The Fifth Search Intent Is Generative: Here’s How to Get Seen

How people search and what they expect from search has changed more in the last year than in the previous decade.

If you’re still planning your content around the four classic search intents, you’re missing where real users (and Floyi power users) are headed.

I see it every week in Floyi’s SERP Insights, AIRS Analyzer and user feedback: people aren’t just looking for information or options. They want the outcome delivered instantly, ready to use. 

Not “How do I create a gut health meal plan?” but “Build me a week-long gut health meal plan, complete with a grocery list.” 

If your content can’t deliver, it gets ignored – by both users and AI search engines.

This isn’t a subtle shift. It’s changing who shows up and who fades out in AI-powered search.

Generative Intent vs the Four Classic Search Intents

For years, content strategies have been built around four main search intents:

• Informational: “What is gut health?” (Just want the basics.)
  
• Navigational: “Floyi login.” (Get me to the dashboard.)
  
• Commercial: “Best topical map tools for agencies.” (Show me my options.)
  
• Transactional: “Subscribe to Floyi.” (Ready to buy.)
  

But now there’s a fifth: Generative Intent.

This is when a user expects the search engine – or the AI behind it – to do the work for them. Not just show the steps, but actually create, summarize, or solve the problem on the spot.

Here’s what that looks like in the real world:

Generative intent isn’t just a trend. It’s already dominating how people and AI find answers, get things done, and decide who shows up first.

Why Most Content Still Misses Generative Intent

If you’ve been pouring time into massive guides, how-tos, and reviews mapped to the old four search intents, you’re not alone. Most teams are. But even the “ultimate” resource often gets skipped by both users and AI because it doesn’t deliver what people actually want.

Here’s the truth: If your content doesn’t do the work, AI skips it. Simple as that.

Users (and AI) want ready-made solutions: a fully built topical map, a copy-paste content brief, a table comparing tools. If your site only answers questions instead of solving problems, you’re invisible.

At Floyi, we see this every week: creators and marketers publishing great resources, but missing the mark because the content isn’t built to deliver outcomes. 

That’s the difference between showing up and getting passed over.

Where Generative Intent Shows Up in AI Search

So what does generative intent actually look like in AI-powered search? It’s everywhere users can ask for a result instead of just an answer – Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, Perplexity, and more.

• “Compare Floyi to other topical map tools and give me the pros and cons in a table.”
• “Create a topical map for a DTC skincare brand targeting Gen Z.”
• “Draft a complete content brief for a pillar page on SEO for real estate agents.”

AI search engines are built to deliver finished assets, summaries, and actionable plans in response to these prompts. They prioritize brands that provide content that does – not just tells.

Inside Floyi, our SERP Insights and competitor analysis show these generative intent queries are growing fast. If your brand starts creating the kind of assets AI and users really want, you’re not just showing up – you’re setting the standard. 

Shift now, and you can be the answer the AI delivers while everyone else keeps playing catch-up.

How Floyi Helps You Win Generative Intent

Most SEO tools are stuck in the past. They help you find keywords and track rankings, but not much else. You can’t track AI search engines this way and hope to get anything useful. 

If you’re tired of seeing your best work ignored in AI search results, Floyi is built for where search is headed next.

Here’s how Floyi gives you an edge:

• Map for outcomes, not just topics: With Floyi, you build topical maps around the real jobs your users (and AI) want done. That means your content is always targeting finished solutions, not just information.
  
• Actionable briefs that deliver: Floyi’s content brief generator shows you exactly what needs to be created, compared, or packaged – so you’re ready to become the answer, not just another option.
  
• See what AI really shows: Floyi’s AIRS Analyzer analyzes both classic and generative SERPs, revealing which assets are getting delivered by AI assistants – so you’re not guessing what’s getting seen.
  
• Spot your “generative gap” – then fill it: Our gap analysis pinpoints where users are begging for real solutions, but only finding old-school articles. You can step in and become the source.

Real-world win:
One Floyi user wanted to show up for “content strategy for B2B SaaS.” Instead of just publishing another guide, we helped them create a set of frameworks and templates built for real use. Those assets now get referenced by ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews, often ahead of bigger, older brands. 

AI search gives you that opportunity. Traditional search engines are still stuck on how many backlinks you have. 

Steps to Adapt with Floyi

Want to be the source AI and users trust? Here’s how to put Floyi into action:

1. Map outcomes: Start with Floyi’s topical map creator to uncover the finished results your audience actually wants.
   
2. Build action-first briefs: Create content briefs that don’t just answer questions. They deliver ready-to-use solutions, checklists, or templates.
   
3. Track the real SERPs: Use Floyi’s SERP Insights to see which content is surfaced by AI right now, not just what ranks in Google.
   
4. Close the gap: Find opportunities where users (and AI) want solutions, but only find more “how-to” articles. You then create what’s missing.
   
5. Watch your impact: Track when your assets start getting cited, referenced, and delivered by AI assistants, so you know you’re actually being seen.
   

With Floyi, you’re not just catching up to generative intent – you’re leading the charge.

Generative Intent Isn’t a Trend – It’s the New Standard

This isn’t another SEO fad. Generative intent is changing what it means to get found, trusted, and chosen – by both users and AI search engines.

We’ve seen brands and creators make the shift and get cited, referenced, and delivered as answers across AI platforms. And we’ve seen just as many still stuck chasing old keywords, only to find themselves invisible in the results that matter most.

If you’re feeling behind, you’re not alone. The good news: the window to lead is wide open. When your content becomes the source for finished outcomes, you become the answer AI and real users want.

Try Floyi and Lead in Generative Search

You don’t have to play catch-up. With Floyi, you’re equipped to: 

• Build topical maps and content strategies for real outcomes
• Create content AI wants to cite and deliver 
• Spot the gaps where your expertise can lead

We built Floyi to make this new AI Search world easier to win – whether you’re a team of one or one hundred.

Ready to see how you can turn expertise into real visibility, trust, and results?

Try Floyi free and start leading in generative search. Today, you’re either the source, or you’re invisible.