In the rapidly shifting landscape of digital discovery, securing a brand’s place in AI-generated search results has become the new frontier. To demystify this challenge, we sat down with Anastasia Braitsik, a global leader in SEO, content marketing, and data analytics. Drawing on insights from Semrush’s new AI Visibility Awards, Anastasia explores the emerging truths of AI-driven search, revealing how Category Leaders maintain their dominance, how niche brands break through the noise, and how Challenger brands are successfully rewriting the rules of visibility.
Andrew Warden stated these awards recognize marketers who are “cracking the AI code.” Beyond just being mentioned, what specific metrics within your AI Visibility Index suggest a brand is truly earning user trust? Can you share an anecdote of a brand that exemplifies this well?
It’s a great question because trust is the absolute cornerstone of AI visibility. It’s not just about a single mention; it’s about consistent reliability. One of the most telling metrics we see is stability. Our data reveals that the top brands show less than 20% volatility month-over-month in their share-of-voice. This indicates the AI has “locked in” on them as a trusted authority. Think of Patagonia. The AI doesn’t just mention them once for “ethical fashion”; it repeatedly surfaces them because their entire digital ecosystem screams expertise and authenticity on that specific topic. That consistent, low-volatility presence is the truest signal that a brand has moved beyond simple visibility and has earned genuine algorithmic trust.
Your report notes that niche brands like Patagonia and Logitech “punch above their weight.” What specific strategies are they using to achieve such high topical relevance in AI results, and what step-by-step process could another brand follow to replicate that success in its own niche?
They succeed by mastering the art of focus. These brands aren’t trying to win every conversation; they’re determined to win the right one. Logitech, for instance, isn’t just a “consumer electronics” brand in the eyes of AI; it’s a dominant authority in “gaming accessories.” Their strategy is built on a foundation of deep, clear topical relevance that permeates their content, product pages, and community engagement. To replicate this, a brand must first define its niche with surgical precision. Second, it needs to build a fortress of content around that niche, answering every conceivable user question. Finally, it must ensure this focused identity is consistent everywhere, becoming the undeniable go-to source. It’s not about shouting the loudest; it’s about speaking with the most clarity and authority in your chosen space.
You recognized newer players like Anthropic as “Challengers” gaining traction. Could you detail the positioning and momentum-building tactics these up-and-comers are using to compete with giants, and how does their approach differ from the strategies of established Category Leaders like Microsoft?
Challengers like Anthropic are fascinating because they operate with incredible agility. Their primary tactic is sharp, decisive positioning. They don’t take on a giant like Microsoft head-on across the board. Instead, they find a specific, often emerging, part of the conversation and plant their flag there with conviction. They build momentum by creating highly relevant, timely content that captures the interest of early adopters and industry-watchers, which the AI models then pick up. An established Category Leader like Microsoft relies on its immense, long-standing authority—a massive battleship. Challengers are more like speedboats; they can maneuver quickly, exploit openings, and build a powerful wave of momentum in a focused area before the larger players can even change course.
The data shows top brands have less than 20% monthly volatility, suggesting AIs “lock in” trusted names. What specific signals do AI engines look for to establish this consistent trust, and what are the key risks for a market leader who becomes complacent?
The AI is essentially looking for the same signals of authority that humans do, just at a massive scale. It’s looking at a brand’s entire digital footprint: the depth and expertise of its content, how often it’s cited by other authoritative sources, and the overall sentiment surrounding it in public forums and reviews. This combination creates a powerful signal of trustworthiness that leads to that “lock-in” effect. However, the biggest risk for a complacent market leader is erosion at the edges. While their overall brand may be trusted, a nimble Challenger can start to chip away at their authority on a specific sub-topic. If that leader isn’t consistently reinforcing its expertise across all its verticals, the AI will start to trust the specialist more, and that stable, sub-20% share-of-voice can begin to decay.
What is your forecast for the evolution of AI visibility? As AI models become more sophisticated and multimodal, what new factors do you predict will become critical for brands to master over the next 18 months to ensure they appear in AI-generated results?
I believe we’re moving from a text-centric world to a concept-centric one. In the next 18 months, as AI becomes truly multimodal—seamlessly processing images, video, and audio—brands will need to optimize their entire digital asset library, not just their articles. It won’t be enough to have a great product description; you’ll need well-described images, transcribed videos, and structured data that helps the AI understand the concept of your brand and products in any format. Brand voice and personality will become paramount, as AI will be able to synthesize and present a brand’s character more holistically. The brands that will win won’t just be optimizing for keywords; they’ll be curating a comprehensive, consistent, and conceptually clear identity across every single piece of media they produce.
