Knowing functions and functional thinking have recently moved from just knowledge for older students to incorporating younger students, and functional thinking has been identified as one of the core competencies for algebra. Although it is significant for mathematical understanding, there is no unified view of functional thinking and how different aspects of the concept are used as a theoretical base. In this paper, we analyse different definitions used in empirical studies. First, we did a systematic research review resulting in 19 empirical studies focusing on functional thinking with an appropriate theoretical underpinning. The definitions were analysed using an AI tool. After that, we analysed the results using intrinsic mathematical properties of how functions can be defined in mathematics to identify core aspects of the definitions. According to the analysis, two definitions capture most of the key aspects of functional thinking, and most empirical studies use these key concepts. These two definitions treat functional thinking as products or products and processes. One definition used in one empirical study stands out by theoretically operationalizing functional thinking as a process. As such, different ontological assumptions are made in the studies; however, in some cases, having the same epistemological outcome. From a methodological point of view, the cosine similarity matrix was a useful tool for an ontological analysis, but a qualitative analysis is still needed to make meaning of it.