We tracked how often brands actually get named in ChatGPT answers across 1,094 US categories, in a joint study with Kevin Indig and Growth Memo (Jan-June 2026, 50,000+ brands, 600,000+ citations). The most popular topics turned out to be the least owned ones.

The numbers:

• Only 15.2% of categories have a clear owner (highest mention share, in 4+ of 5 prompts, 5+ point lead). 31.2% have an emerging leader with no real margin. 53.7% are wide open.
• High-volume topics (98% of AI search volume) had a clear owner only 11.3% of the time, vs. 19% for niche topics. The categories everyone's fighting over are the least settled.
• Traditional SEO strength barely predicts who wins. Category owners had higher branded search volume in just 55.7% of pairs, more organic traffic in 48.4%, higher Authority Score in 52.5%. Nearly half of runners-up beat the "winner" on at least one SEO metric.
• Lead size determines durability. A 5+ point lead held 90.4% of the time month over month. Categories that flipped had a median lead of just 1.3 points beforehand.

Strong SEO helps you show up, but once several brands are in the running, deep coverage of the specific topic is what turns you from runner-up to owner.

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How to start winning at the topic level

Winning one prompt isn't the same as owning the category. If you want to actually move on this:

• Identify the topics your customers are already asking about, where you have a real stake in the answer.
• Check your current standing before you commit resources: know if you're starting from zero or building on something.
• Concentrate on 2-3 categories instead of spreading across everything. Depth beats breadth here.
• Build authority on two fronts: content that actually covers the category (not just one prompt), and mentions in the sources ChatGPT already cites — Reddit threads, reviews, industry publications, expert commentary.

The shift underneath all of this is simple. Search has become a topic-level game, and topic ownership is the metric that matters across traditional and AI-powered search. Your share of a topic, your competitors' share, and the gap between them. 

The brands that start treating topics as the unit of their strategy will be the ones best positioned to build and defend brand visibility over time 🔥

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Most teams treat homepages like landing pages. They're not the same thing, and that difference is burning conversions right now.

A landing page is built for one specific action—a sign-up, a download, a purchase. Everything on it points to that one goal.

A homepage does the opposite. It's trying to be everything to everyone. It greets people coming from search, from brand mentions, from direct traffic. It introduces the business, builds trust, and points visitors to multiple pages. It has multiple goals by design.

So when you send a paid ad to your homepage instead of a dedicated landing page, a few things happen:

Visitors get confused about what they're supposed to do next. The page promised one thing (the ad), but the homepage is asking them to pick from ten different options. That confusion kills conversions.

Google and Facebook notice the mismatch. Ads perform better when the page they lead to is relevant to the ad copy. When it isn't, platforms charge you more for placement and lower your ad visibility.

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When should you actually build a landing page?

Build one when a specific audience, offer, or campaign needs focus that your existing pages can't deliver without losing their main purpose.

That's usually running paid ads and the landing page needs to match the ad's promise, targeting a specific audience with messaging that wouldn't work for your broader audience, or promoting a specific offer that deserves its own page.

The difference sounds small. But in conversion performance, it's massive.

Google is introducing a new Search Console feature that lets you measure how your content on Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube performs in Google Search.

For years, social performance and search performance have lived in separate reporting worlds. That's starting to change! Instead of only seeing traffic to your website, you'll also get visibility into how people discover your social content through Google.

Why does this matter?
Until now, there was no native way to measure how your brand's social content performed in Google Search or Discover.
Now, Google is giving marketers first-party data on content they don't actually own. That means you can see which social content earns impressions and clicks in Search 👇

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For your content to be impactful, search engines need to be able to find it and understand it. To increase the chances of it appearing in search results and reaching your audience. 

That’s where content hubs come in. They help you structure your content for both humans and search engine crawlers. 

A content hub is a collection of related content pieces about an overarching topic that are all connected through internal links (links on your pages that point to other pages on your site). 

It consists of the hub (main) page that provides an overview of the topic. And cluster pages (subpages) that let readers dive deeper into more specific subtopics.

Done right, they strengthen crawlability, deepen context, and sharpen topical authority across your entire domain.

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Content hubs can improve your search engine optimization (SEO) performance. And eventually drive conversions that help you reach business goals.

Here are a few specific benefits:

• Better organization for users and search engines: Grouping related content together simplifies navigation for your readers. And creates a clear path for search engine crawlers to follow—which makes it easier for them to discover all related content.
• Higher chance of ranking for difficult keywords: Creating subpages focused on specific, non-competitive keywords helps you build up rankings that may make securing a ranking for the main page easier. Even if it targets a search term with a high keyword difficulty score (which indicates it will be difficult to appear in the top 10 results).
• More credibility: Using content hubs helps you build topical authority (credibility) on a particular subject. Because they let you comprehensively cover a topic from various angles to show you have a well-rounded understanding of the subject.
• Easier content calendar planning: Coming up with a content hub concept clearly shows what content you have and what's missing. Making it easier to plan future articles or updates.

Bottom of funnel (BoFu)

The bottom of the conversion funnel is where potential customers become ready to make a purchase decision. The primary goal of the BoFu stage is to convert potential customers into actual customers.

