Query Fan-Out: the searches AI models run to answer prompts
When ChatGPT or another AI model answers a question, it frequently runs several internal web searches to gather information first. Those internal searches are called fan-out queries, and they are a goldmine: they show the exact phrasing AI models use to research your category.
With Query Fan-Out, you can:
- See the real internal search queries ChatGPT and other models run while answering your prompts
- Turn high-frequency fan-out queries into a keyword list your content should target
- Check who ranks for each fan-out query today and spot the ones where your site is missing
- Uncover the narrow, specific sub-questions that never rank on Google but decide AI answers
Find it under Prompt Insights > Query Fan Out in the sidebar. Available on all plans.
Query Fan Out is available in embedded portals and only shows queries from the embedded project.
What it does
- Lists the internal search queries AI models executed while answering your tracked prompts
- Example: for the prompt "how to run targeted ads", ChatGPT might internally search "targeted local advertising strategies"
- Fan-out queries are also visible inside each individual response detail view, so you can see what was searched for one specific answer
- Click any query to open its Google or Bing results and see which pages currently win that search
How to use it
- Open Prompt Insights > Query Fan Out
- Filter by date range, tag, country, or language to focus on a topic area
- Look for recurring fan-out queries across many prompts; these are the searches AI models rely on most in your category
- Check who ranks for those queries today. If your site is absent, that is a concrete content gap: a page targeting that query has a direct path into AI answers.
How many fan-out queries are normal?
It varies more than you might expect. AI models frequently run several internal searches for one answer, but an execution can also surface just one, or none at all. The count depends on the model and on whether the provider exposes its internal searches, so seeing a single fan-out query on a prompt is normal, not a tracking problem. Coverage also differs per AI model, which is why some models contribute many more fan-out queries than others.
Tips & notes
- Fan-out queries often differ from the original prompt phrasing. Optimizing only for the prompt wording misses the searches the model actually runs.
- Treat high-frequency fan-out queries as a keyword research source alongside your traditional SEO tools
- The fan-out data is exportable from the Exports page (User Menu > Exports), and it is included in the Master XLSX export