The landscape of SEO and digital marketing as a whole has changed significantly since the start of 2025. With the mainstream introduction of AI-driven search engines, the way we fight to get our content to the top of the results page is completely different. Search engines no longer just crawl your site for keywords; they look for significant brand references across the entire web. So, what role does brand play in LLM-driven search?
To be discoverable in LLM-driven searches, brands must now present a strong digital footprint across the internet. Credibility is vital to a site being shown or mentioned in features like AI Overviews or ChatGPT, meaning you need:
- Presence in Authoritative Sources
- Consistency and Accuracy
- Positive Sentiment
- Content Freshness
Below, we’ll run through why brand authority is important in AI-driven searches, how LLMs view authority, and how the team at Wildcat Digital can put you at the forefront of AI search appearances.
Why Are Brand Mentions Powerful In AI-Driven Results?
Brand mentions have long formed a part of digital marketing strategies, but a focus on them often came in the later stages after every effort had been made to increase a site’s position in search results.
Whilst they previously focused on providing backlinks during PR efforts, brand mentions are now much more of a signal to AI-driven algorithms that your brand, and the website attached to it, is reputable and valuable to users.
Brand mentions are powerful in AI-driven results because they help to enforce a few key aspects of LLM searches:
- Trust Signals: The more mentions you have from other reputable sources, the more credible your brand appears. LLMs are more likely to reference credible sites in their generated responses.
- Contextual Authority: AI looks for brands that are closely related to the topic they’re responding to. If your brand appears in quality, relevant content, it’s more likely to be cited by AI.
- Visibility: LLM searches will often quote the name of a brand, even if they don’t directly link to the site. A strong brand authority provides consistent visibility, even if users don’t click through in the traditional way.
How Do LLMs Weigh Brand Authority And Well-Known Brands?
Experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EEAT) have played a part in site rankings since 2018. However, unlike traditional search engine rankings, EEAT signals and keyword inclusion are no longer the go-to when it comes to increasing site visibility.
LLMs weigh brand authority by analysing a range of digital signals from across the internet, including:
- Presence in Authoritative Sources: LLMs give brands more weight if they are frequently mentioned in reputable publications, reports, or expert blogs.
- Consistency and Accuracy: Consistent and accurate information across multiple platforms is favoured by LLM search.
- Positive Sentiment: Brand reputation is influenced by the tone surrounding online mentions, with positive reviews, content, and discussions.
- Content Freshness: Updated and accurate information makes your brand look more relevant to LLMs, adding a ‘last updated’ note with new stats or studies, for example.
Ultimately, LLM search prioritises brand visibility, as well as well-structured content, when looking for sites and brands to mention in AI features.
How Do I Build Brand Visibility?
Sites with a stronger brand authority are much more likely to appear in AI-driven search results. This new era of search visibility is all about getting users to recognise and search for your brand, signalling to LLMs that it’s worth including in answers.
Building brand authority is key to increasing visibility, with the team behind Semrush explaining the best approach to do so:
1. Brand Mentions From Authoritative Sources
Achieving brand mentions from other authoritative sources in the relevant industry is key to signalling to LLMs that you’re worth referring to. Whether it’s a brand story, original data, or industry insights, you’ll want to put in place a solid PR strategy for pitching your brand to trusted publications and high-authority sites within your niche.
2. Activity On Social Media Platforms
Social media presence is no longer just a part of SEO strategies down the line; it’s vital to the success of your brand in LLM-driven searches. Repurposing content from your website into videos, infographics, and other post types for social media allows you to increase your brand’s reach across the internet, without spending time creating entirely new content.
Visibility across all social media platforms is important to build your brand authority, but Reddit seems to be the frontrunner for a successful presence in AI searches. According to Profound, Reddit is the top citation source for Perplexity (46.7%) and Google AI Overviews (21%). This means that answering questions and participating in discussions on Reddit, all under your brand name, is extremely important to boosting visibility in LLM search.
