Solely 15.2% of ChatGPT matter classes had a transparent model proprietor throughout associated purchaser questions, in line with a Semrush evaluation.
Meaning about 85% of classes had no dominant model. Showing in a single immediate didn’t imply a model appeared constantly throughout associated questions in the identical matter.
How possession was outlined. Semrush outlined a class proprietor because the model with the best share of mentions, showing in not less than 4 of 5 associated prompts and main the runner-up by not less than 5 proportion factors.
- Solely 15.2% of the 1,094 classes met that normal.
- One other 31.2% had an rising chief, with one model showing in not less than three prompts however with out the required lead.
- The remaining 53.7% had been unsettled, with no model showing in not less than three of 5 prompts.
Common subjects, few clear homeowners. Semrush cut up classes into two teams by AI search demand. Solely 11.3% of subjects within the high half had a transparent proprietor, in contrast with 19% within the backside half.
- The highest half accounted for 98% of the AI search quantity within the pattern.
- Most ChatGPT demand Semrush tracked was in classes with out a clear model proprietor.
Broad website positioning metrics had restricted predictive worth. Conventional website positioning power didn’t reliably predict which manufacturers owned ChatGPT subjects. “Conventional website positioning metrics aren’t sufficient to clarify who owns a subject. Whereas they play their position, there’s extra to it,” wrote Kevin Indig, founding father of Progress Memo.
- Semrush in contrast class homeowners with runners-up throughout branded search quantity, natural visitors, and Authority Rating.
- House owners had increased branded search quantity in 55.7% of comparisons, increased natural visitors in 48.4%, and a better Authority Rating in 52.5%. Branded search quantity was the one metric that reached statistical significance.
Most-cited not often meant most-mentioned. Semrush measured possession by model mentions in ChatGPT’s reply textual content, not by the hyperlinks cited beneath.
- Mentions and citations typically didn’t align. Solely 21% of the most-cited domains in a class had been additionally the most-mentioned model.
If AI can’t discover you, prospects received’t both.
Observe your visibility throughout AI search, uncover missed alternatives, and develop your presence the place prospects are asking questions.
See your AI visibility
Why we care. Semrush discovered that prompt-level visibility didn’t all the time carry throughout associated purchaser questions. That implies topic-level visibility is extra helpful for assessing whether or not ChatGPT constantly associates a model with a class.
Manufacturers that owned a subject often saved it. Clear class homeowners stayed in first place in 90.4% of month-over-month comparisons. Weaker leaders modified extra typically, with the highest model switching in 1,950 of 5,470 comparisons throughout rising and unsettled classes.
Slender leads had been much less steady. When a high model later misplaced first place, its typical lead was simply 1.3 proportion factors. When it stayed on high, its typical lead was 2.9 factors, greater than twice as massive.
- Semrush stated the information didn’t clarify why leaders modified. It confirmed solely that manufacturers with smaller leads had been extra prone to lose first place.
Concerning the information. Semrush and Kevin Indig analyzed 1,094 U.S. classes in ChatGPT from January by June 2026 utilizing the Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit. The dataset coated greater than 50,000 manufacturers, 220,000 domains, 600,000 citations, and 220,000 URLs. Every class included 5 prompts tied to widespread purchaser questions, together with definitions, comparisons, options, use instances, and shopping for selections.
The research. AI visibility is a topic-level recreation: A research of fifty,000 manufacturers in ChatGPT [Study]
Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. We stay dedicated to offering high-quality protection of promoting subjects. Until in any other case famous, this web page’s content material was written by both an worker or a paid contractor of Semrush Inc.
