Claude (Advanced), the searches the model sent.
Related
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