Brand Mention 2026 Statistics (Updated September)

How often AI answers mention brands

1. 1

   OpenAI's GPT-5.5 with web search named 199 brands across 20 software-buying answers, in a CrossMention test on September 24, 2026; 9 of those brands (4.5%) had their own website among the sources the answer cited.

   Source: CrossMention · OpenAI Responses API, 2026-09-24 · 199 brands named in 20 answers · method

2. 2

   38 of 46 pages GPT-5.5 cited in answers to 20 software-buying queries (83%) were on a third-party site, not on the website of a brand the answer recommended, in a CrossMention test on September 24, 2026.

   Source: CrossMention · OpenAI Responses API, 2026-09-24 · 46 distinct cited URLs · method

3. 3

   AI models mention a brand in 26% to 39% of their answers to non-branded queries, in Semrush's analysis of 1 million queries across five LLMs.

   Source: Semrush, 2025 ^[1]

4. 4

   ChatGPT Search mentioned a brand in 39.36% of answers, Google AI Overviews in 36.93%, Perplexity in 30.55% and ChatGPT without search in 26.07%, in Semrush's 2025 study of 1 million non-branded queries.

   Source: Semrush, 2025 ^[1]

5. 5

   There is less than a 1 in 100 chance that ChatGPT or Google's AI gives the same list of brands in two responses to the same prompt, in SparkToro's 2026 study with 600 volunteers.

   Source: SparkToro, 2026 ^[2]

6. 6

   The chance of two AI answers listing the same brands in the same order is about 1 in 1,000, according to SparkToro.

   Source: SparkToro, 2026 ^[2]

7. 7

   City of Hope showed up in 69 of 71 ChatGPT answers (97%) asking for West Coast cancer care hospitals, in SparkToro's 2026 test.

   Source: SparkToro, 2026 ^[2]

8. 8

   In consumer electronics, Samsung holds a 58.08% share of voice in AI answers, Apple 48.84% and Google 38.51%, in Semrush's study of ChatGPT and Google AI Mode.

   Source: Semrush, 2025 ^[3]

9. 9

   In business services, no brand dominates AI answers in Semrush's 2025 study: Google leads at 23.22% share of voice, Zoho has 16.70% and HubSpot 15.40%.

   Source: Semrush, 2025 ^[3]

10. 10

    Only 6% to 27% of the brands AI models mention most also rank among the sources they cite, depending on industry and platform, in Semrush's 2025 study.

    Source: Semrush, 2025 ^[3]

11. 11

    Brands that are both mentioned and cited are 40% more likely to reappear across AI answers, but only 28% of answers include a brand with both, according to AirOps.

    Source: AirOps, 2025 ^[4]

12. 12

    A brand's own pages show up in about 25% of AI-generated answers, according to AirOps, mostly when users move from exploring to verifying.

    Source: AirOps, 2025 ^[4]

How often AI answers mention brands negatively

1. 13

   Google AI Overviews mentioned brands negatively 2.3% of the time and ChatGPT 1.6%, in BrightEdge's 2026 analysis of prompts in three industries.

   Source: BrightEdge, 2026 ^[5]

2. 14

   Google AI Overviews is 44% more likely than ChatGPT to mention a brand negatively, in BrightEdge's 2026 study.

   Source: BrightEdge, 2026 ^[5]

3. 15

   When Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT both gave a negative answer to the same prompt, they flagged different brands 73% of the time, in BrightEdge's 2026 study.

   Source: BrightEdge, 2026 ^[5]

4. 16

   85% of the negative brand mentions in Google AI Overviews appear on informational queries, before a purchase decision, in BrightEdge's 2026 study.

   Source: BrightEdge, 2026 ^[5]

5. 17

   In the consideration phase, 19.4% of ChatGPT's negative brand mentions appear, against 1.5% for Google, in BrightEdge's 2026 study.

   Source: BrightEdge, 2026 ^[5]

6. 18

   About 1.4% of prompts with brand mentions praised some brands and criticized others in the same answer, in BrightEdge's 2026 study.

   Source: BrightEdge, 2026 ^[5]

Where AI answers get their brand information

1. 19

   85% of brand mentions in AI answers originate from third-party pages rather than the brand's own domain, according to AirOps' 2026 State of AI Search report.

   Source: AirOps, 2025 ^[4]

2. 20

   About 48% of AI search citations come from community platforms such as Reddit and YouTube, according to AirOps.

   Source: AirOps, 2025 ^[4]

3. 21

   86% of AI citations for location-based queries came from sources brands manage, such as their own websites, business listings and reviews, in Yext's analysis of 6.8 million citations.

   Source: Yext, 2025 ^[6]

4. 22

   Brands' own websites produced 44% (2.9 million) of the 6.8 million AI citations Yext analyzed, listings 42% and reviews and social 8%.