3. Coverage Of Subject Matter Experts
Since becoming a ranking factor for Google searches in 2018, EEAT signals have become a key focus of SEO campaigns. With the move to AI-driven searches, this hasn’t changed – the way in which we show these signals has simply adapted.
The people within your business are experts at what you do – they’re your subject matter experts (SMEs). You likely already use their knowledge to populate content on your website and answer queries from your customers. This shouldn’t change, but you now need to be taking advantage of their expertise both online and offline.
Encourage your SMEs to post on LinkedIn, speak at industry events, or contribute to relevant publications. As they spread their knowledge under your brand name, this signals to LLMs that your business is an expert in your field. You can be trusted, and the information you provide is accurate, making your brand worth mentioning to users.
Take a look at our blogs about EEAT and Trust to find out more about how you can position your brand as an industry expert and begin to achieve those coveted spots in LLM searches.
Which Brands Are Dominating Generative Searches?
In the bigger picture of the digital marketing world, generative engine optimisation (GEO) is relatively new. But this doesn’t mean brands should wait until we know more to switch up their strategies and start to appear in LLMs.
Zero-click searches are becoming the standard for users across the world, and we know that increasing brand authority is likely to help us see success here. It is, however, also important to look at which brands are dominating generative searches now and what we can learn from them to see success in our own brands.
[Read: How To Measure SEO Success In The Age Of LLMs]
The AI Visibility Index was recently compiled by Semrush, studying 2,500 real-world prompts in ChatGPT and Google’s AI mode to see how leading brands perform.
ChatGPT
It’s not surprising to see some of the biggest brand players dominating the share of voice in ChatGPT. Still, this data highlights the importance of brand authority for appearing in generative searches.
The top five brands that are dominating ChatGPT’s share of voice overall are:
- Google (6.86%)
- Samsung (6.76%)
- Apple (5.07%)
- Microsoft (3.59%)
- Fidelity (3.12%)
Google AI Mode
Google’s AI mode was initially launched in the US in May 2025, with the global rollout beginning in the UK in late July. This makes it a more recent addition to the world of LLM-driven search, but the same brands continue to dominate these results thanks to their strong reputation and consistent brand mentions.
The following five brands have the biggest share of voice in Google’s AI mode:
- Google (7.45%)
- Microsoft (5.41%)
- Apple (4.96%)
- Samsung (4.83%)
- Amazon (2.88%)
What Can We Learn From This Research?
It’s all well and good knowing which brands are dominating AI-driven search, but we can actually learn a lot about the path to success with LLMs from these brands.
The AI Visibility Index allows us to look at what these brands are doing well and how we can emulate them to see success in our own businesses, even if it’s not on the same scale as a global corporation.
So, what are the key takeaways from Semrush’s research?
- SEO ≠ AI Visibility: Ranking at position one doesn’t guarantee appearance in LLM search. You need structured data, transparency, and external brand mentions alongside well-structured and fresh content.
- Mentions ≠ Sources: Simply being cited as a source in an LLM isn’t enough to see strong success from it. Your brand name needs to be mentioned, linked or not, to benefit from higher visibility.
- The Brand Effect: Iconic names within niches, like Samsung, Apple, or Microsoft, show consistent trust signals both online and offline, allowing them to dominate their industry.
- User Generated Content: Having authentic conversations with potential customers on forums and through reviews has become a key element of LLM search success.
Focus On Your Brand In The LLM Age With Wildcat Digital
The digital marketing approach to LLM-driven search is still evolving, and it can be difficult to know where to start when you’ve just gotten to grips with the basics of SEO.
That’s why the team here at Wildcat Digital are actively integrating GEO into our strategies, along with continuing to build strong organic rankings for our clients.
Why not get in touch with us today and get ahead of your competitors by taking advantage of LLM visibility?
Amy Varley
SEO Executive
