Answer engine
A system that responds to a question with a synthesized answer rather than a page of links.
An answer engine reads a question, gathers relevant sources, and writes a direct response. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's AI Overviews all work this way, even though they differ in how much they browse the live web.
The shift matters because the unit of visibility changes. There is often no ranking to hold. There is one answer, and your brand is either named in it or it is not.