In more detail
Imagine someone asks: "What's the best way to get my café found online, and how much should I spend on it?" A classic search engine treats that as one long query. A system using query fan-out might break it into separate searches, such as local SEO for cafés, Google Business Profile tips, typical SEO costs for small businesses and social media for hospitality, then write one answer drawing on pages from each.
Google's documentation on AI features in Search says both AI Overviews and AI Mode may use this technique to find a wider and more varied set of supporting pages than a normal search would show. Other AI search tools that retrieve pages before answering work in similar ways.
That has some practical effects:
- A page can be cited for a sub-topic even if it would never rank for the full question.
- Covering the related questions around a topic, clearly and in separate sections, gives a page more chances to match one of the hidden searches.
- Clear headings and direct answers make it easier for a system to pull the right passage.
This lines up with good content practice anyway: understand the search intent behind a topic, answer the follow-up questions people actually have, and build topical authority rather than chasing single keywords.
Why it matters when hiring an agency
You can't see the exact searches an AI system fans out to, so any agency claiming to "target fan-out queries" precisely is guessing. A sensible agency will instead map the questions your customers ask around each service and make sure your pages answer them well. Ask to see that question research.