AEO GlossaryDefinition

Grounding

Tying an AI response to verifiable external sources or data.

What it means

Grounding is the process of anchoring an AI model's output to real, verifiable sources, such as retrieved documents, structured data, or a knowledge base, rather than relying solely on the model's internal parameters. Well-grounded answers are more accurate and are more likely to include citations. For brands, providing clear, factual, machine-readable content increases the odds of being used as a grounding source.