   Source: Yext, 2025 ^[6]

5. 23

   Gemini drew 52.1% of its local citations from brand websites, while OpenAI's models leaned on listings at 48.7%, in Yext's 2025 analysis of 6.8 million AI citations.

   Source: Yext, 2025 ^[6]

6. 24

   Reddit and similar forums made up just 2% of local citations once location and query intent were applied, in Yext's 2025 analysis of 6.8 million AI citations.

   Source: Yext, 2025 ^[6]

7. 25

   Wikipedia is ChatGPT's most cited source at 7.8% of all its citations, in Profound's analysis of 680 million citations from August 2024 to June 2025.

   Source: Profound, 2025 ^[7]

8. 26

   Reddit is the top cited source in Google AI Overviews (2.2% of citations) and Perplexity (6.6%), in Profound's 2025 analysis of 680 million citations.

   Source: Profound, 2025 ^[7]

9. 27

   Within ChatGPT's top 10 most cited sources, Wikipedia accounts for 47.9% of citations, in Profound's 2025 analysis of 680 million citations.

   Source: Profound, 2025 ^[7]

10. 28

    .com domains receive over 80% of AI citations and .org sites 11.29%, in Profound's 2025 analysis of 680 million citations.

    Source: Profound, 2025 ^[7]

11. 29

    Reddit appears in 176.89% of ChatGPT finance answers, meaning nearly twice per prompt on average, in Semrush's industry study.

    Source: Semrush, 2025 ^[3]

12. 30

    G2 is the fourth most cited source in ChatGPT answers about digital technology, at 20.04%, in Semrush's 2025 study; official company websites rarely appear in top source lists.

    Source: Semrush, 2025 ^[3]

13. 31

    Google AI Mode cites Bankrate in 86.61% of finance answers and NerdWallet in 75.07%, in Semrush's 2025 study.

    Source: Semrush, 2025 ^[3]

What predicts brand mentions in AI answers

1. 32

   YouTube mentions correlate more strongly with brand visibility in AI answers than any other factor Ahrefs tested across 75,000 brands, at about 0.737.

   Source: Ahrefs, 2025 ^[8]

2. 33

   Branded web mentions correlate highly with AI visibility, at 0.66 to 0.71, in Ahrefs' 2025 study of 75,000 brands.

   Source: Ahrefs, 2025 ^[8]

3. 34

   ChatGPT brand visibility correlates only weakly with branded search volume (0.352) and Domain Rating (0.266), in Ahrefs' 2025 study of 75,000 brands.

   Source: Ahrefs, 2025 ^[8]

4. 35

   In Google AI Mode, branded anchors correlate with brand visibility at 0.628 and branded search volume at 0.466, in Ahrefs' 2025 study of 75,000 brands.

   Source: Ahrefs, 2025 ^[8]

5. 36

   ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews largely mention the same brands, with an output overlap correlation of 0.779, in Ahrefs' 2025 study of 75,000 brands.

   Source: Ahrefs, 2025 ^[8]

6. 37

   Content volume shows almost no relationship with AI visibility (about 0.194) in Ahrefs' 2025 study of 75,000 brands.

   Source: Ahrefs, 2025 ^[8]

7. 38

   Brands ranking on page 1 of Google showed a correlation of about 0.65 with LLM mentions in Seer Interactive's study; Bing rankings correlated at about 0.5 to 0.6.

   Source: Seer Interactive, 2025 ^[9]

How many brand mentions carry no link

1. 39

   110 of 176 mentions (62.5%) of AI-recommended software brands on pages ranking in Google's top 3 for 20 software-buying queries had no direct link to the brand's own website, in CrossMention's check on September 24, 2026.

   Source: CrossMention · Google US, 2026-09-24 · 176 brand mentions on 37 ranking pages · method

2. 40

   Of 393 English-language pages that mentioned Nike in one week (DR 30+ sites with 50+ monthly organic visits), 329 did not link to nike.com, about 84%, in an Ahrefs check.

   Source: Ahrefs, 2020 ^[10]

3. 41

   142 of 262 pages that referred to Ahrefs did not link back to ahrefs.com, about 54%.

   Source: Ahrefs, 2020 ^[10]

4. 42

   In an Ahrefs check of 558 pages mentioning a site, 164 (roughly 29%) contained an unlinked mention.

   Source: Ahrefs, 2020 ^[10]

Frequently asked questions

How often do AI answers mention brands?

Semrush found brand mentions in 26% to 39% of AI answers to 1 million non-branded queries, from 26.07% for ChatGPT without search to 39.36% for ChatGPT Search. For queries that ask for a recommendation, the rate is much higher: in our own test, GPT-5.5 named 199 brands across 20 "best software" answers.

Are AI brand recommendations consistent?

