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Automated test generation is an area that has seen a lot of research and development, resulting in many test automation methods and tools for test design. However, practitioners often face challenges in adopting these tools. This is not only due to the immaturity of some tools but also because of varying perspectives, confusing terminology, and, most importantly, the lack of a clear framework to guide the selection of the most suitable approach for their needs. We propose a taxonomy that characterizes the methods for automated test generation. The taxonomy was constructed using a process that involved analyzing secondary studies on automated test generation and existing taxonomies in the scientific literature. Direct observations and iterative refinements were included, followed by validation through conceptual evaluation and practitioner feedback. The resulting dimensions characterize automated test generation and its use in software testing. The taxonomy is organized into several dimensions: software artifact (i.e., type, notation, interfaces), test generation (i.e., objectives, methods, and monitoring), test execution, and test oracle. We demonstrate the taxonomy’s use by applying it to several automated test-generation tools. This paper provides the necessary concepts and a generic process for categorizing and assessing automated test generation approaches. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2025.