There are several challenges at this stage of the funnel, including pricing, alternatives, and customer concerns about efficacy or support. All of these potential issues can be solved with the right information and resources at the right time.

BoFu marketing tactics

BoFu marketing tactics are designed to turn potential customers into paying customers and brand advocates. You do this by creating confidence, clarity, and a sense of urgency that will encourage potential customers to make that final purchase decision.

Effective BoFu tactics include:

• Live demos: Real-time presentations showcasing product benefits, addressing final queries, and persuading prospects to make informed purchase decisions
• Retargeting ads: Target people who visited pricing pages, started trials, or abandoned carts with specific offers or reminders
• Email sequences for high-intent actions: Automated emails triggered by pricing page visits, demo requests, trial signups, or cart abandonment to push prospects over the finish line
• Customer support: Places for prospects to seek assistance and get quick answers to anything that is preventing them from buying
• Free trial extensions: Extra time for prospects who need more proof before committing
• Personalized outreach: Direct contact from sales reps to high-intent leads answering specific objections and tailoring solutions to their needs
• Money-back guarantees: Risk-reversal offers that remove purchase hesitation by promising refunds if the product doesn't deliver
• Limited time offers and discounts: Urgent and exclusive deals to prompt immediate action from prospects, driving conversions and purchases at the bottom of the funnel

BoFu content

BoFu content should help build customers’ confidence that your product is the right one for them and that now is the right time to buy.

Here are some common types of BoFu content:

• FAQ pages and buyer guides: Detailed resources answering final queries and providing valuable information to drive purchase decisions
• Customer testimonials: Inspiring narratives from satisfied customers who have achieved remarkable outcomes through your product or service
• Competitor comparison guides: Content that highlights product advantages, guiding prospects to choose the brand over competitors and finalize their purchase.
• Use cases (highlighting client successes): Compelling scenarios that vividly depict how your product or service has been employed to overcome challenges and achieve outstanding outcomes
• Case studies: In-depth customer stories with specific metrics, challenges solved, and ROI achieved to show proof
• Competitor comparison guides: Direct comparisons between your product and named competitors (e.g., "[Your Brand] vs. HubSpot"), highlighting your specific advantages and differentiators
• Interactive assessments: Quizzes or tools helping prospects self-select the right pricing tier or buy the right product
• Product demo videos: Focused walkthroughs showing key features solving specific problems to help prospects visualize using your solution and confirms it meets their needs

BoFu metrics

BoFu metrics reveal whether your bottom-funnel tactics actually convert prospects into customers profitably, and when conversion rates fall short, they help pinpoint weaknesses throughout your entire funnel.

Here are a few key BoFu metrics to track:

• Purchase conversions: Number of prospects who completed a desired action (e.g., made a purchase) at the bottom of the marketing funnel, indicating successful conversions
• Customer acquisition cost: Total expenses to acquire a new customer, assessing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of marketing efforts
• Conversion-to-lead ratio: Percentage of leads that converted into customers, gauging the quality and performance of the bottom-funnel content
• Return on ad spend (ROAS): Revenue generated per advertising dollar spent, indicating the profitability of ad campaigns at the bottom of the funnel
• Customer retention rate: Percentage of retained customers over a specific period, measuring brand loyalty and post-purchase satisfaction

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When running an analysis, we tested 454 prompt-and-domain combinations across multiple engines. Each combination is one specific prompt paired with one specific domain. For example, the prompt “best CRM for small business” paired with hubspot.com, tested across each AI engine.

In 100 of the 454 (22%), the engines disagreed on whether to name the brand.

For example: 

• Instagram.com was mentioned by ChatGPT and Gemini. Google AI Overviews cited it without naming it.
• Facebook.com was named in three out of three Gemini appearances. Google AI cited Facebook nine out of nine times and named it once.

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Most websites don’t need more content.

They need better visibility into what they already have: old pages, forgotten pages, orphaned pages no one has touched in years.

Your next traffic lift is already in your library. You just haven’t surfaced it yet.

That’s where Semrush SEO Toolkit becomes a real unlock, showing you exactly which pages to refresh, fix, interlink, or prioritize.

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Middle of funnel (MoFu)

The middle of the conversion funnel is where potential leads become more deeply engaged, and your goal is to nurture and guide leads toward becoming qualified customers. 

The challenge with the middle of the funnel is finding the right balance between the frequency and relevance of your communications to keep potential customers engaged without overwhelming them.

MoFu marketing tactics

MoFu marketing tactics are designed to nurture leads, build relationships, and guide potential customers further along the buyer journey. Tactics in the middle of the funnel tend to be less about broad awareness and more about direct engagement.