No. SparkToro found less than a 1 in 100 chance that ChatGPT or Google's AI gives the same list of brands twice for the same prompt, and about 1 in 1,000 for the same order. A few brands still show up almost every time, such as City of Hope in 69 of 71 answers.

What drives brand mentions in LLMs?

In Ahrefs' study of 75,000 brands, YouTube mentions had the strongest correlation with AI visibility (about 0.737), followed by branded web mentions (0.66 to 0.71). Content volume showed almost no relationship (about 0.194). Seer Interactive found a correlation of about 0.65 between Google page-1 rankings and LLM mentions.

Where do AI answers get information about brands?

Mostly from other sites. AirOps found that 85% of brand mentions in AI answers originate from third-party pages. In our test, 38 of 46 cited pages were third-party sites. For location-based queries, Yext found that 86% of citations came from sources brands manage, including listings and reviews.

How many brand mentions are unlinked?

On the Google top-3 pages for our 20 software queries, 110 of 176 mentions of recommended brands (62.5%) had no direct link to the brand's site, counting affiliate redirects as no direct link. An older Ahrefs check found 329 of 393 pages mentioning Nike in one week did not link to nike.com.

Sources

1. [1]Semrush. 2025.↑3 ↑4
2. [2]SparkToro. 2026.↑5 ↑6 ↑7
3. [3]Semrush. 2025.↑8 ↑9 ↑10 ↑29 ↑30 ↑31
4. [4]AirOps. 2025.↑11 ↑12 ↑19 ↑20
5. [5]BrightEdge. 2026.↑13 ↑14 ↑15 ↑16 ↑17 ↑18
6. [6]Yext. 2025.↑21 ↑22 ↑23 ↑24
7. [7]Profound. 2025.↑25 ↑26 ↑27 ↑28
8. [8]Ahrefs. 2025.↑32 ↑33 ↑34 ↑35 ↑36 ↑37
9. [9]Seer Interactive. 2025.↑38
10. [10]Ahrefs. “How to turn unlinked mentions into links”. 2020.↑40 ↑41 ↑42

Method

We searched Google for brand mention statistics, llm brand mentions and unlinked brand mentions, read the pages that ranked on the first page, and counted how many of them repeat each number. Few of those pages publish original numbers, so most stats here come from the studies behind them. Each outside number was traced to the company that produced it and checked against that page on September 24, 2026. Nearly all of the AI mention data comes from companies that sell AI visibility or SEO tools (Semrush, Ahrefs, AirOps, Profound, BrightEdge, Yext, Seer Interactive) and was measured on their own prompt sets, so sample sizes and definitions differ between studies. We found no peer-reviewed paper with numbers on brand mentions in AI answers. The Ahrefs unlinked-mention counts are from 2020. Our own numbers come from 20 software-buying queries we sent to OpenAI's GPT-5.5 with web search through the API on September 24, 2026, and from Google's top 3 results for the same queries. The API model is not the same as the ChatGPT app, and 20 queries is a small sample.

CrossMention numbers new on this page:

• OpenAI's GPT-5.5 with web search named 199 brands across 20 software-buying answers, in a CrossMention test on September 24, 2026; 9 of those brands (4.5%) had their own website among the sources the answer cited. 20 queries of the form "best <software category>" sent to gpt-5.5 with the web_search tool (US location) through OpenAI's API, which is not identical to the ChatGPT app. Brands and their official domains were extracted from each answer by gpt-5.4-mini; a brand counts as cited when any cited URL sits on its domain. Scripts: research/drafts/ai-search-statistics/ai_answer_sample.py and counts.py.
• 38 of 46 pages GPT-5.5 cited in answers to 20 software-buying queries (83%) were on a third-party site, not on the website of a brand the answer recommended, in a CrossMention test on September 24, 2026. Same sample. 8 of the 46 cited URLs sit on the domain of a brand named in the same answer.
• 110 of 176 mentions (62.5%) of AI-recommended software brands on pages ranking in Google's top 3 for 20 software-buying queries had no direct link to the brand's own website, in CrossMention's check on September 24, 2026. For each of the 20 queries we fetched Google's top 3 organic results (37 pages loaded) and searched each page for the brands the AI answer named. A mention counts as linked when the page has any link whose host is the brand's own domain. Links through the publisher's own redirect or affiliate URLs count as not linked, so the share includes affiliate links. Pages on the brand's own site were skipped. Script: counts.py --pages; rows in mentions.json.

All 42 statistics as a CSV: brand-mention-statistics.csv.

Cite this page

CrossMention, “Brand Mention 2026 Statistics (Updated September)”, updated September 2026, https://crossmention.com/research/brand-mention-statistics

To cite one number, link its anchor: each statistic has one, for example https://crossmention.com/research/brand-mention-statistics#stat-1.