Query fan-out
One user question being expanded into many machine-generated sub-queries, run in parallel, whose results are combined into a single answer. A technical term rather than a coined one.
What it actually means
Ask which supplier to use for something and the system does not run that query. It generates a set: who supplies it, what does it cost, who is reputable, what do reviews say, who covers your area. Then it merges the results.
You are competing in queries nobody typed and you cannot see. Optimising for the question a human asked is optimising for a query the system may never issue.
What follows from it
Coverage beats precision. A page that answers one phrase perfectly participates in one sub-query; material that covers the surrounding territory participates in many.
It also explains why comparison and criteria content punches above its weight. A large share of the generated sub-queries are evaluative, and most brands publish almost nothing evaluative about their own category.