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Core concept · AI Search Infrastructure

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Definition

A sub-query is an individual retrieval query generated by a model during fan-out. Each sub-query targets a specific component of the parent query. The unit of retrieval is the sub-query — not the parent query, not the page, but the passage that best answers this specific sub-question. Sub-queries are the actual retrieval targets. A user asks one question; the model generates several sub-queries and retrieves content against each. The content that gets cited is the content that answers one sub-query cleanly and completely — not the content that addresses the parent query broadly. Content strategy built around the parent query is targeting the wrong unit.

Query fan-out

Query decomposition

Parent query

First-pass retrieval

Passage-level retrieval

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