AI visibility is a topic-level game: A study of 50,000 brands in ChatGPT [Study]

Brand visibility successful ChatGPT shifts punctual by prompt. Two related questions successful the aforesaid buyer's investigation tin aboveground wholly different brands. Track only one, and you'd deliberation you're winning. Look crossed the topic, and the image changes.

The mobility successful AI hunt is nary longer "do I rank for this keyword aliases prompt?" It is "when the AI answers questions crossed the topics cardinal to my business, does my marque support showing up?"

To find retired really brands triumph and suffer visibility crossed topics, we collaborated pinch Kevin Indig to study 1,094 taxable areas successful ChatGPT.

Here's what we found.

Key takeaways

• Winning 1 punctual successful ChatGPT is not the aforesaid arsenic owning a topic. Real taxable ownership requires a marque to look crossed astatine slightest 4 of 5 related prompts, pinch a 5-percentage-point lead complete the runner-up.
• Most topics successful ChatGPT are still contestable. Only 15.2% of the 1,094 categories we analyzed had a clear owner. 85% stay unfastened to competitors that tin build accordant visibility.
• Broad SEO signals do not consistently foretell taxable ownership. Domain-level metrics for illustration Authority Score and integrated postulation correlate pinch ownership only astir half the time. The competitory image only becomes clear astatine the taxable level.
• Once a marque owns a taxable successful ChatGPT, it tends to clasp connected to it. But only pinch a wide capable margin. Owners pinch a 5-percentage-point lead retained first spot successful 90% of month-over-month comparisons. Narrow leads alteration hands frequently.

Methodology

We collaborated pinch Kevin Indig and Growth Memo to analyse information from the Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit.

The dataset covers 1,094 US categories, tracked monthly successful ChatGPT from January done June 2026.

Each class is simply a topical cluster of 5 typical prompts covering the questions a purchaser mightiness inquire successful that taxable area (definition, comparison, alternatives, usage case, buying question). 

Think of a class arsenic a taxable for illustration “payroll software,” “small business banking,” aliases “best pillows for cervix pain,” and the 5 prompts arsenic the modular questions personification would inquire astir each.

Scope of the data:

• Over 220,000 domains
• Over 50,000 brands
• Over 600,000 citations
• Over 220,000 URLs

For each prompt, we tracked which brands ChatGPT mentioned successful the reply and which sources it cited arsenic links.

Definitions

• Category owner: the marque pinch the highest stock of mentions, named successful astatine slightest 4 of 5 prompts, pinch astatine slightest a five-percentage-point lead complete the runner-up.
• Emerging leader: the most-mentioned marque appears successful astatine slightest 3 prompts but does not meet the proprietor threshold.
• Unsettled category: nary marque appears successful astatine slightest 3 prompts.

1. Most categories are still up for grabs successful ChatGPT"

Only 15% of the AI hunt categories we analyzed person a clear marque winner. In the different 85%, nary azygous marque shows up consistently crossed the topic's related prompts. A marque mightiness look successful 1 mobility and beryllium missing from the next.

Here’s the afloat breakdown of the 1,094 categories we analyzed successful ChatGPT:

• 15.2% person a clear proprietor (one marque appears successful astatine slightest 4 of 5 prompts pinch a 5-point lead)
• 31.2% person an emerging leader (one marque appears successful astatine slightest 3 prompts, but without the required lead)
• 53.7% are unsettled (no marque appears successful moreover 3 of 5 prompts)

Here's the counterintuitive part: You'd expect the biggest topics, the ones group inquire ChatGPT astir about often, to beryllium dominated by established brands for illustration they are connected Google.

Higher hunt measurement usually intends stronger competition. In ChatGPT, it's the opposite

We divided the 1,094 categories into 2 groups by AI hunt demand: the apical half (the topics group inquire astir most) and the bottommost half (the ones they inquire astir less). Only 11ю3% of the top-half topics had a clear marque owner. In the bottommost half, 19% did. 

And that apical half accounts for 98% of the AI hunt measurement successful our sample, truthful almost each mobility we tracked successful ChatGPT lands successful a taxable without a clear winner.

The takeaway: winning 1 punctual doesn't make you the marque ChatGPT associates pinch a topic. Showing up consistently crossed each the related questions does. In the mostly of topics we analyzed, nary marque managed to do that yet, which is the opportunity. 

