We introduce a general analytic approach to the study of factorization points and factorized ground states in quantum cooperative systems. The method allows to determine rigorously existence, location, and exact form of separable ground states in a large variety of, generally non-exactly solvable, spin models belonging to different universality classes. The theory applies to translationally invariant systems, irrespective of spatial dimensionality, and for spin-spin interactions of arbitrary range.