What is Generative engine?

A generative engine is an AI system that answers a query by synthesising a single response from multiple retrieved sources, rather than returning a ranked list of links for the user to choose from.

How it works

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews are all generative engines. Each retrieves candidate content, reranks it, and generates an answer that names a few sources. The user reads the answer, not the underlying pages.

Crucially, each engine retrieves and ranks differently, so they cite different sources for the same question. In rawmktg's analysis only 11% of domains were cited by both ChatGPT and Perplexity for the same query, which is why a single engine cannot be treated as the whole market.

Generative engine vs search engine

A search engine indexes pages and returns a ranked list of links. A generative engine reads those pages and returns a synthesised answer with citations. The first sends you traffic by position; the second sends you influence by being named in the answer.

Why it matters for B2B

Buyers increasingly start in a generative engine, not a search box. If your brand is not among the sources the engine names, you are not in the consideration set, regardless of how you rank in classic search.