> But from what I can see, all of these don't _actually_ attribute the source. They're just able to find _a_ source that fits to the output, working backward from it

I feel like it should be possible to build attribution "simply" by finding good results via traditional search (or even using LLM embeddings), then asking a LLM to summarize the sources. Then you can show the attribution. This would (to me) be much more meaningful. Especially for specific searches ("I want a red oversized couch thats got good back support"). Don't tell me about couches then find a random link, find a couch then tell me about that couch.

Is anyone doing this? IDK, maybe there is a reason that it's not happening, but it seems at least as easy as all the other crazy (and cool) things happening in this space.