2. SEO metrics don't ever foretell who wins a taxable successful ChatGPT

If a marque has beardown SEO fundamentals (high integrated traffic, precocious branded hunt volume, a coagulated Authority Score), you'd expect it to triumph successful AI hunt too.

We tested this by comparing the taxable proprietor against the runner-up connected 3 domain-level metrics: branded hunt volume, integrated traffic, and Authority Score.

The results only statement up pinch ownership astir half the time. Only branded hunt measurement was a statistically important differentiator, and moreover then, the separator was modest.

• Owners had higher branded hunt measurement successful 55.7% of pairs
• Owners had higher integrated postulation successful 48.4% of pairs
• Owners had a higher Authority Score successful 52.5% of pairs

In astir half the topics, the runner-up had astatine slightest 1 of these advantages and still lost. Whatever decides who owns a taxable successful AI hunt isn't captured by wide SEO spot alone.

“Treat that arsenic a hypothesis, not a finding. What the information really shows is: accepted SEO metrics aren't capable to explicate who owns a topic. While they play their role, there’s much to it.”
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Kevin Indig, Founder of Growth Memo

Strong SEO helps you show up, but erstwhile respective brands are successful the running, heavy sum of the circumstantial taxable is what turns you from runner-up to owner. If you're beardown successful Google but losing taxable authority successful ChatGPT, the hole isn't much homepage backlinks. It's building a deeper room of contented and getting applicable mentions connected that circumstantial taxable connected apical of the SEO foundation.

3. Once you ain a taxable successful ChatGPT, you thin to clasp it. But only if your lead is wide.

When a marque has a comfortable lead successful a taxable successful ChatGPT, they almost ever support it. When the lead is narrow, they often suffer it. 

Clear class owners we analyzed stayed connected apical successful 90.4% of month-over-month comparisons. Emerging leaders and unsettled categories changed hands acold much often, pinch the apical marque switching successful 1,950 of 5,470 comparisons.

• Topics wherever the leader flipped: median lead of 1.3 percent points
• Topics wherever the leader held: median lead of 2.9 percent points

Leadership changed hands regularly. However, those shifts were concentrated successful categories wherever the first lead was small.

Here’s an illustration wherever a clear leader was replaced by the erstwhile month’s runner-up:

Why the switches hap isn't thing this information tin answer. They mightiness bespeak shifts successful ChatGPT's sources, changes successful really it generates answers, aliases existent shifts successful a brand's underlying relevance. What the information shows is simply a simpler shape — separator matters much than direction.

The takeaway: maturation doesn't adjacent safety. If you lead a taxable pinch only a constrictive margin, support pushing contented and coverage. A competitor increasing faster tin still overtake you. If you're a challenger successful a taxable wherever the existent leader has a constrictive lead, this is the infinitesimal to act. Once they consolidate a bigger margin, the taxable gets overmuch harder to move.

How to commencement winning astatine the taxable level

The brands winning successful AI hunt run astatine the class level. They prime a focused group of topics and build the coverage, mentions, and third-party authority signals ChatGPT relies connected wrong each one.

This takes clip to build, but it compounds. Once you go the marque ChatGPT associates pinch a category, there’s a bully chance you tin clasp it.

Individual prompts are still worthy watching arsenic a signal. But your topical authority determines whether ChatGPT will aboveground you erstwhile a customer asks thing caller successful that category.

Here's really to get started:

• Identify the topical areas that matter for your business. Start from what your customers attraction astir and wherever you compete. The categories of questions your buyers inquire erstwhile they're evaluating thing for illustration what you waste are the topics worthy building around.

• Analyze your existent topical authority. Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit already lets you spot which topics you're influencing successful AI hunt and wherever you beryllium wrong each one. Start location to get an honorable baseline of wherever your authority is real, wherever it's thin, and wherever competitors are ahead.

• Focus your efforts. Trying to build authority crossed each taxable astatine erstwhile dilutes everything. Pick 2 aliases 3 applicable categories wherever you already person immoderate signal, existing content, and a existent merchandise angle. That's your first bet.

• Grow your topical authority. Topical beingness comes from 3 things moving together: wide contented sum crossed the questions wrong a category, applicable mentions successful the sources ChatGPT draws from (Reddit, reappraisal sites, manufacture publications, master commentary), and beardown entity signals (structured data, accordant marque naming, third-party citations that necktie your marque to the topic).