glossary
Retrieval
Selecting information to use for a particular question or task.
Scope
Editorial guidance for English-language marketing teams. Examples are illustrative, not measured results. No citation, ranking, traffic, or revenue outcome is guaranteed.
Meaning
Retrieval is the process of finding or selecting information relevant to a task. In an AI-search discussion it may refer to finding pages, passages, or other records for an answer. It is distinct from the words ultimately generated for the user.
Why the distinction matters
A retrieved page need not become a visible citation, and a visible answer alone may not reveal everything that was retrieved. Use “not cited in this answer” when that is the observation; avoid asserting “not retrieved” without access to evidence about retrieval.
Practical use
Make a page’s topic and applicability clear, then inspect the observable result. Do not claim to know a private retrieval algorithm from one response.
Sources
Read the original material. A source link is not, by itself, proof of a claim.