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.
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.
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