# Grounded Response Generation

> Grounded response generation is the final step of an AI answer: the model synthesises model knowledge and model context — user question, personalisation, media and all grounding snippets — into a text with citations.

Source: https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/grounded-response-generation/
Published: 2026-09-03
May be quoted with attribution and a link to the source.

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Grounded response generation is the step in which an AI system produces the actual answer from everything it has available. The language model combines its [model knowledge](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/model-knowledge/) with the model context: the user question, personalisation, attached media and all [grounding snippets](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/grounding-snippets/) that the web search has delivered. The result is a text with brand mentions and source references built in.

## How does grounded response generation work?

The four steps before it, [web search](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/web-search/), [initial retrieval](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/initial-retrieval/), [re-ranking](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/re-ranking/) and snippet extraction, fill the context. The model then generates an answer token by token that fits this context. Snippets that provide a concrete, verifiable statement are cited; snippets that merely confirm flow in without being named. Because the model works stochastically, this selection turns out slightly differently with every request.

## Why does grounded response generation matter for AI visibility?

This is where it is decided whether your brand appears in the answer ([mention](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/mention/)) and whether your page appears as a source ([citation](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/citation/)). The two are different outcomes: a brand can be mentioned from model knowledge without any page being cited, and a page can be cited without the brand playing a role in the answer text. What gets cited is what carries a statement that other sources do not provide.

## What does this mean for your website?

Provide passages that say something of your own: a concrete figure, your own survey, an experience that appears nowhere else ([information gain](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/information-gain/)). And name your brand and your products explicitly in these passages, so that the mention enters the context together with the evidence. A passage that answers a question well but says "we" instead of the company name gets cited without the brand being named.