Glossary
What is grounding in AI?
Grounding is when an AI system bases its answer on information it was given or retrieved, rather than on what it learned in training alone. It is the reason many AI answers now carry source links.
What grounding means
A large language model learns patterns from training data up to a cut-off date. Without help, it answers from those patterns alone. Grounding gives it fresh information to work from at the moment it answers.
Google's crawler documentation describes grounding as providing content from the Google Search index to the model at prompt time. A prompt is the question or instruction sent to an assistant. Google says the aim is to improve factuality and relevance.
How grounding with web search works
The AI companies document similar steps. Anthropic says Claude decides when to search based on the prompt, then the search runs and the results come back. This can repeat several times before a final answer with its sources.
Some systems run several searches for one question. Google says AI Overviews may use query fan-out to build a response. Query fan-out means issuing several related searches across subtopics behind a single question.
Grounding and citations
Grounding is what makes citations possible. A citation is a source link attached to an answer. In a grounded answer, the system can tie a span of text to the page it came from.
OpenAI separates citations from sources. Its inline citations show the most relevant references, while a separate list holds every address the model consulted. OpenAI says that list is often longer than the citations.
How Carqo relates to grounding
Source analytics in Carqo is built to list the websites and pages that AI answers link to for your tracked prompts. A tracked prompt is a prompt selected for repeated checks.
Every count opens onto recorded answers. Each answer page shows the question asked, the answer text and the sources it gave. Where the assistant reported them, you also see the searches it ran and pages it read without linking.
In practice
- Save the full answer Keep the exact question, the answer text and every source link. Note the date and the assistant used.
- Open each cited page Find the passage the answer seems to rely on, not just the page title. Read the passage in full.
- Compare the claims Mark each statement as supported, unsupported or contradicted by the page linked beside it.
Common questions
Does grounding stop AI answers being wrong?
No. It gives the model better information to work from, but the model still summarises it. Check each claim against the page the answer links to.
Can I stop my site being used for grounding?
Some companies document controls. Google says Google-Extended in robots.txt manages use of crawled content for grounding in some Gemini products. Other AI companies document their own crawler names and controls separately. Read each company's crawler page before you change anything.
Are all AI answers grounded?
No. Anthropic says its model searches when a request depends on current or changing information. Without a search or supplied documents, an answer comes from training alone.
Does grounding stop AI answers being wrong?
No. It gives the model better information to work from, but the model still summarises it. Check each claim against the page the answer links to.
Can I stop my site being used for grounding?
Some companies document controls. Google says Google-Extended in robots.txt manages use of crawled content for grounding in some Gemini products. Other AI companies document their own crawler names and controls separately. Read each company's crawler page before you change anything.
Are all AI answers grounded?
No. Anthropic says its model searches when a request depends on current or changing information. Without a search or supplied documents, an answer comes from training alone.
Sources
- Google, Google's common crawlers, Google-Extended Link checked 29 October 2026
- Anthropic, Web search tool Link checked 29 October 2026
- OpenAI, Web search Link checked 29 October 2026
- Google, AI features and your website Link checked 29 October 2026