# 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](/blogs/why-engines-recommend-different-vendors), 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.

**Common mistake**

Optimising for one engine and assuming the rest follow. They retrieve and rank differently: only 11% of domains were cited by both ChatGPT and Perplexity for the same query, so winning one is no guarantee of the others.

*Source: https://rawmktg.com/glossary/generative-engine · rawmktg. by Vinayak Ravi*