Here are some effective MoFu marketing tactics:

• Email marketing nurture campaigns: Segment campaigns based on prospect actions. Someone who downloaded a comparison guide needs different follow-up than someone who attended a webinar. Track engagement rates by segment to identify which content moves prospects toward conversion.
• Retargeting ads: Show ads to people who visited your site or engaged with your content to bring them back and continue the conversation
• Demos and free trials: Provide hands-on experience with products or services. Demos showcase features and benefits, while free trials allow users to test the offering’s value. Both tactics reduce hesitations, foster trust, and encourage conversion by showing real value and usability.
• Sales consultations: Offer one-on-one calls to understand specific needs, answer questions, and recommend tailored solutions
• Live chat and chatbots: Engage prospects in real-time when they're actively browsing your site, answering questions and guiding them to relevant resources

MoFu content

Middle of funnel content focuses on nurturing leads, building relationships, and educating potential customers who have shown an initial interest.

Here are some well-suited types of content for the MoFu stage:

• Case studies with measurable results: Prove you solve problems with specific metrics like "Company X reduced customer acquisition costs by 34% in 90 days." Structure case studies around likely objections: cost concerns, implementation time, technical complexity, or ROI uncertainty.
• Classes or workshops: Host classes to engage potential customers. By providing valuable insights and solving challenges, these events establish authority, build trust, and guide attendees toward a purchase. 
• Comparison guides: Educational content comparing many different products and solutions. These help prospects understand their options and evaluate what matters most for their needs without pushing a specific brand.
• Educational webinars: Live or recorded demonstrations focused on specific use cases rather than feature dumps. "How to Reduce Cart Abandonment by 25%" attracts more qualified leads than "Product Feature Overview."
• White papers and research reports: In-depth industry insights and data that establish authority, helping leads justify solutions internally and understand broader context
• Interactive content (free tools, calculators, assessments, quizzes): Offer interactive tools that provide personalized results and individual needs to enhance engagement, educate users, and nudge them closer to conversion

MoFu metrics

MoFu metrics measure consideration-stage engagement, showing whether prospects are actively evaluating your solution and moving closer to a purchase decision.

Here are some metrics to measure on your MoFu content:

• Email nurture engagement: Open rates, click rates, and replies to targeted email sequences — indicates whether consideration-stage content resonates and keeps prospects engaged over time
• Gated content conversion rate: Percentage of visitors who access comparison guides, case studies, or product demos — measures how many prospects are ready to invest time evaluating your solution
• Time spent on evaluation content: Average time on product pages, comparison guides, and case studies — shows depth of consideration and whether prospects are seriously evaluating features and benefits
• Demo or trial requests: Number of prospects requesting product demonstrations or signing up for free trials — signals strong purchase intent and readiness to experience your solution firsthand
• Return visitor rate: Percentage of prospects returning multiple times — tracks sustained interest and can indicate if users are actively comparing options before deciding

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One of the patterns we found while analyzing AI search results is that mentions and citations don't always go hand in hand.

Among the domains that appeared most often in our data, aggregator and academic sites like Medium, Wikipedia, Wired, and Harvard tended to be cited but not named.

Brands with strong public identities showed the opposite pattern: they were named in AI answers, often without being cited as a source.

For example:

• Google was named in AI answers nearly three times more often than it appeared as a source link.
• Apple's brand name appeared in answers nearly twice as often as it was cited.
• Medium was cited 16 times in our dataset and was never named in an AI answer.

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What does this mean for measuring AI visibility?

If you're a publisher or research-focused site, citations may be the metric to watch. These sites were often used as sources even when they weren't explicitly named in answers.

If you're a consumer brand, track unlinked brand mentions on third-party websites alongside your backlinks. Brands were frequently named in answers without being cited.

AI engines mention brands they've already seen consistently across the web. PR, community discussions, and clear brand language all reinforce that familiarity.

Web traffic is being reshuffled in the AI era.

But how exactly is the channel mix changing – and where is traffic going? To find out, we analyzed billions of web visits across over 50,000 websites and 17 industries.

Long story short: AI traffic grew 66% in 2025 and outpaced every other channel, but it still makes up less than 0.15% of total visits. Meanwhile, organic traffic declined across most industries we analyzed.

This study breaks down how traffic is being redistributed across channels, which industries are seeing the biggest changes, and what it means for where you should invest next.

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At Google I/O 2026, Google announced Gemini 3.5 Flash and a redesigned "intelligent Search box," and both are now live for all users.

The new Search box supports longer queries, images, videos, and file uploads. It also expands as you type and routes multimodal searches directly into AI Mode.

In other words, Google is encouraging users to search with more detailed, specific prompts instead of short keyword-style queries.

For marketers, that's a pretty important shift.

The fundamentals of SEO still matter. Crawlability, site structure, content quality, and backlinks aren't going anywhere.

But as Google continues moving toward AI-powered search experiences, visibility inside AI-generated responses matters alongside traditional organic rankings.

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How to stay visible

Optimizing for AI visibility starts with knowing where you stand.

Our AI Visibility Toolkit tracks citations, mentions, and visibility trends across AI platforms in one dashboard, so you can see where you're showing up and how you compare to competitors.

It's also worth confirming you aren't blocking AI crawlers. Semrush Site Audit flags these issues so you can fix them before they cut off your AI visibility potential.

What do you think?

Will this change how people search, or is Google adapting to behavior that's already happening in tools like ChatGPT and Gemini?