AI glossary · Generative AI and LLMs
Grounding
Grounding means tying an AI’s answer to specific, trusted sources, such as search results or your documents, instead of relying only on what it memorised.
Also called grounded generation
In more detail
A grounded answer is based on material the model was given for that question, and often shows citations so you can check it. Retrieval-augmented generation is a common way to do this.
Grounding reduces hallucinations but doesn’t remove them: the model can still misread a source or the source can be wrong.
Example
An AI search tool answers “What time does the museum open?” by quoting the museum’s website and linking to it.
Related terms
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) makes AI answers more accurate by first looking up relevant information, then having the model answer using it.AI hallucinationAn AI hallucination is when an AI confidently gives an answer that is false or made up, such as a fake fact, quote or source.AI search engineAn AI search engine answers your question directly in a written summary built from web pages, instead of only showing a list of links.Knowledge cutoffA knowledge cutoff is the approximate date after which an AI model has no information, because its training data stops there.
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