An answer engine is a search tool that replies to a question with a written answer, rather than a list of links. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews are examples: each names a few businesses in one written reply, so a business is either in the answer or invisible to the person asking.
Examples
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and Claude and Grok with web search on, plus Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode inside Google Search.
Why it matters for a business
An answer engine names a handful of businesses and moves on. Customers who ask it never see a ranked list, so the question becomes whether you are in the answer at all.
How AEOHIT measures them
AEOHIT measures seven answer engines. Five are captured as signed-out users see them through industry data providers; Claude and Grok are asked through their makers’ official APIs with web search on, so their answers can differ from the consumer apps.