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

GlossaryAI in MarketingRetrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

AI in Marketing

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

Grounding an AI model's answers in retrieved documents or data.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is a technique that grounds an AI model's answers in documents or data retrieved at the time of a query. The system first searches a knowledge source, such as product documentation or a database, then passes relevant passages to the model. This improves accuracy, reduces hallucinations, and keeps answers current.