TL;DR: Brands that are mentioned often across the web also tend to be the ones AI tools mention most. That is a pattern in the data, not proof that mentions cause it, but it is enough to act on: get your business talked about in credible places, keep the details consistent, then check what AI tools actually say about you. Google says there is nothing special to add to your pages for its AI features, so this sits alongside normal SEO, not in place of it.
If someone asks ChatGPT or Google’s AI Mode who to hire in your field, does your business get named? A lot of that may come down to brand: how widely, and in what company, your name appears beyond your own website.
Does brand affect whether AI tools mention you?
Probably, though nobody can yet show cause and effect. Ahrefs’ study of 75,000 brands (published December 2025) compared a range of signals with how often each brand was mentioned in answers from ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews. Mentions of a brand across the web correlated strongly with that brand being mentioned by AI, at roughly 0.66 to 0.71 depending on the platform, where 1 would be a perfect match. Mentions in YouTube videos scored highest at about 0.74. Backlink counts showed a very weak relationship.
Ahrefs is clear that correlation is not causation, and that improving these numbers will not automatically lift your AI visibility. We would treat it as a strong hint about where to put effort, not a guarantee.
Google’s own guidance says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and that standard SEO best practices still apply. So brand building adds to a sound website rather than replacing it. For the traditional search side of the story, see our post on whether brand is a ranking factor in SEO.
Where to build brand mentions
Coverage in trusted publications
A common starting point is digital PR: original data, a genuine point of view, or a story a journalist in your sector would want to run. The aim is for your name to turn up repeatedly in places your customers already trust. For most businesses, we recommend starting here and favouring relevance over volume: one trade title your buyers read is worth more than ten generic directories.
Communities and video
Given that YouTube mentions showed the strongest link in the Ahrefs data, it is worth checking whether anyone in your industry is talking about you, or could be. Forums matter too. Profound’s analysis of AI citations between August 2024 and June 2025 found Reddit was the most-cited site in Google AI Overviews and Perplexity, and second in ChatGPT after Wikipedia. That is a snapshot of a fast-moving picture, so check current figures before relying on it. If you take part, be useful first and open about who you are, because communities spot promotion quickly.
Named experts
Your team already holds the expertise behind your content. Making it visible under their own names, on LinkedIn, at industry events or in articles for trade publications, gives other sites a specific person to quote. It also ties into how we think about trust more broadly, which we cover in our guide to building authority with E-E-A-T trust signals.
“One thing I’ve noticed from working on PR campaigns is that businesses often focus too much on what they are saying about themselves on their own website, instead of looking at how they are being mentioned elsewhere (reviews online, guest posts if they exist, social media etc). Getting coverage in relevant publications helps build that wider brand presence and authority, while also keeping brand messaging consistent, which is becoming increasingly important for visibility in AI search.”
Fiorela Imerai – SEO Account DirectorTop Tip: Before you spend a pound, ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Mode five questions a customer would ask when choosing a business like yours, without using your brand name. Run each one twice, because answers change. Write down which brands get named and which websites are cited. If you are missing, the sites that keep appearing are your target list: they show you where your category’s mentions actually come from.
What if you are not a global brand?
Ahrefs only studied brands with a Domain Rating above 40 and a main keyword with at least 800 searches a month, so the pattern is shown for fairly established names, not for small local businesses. We think the logic holds at any size, but that is our judgement, not a documented result. For most businesses, we recommend narrowing the goal: be the name that comes up for one specialism or area, rather than for everything. Three habits help:
- Be consistent. Use the same business name, description and key facts everywhere you appear, so there is nothing to contradict.
- Keep going. Steady coverage over many months beats one big announcement.
- Do not judge it on clicks alone. An AI answer that names you may send nobody to your site, so track whether you are being named as well as referral traffic. Our guide to measuring SEO success in the age of LLMs covers how.
We built a broader strategy for NetCov to make sure every expert publication we published aligned with the website. The strategy covers 4 parts of an expertise build approach:
- With client data, we created case studies to showcase their approach, expertise in specific sectors, and how their services could solve complicated mobile signal issues.
- Second in line was to build topical authority by responding to commercial-intent questions and, in the meantime, building their entity and expertise around sectors, buyer personas’ problems, and how NetCov resolves them.
- After we had the proof on-site, we started outreach to targeted sector news websites. Every step in this journey was based on client data, client expert comments on related topics, and showcasing the business owner as the face of the expertise in the business.
- As the last step to make sure everything was aligned, we connected sector pages, case studies, testimonials, and any proof of expertise on their website as well. This step was crucial to make sure AI-driven searches have a full picture of the expertise for their specific sector and a person in the business who is responsible for the quality service that NetCov provides.
Thanks to all of this, we have seen a huge spike in new users and conversions, hitting website all-time highs. As an example, in March 2026 we managed to grow 364% in new users and 500% in conversions from organic (according to GA4). Google Search Console visibility metrics show tremendous long-term growth. Total impressions grew by 633.5% year-on-year, and clicks were up by 353.5% year-on-year.
SEMrush data showed an AI visibility score of 32, with NetCov brand receiving 13 mentions and 19 cited pages (11 of which stem directly from AI Overviews).
FAQs
Do brand mentions need a link to help?
The research we have seen looks at whether your brand name appears, and does not show that a link is required. Keep earning links as well, because they still help traditional rankings and bring visitors.
How long does it take?
There is no reliable timeline. Mentions build up gradually, so judge progress over quarters rather than weeks, and repeat the five questions from the Top Tip every month or two.
Do I need special markup for AI search?
Google says no. Its guidance says there is no special schema.org structured data to add, and no new machine-readable or AI text files are needed to appear in its AI features. Structured data you already use should simply match the visible text on the page.
How Wildcat Handles This
We treat brand visibility in AI search as part of normal SEO work, not a bolt-on. Our AI SEO and GEO service starts with a free initial consultation to get to know your business. The first month is typically set-up: your account manager gathers the information they need, runs the audits that inform your strategy and collects your account details. After that, work runs in monthly sprints, with a performance report at the start of each month, and we track the traffic you gain from LLMs and how you show up in AI features.
Where the plan calls for coverage in trusted publications, our Digital PR team works with you from planning and ideation through research, content writing, outreach, pitching and reporting. To talk through where your brand stands today, get in touch for a free consultation.
Amy Varley
SEO Executive
