When you ask a question in an app, it might feel like you’re interacting with an expert who knows everything. In reality, there’s a structured process behind the scenes that organizes existing information into a useful response. Let’s break down how these apps work.

The journey begins when you type in your question. The app uses a Small Language Model to extract key terms from your query—essentially identifying the main ideas or keywords. These keywords are then used to perform a regular search engine query on platforms like Google or Bing. The search results are processed by the app, which evaluates summaries of the top 100 hits using another Small Language Model to rank the 10 most relevant pages.

Next, the app crawls the content of those 10 pages, pulling in the most relevant material. This content is combined with your original question to create a detailed context. Finally, this context is sent to a Large Language Model, which generates a polished response that feels complete and confident—almost as if the app itself “knew” the answer.

Though this process may seem intelligent, it’s simply an optimized way of finding, filtering, and presenting information. The system doesn’t actually “know” anything; instead, it mimics understanding by repackaging existing knowledge.

These apps provide a valuable service by streamlining searches. Instead of sifting through endless links yourself, they consolidate information into a single, user-friendly response. This can save time and help with tasks such as brainstorming ideas, summarizing research, or finding information quickly.

Still, there are limitations. The quality of the response depends entirely on the data available and how the app ranks relevance. It’s always worth verifying critical information, as the system may miss nuances or context that you’d notice when manually researching.

Ultimately, language model-powered apps are useful tools that make information easier to access and process. They don’t provide true intelligence, but they can be an efficient way to search, summarize, and communicate ideas. Use them for what they’re good at, and stay thoughtful when evaluating results.