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The Madison Avenue Field GuideA field guide to marketing & advertising, by Brandon Mina

GlossaryAI in MarketingAI Search (AI Overviews)

AI in Marketing

AI Search (AI Overviews)

Search experiences that return AI-generated summaries instead of, or above, links.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

AI search refers to search experiences that answer queries with AI-generated summaries instead of, or above, a list of links. Google's AI Overviews is the best-known example, alongside tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT search. These summaries can reduce clicks to websites, so brands now optimize to be cited within the generated answers themselves.