# AI Answer

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing your online presence to appear in AI-generated answers.

### Brand Mentions and Search Queries

AI models don’t answer questions in isolation. They break each prompt into multiple background search queries - we call this the **query fanout** - and then synthesize results into a single answer. Sitefire tracks which brands get mentioned and every search query the AI generates behind the scenes.

### Sourced Pages and Citations

For each AI answer, Sitefire identifies the **sourced pages** the model pulled information from and the **citations** it included in the response. A single page can be cited multiple times within one answer - each citation is tracked separately.