When I ask business owners what they think gets a brand named in ChatGPT or Google’s AI answers, I usually hear one of three guesses: “more backlinks,” “more blog posts” or “more ad spend.” They are reasonable guesses, because those things worked for Google rankings for years.
The best data we have points somewhere else. In the largest study I have seen, the factors most closely linked to AI visibility were about how often the rest of the web talks about your brand, including on YouTube. Classic link metrics and the sheer number of pages on your site came out much weaker.
In this article, let me explain how the main studies were done, rank the factors by the strength of evidence, show where ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews differ, and then turn the ranking into a practical plan. I will also be honest about what this data can and can’t prove, because that part matters more than most people think.
How the AI brand visibility studies were done
The main study here is by Louise Linehan at Ahrefs, published in December 2025. Her team looked at 75,000 brands and measured how often each one appeared in answers from ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews, using millions of AI responses from Ahrefs’ Brand Radar tool. Brands were chosen from websites with a Domain Rating above 40 whose top keyword had at least 800 monthly searches.
They then compared that AI visibility with a list of possible factors, such as web mentions, YouTube mentions, branded search volume, links and site size, using something called a Spearman correlation.
Let me explain that term simply. A Spearman correlation tells you whether two things tend to rise together when you rank them. A score of 1 means “perfectly in step,” 0 means “no relationship,” and anything around 0.6 or higher is usually called strong. It does not tell you that one thing causes the other.
I also draw on two smaller Ahrefs studies by Patrick Stox from mid-2025. Both looked at the top 50 brands mentioned across Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity, using June 2025 data. They are useful, but a sample of 50 is small, and Stox says so himself.
One limit to keep in mind: the 75,000-brand sample excludes smaller websites (Domain Rating under 40). If you run a small local business, the patterns may still apply, but they were not measured on sites like yours.
The AI visibility factors ranked by strength of evidence
Here is the ranking from the 75,000-brand study, strongest correlation first. Where the study gave different values per platform, I show the range.
| Rank | Factor | Correlation with AI visibility | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | YouTube mentions | About 0.737 | Strong |
| 2 | YouTube mention impressions | About 0.717 | Strong |
| 3 | Branded web mentions | 0.656–0.709 | Strong |
| 4 | Branded anchors (links using your brand name) | 0.511–0.628 | Moderate to strong |
| 5 | Branded search volume | 0.352–0.466 | Moderate |
| 6 | Branded traffic | 0.235–0.357 | Weak to moderate |
| 7 | Domain Rating | 0.266–0.326 | Weak |
| 8 | Ad traffic and ad cost | Roughly 0.22–0.29 | Weak |
| 9 | Number of pages on the site | About 0.194 | Very weak |
| 10 | Backlinks and URL Rating | Very weak (exact values not given) | Very weak |
If you only remember one thing from this table, make it this: the top three factors are all about other people mentioning you. The bottom of the table is mostly things you can do on your own site or buy.
YouTube mentions: the surprise leader
I did not expect YouTube to top the list, and I suspect you didn’t either. In the Ahrefs data, the number of times a brand was mentioned on YouTube had the strongest link to AI visibility of any factor, slightly stronger than how many times those videos were viewed.
Why might that be? A few plausible reasons:
- Video is a source in its own right. In a separate Ahrefs comparison, YouTube was the top cited source in AI Overviews.
- YouTube mentions are a sign of real-world fame. Brands that people review, unbox and talk about on video are usually brands people know.
- Transcripts are text. When a reviewer names your product on camera, that name often ends up in a transcript that machines can read.
Note that the count of mentions mattered slightly more than the views. That suggests being discussed in many videos may matter more than being in one viral one. If you want to see where your videos and your brand are being discussed, my guide on tracking where your YouTube videos get mentioned and cited shows how.
Branded web mentions: still the strongest signal on the open web
Outside YouTube, the strongest factor was how often your brand is mentioned on web pages, with or without a link. The study found correlations of 0.66 to 0.71, with the highest in AI Mode (0.709).
Patrick Stox’s earlier top-50 study, using June 2025 data, found a similar pattern for Google but not for the other platforms:
| Platform | Correlation: branded web mentions vs visibility (top 50 brands, June 2025) |
|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews | 0.65 (strong) |
| Perplexity | 0.30 (weak) |
| ChatGPT | 0.15 (very weak) |
He summed up the Google result in plain words:
“Google has a strong correlation, where it seems like branded web mentions lead to more visibility.”
— Patrick Stox, Ahrefs, Branded web mentions and visibility in AI search
The ChatGPT number in that small study is much lower than in the big one. I put more weight on the 75,000-brand result, simply because the sample is far larger. But the difference is a good reminder that one study is never the final word.
The practical message is the same either way: get your brand talked about on pages people actually read. That is the core of digital PR, which I cover in digital PR for AI visibility, and of mention tracking, covered in brand mentions and SEO.
Branded anchors and branded search demand
Two more “brand” factors sit in the middle of the ranking.
Branded anchors
A branded anchor is a link whose clickable text is your brand name, for example “according to Acme Plumbing.” These correlated at 0.511 to 0.628. AI Mode was the only platform where they crossed into strong territory (0.628). This makes sense: a branded link is both a link and a mention.
Branded search volume
How often people search for your brand by name correlated at 0.352 to 0.466, again highest in AI Mode. Branded search is a good sign of real-world demand, and it is something you can track for free in Google Search Console.
I like this pair because both are things you can measure and improve. Branded anchors come from PR and partnerships. Branded search comes from everything that makes people remember your name, including offline marketing.
Backlinks, Domain Rating and ad spend: weaker than many expect
This is the finding that surprises most SEOs. Classic link metrics had only weak links to AI visibility.
- Domain Rating correlated at 0.266 for ChatGPT up to 0.326 for AI Overviews.
- Raw backlinks and URL Rating were very weak.
- In Stox’s top-50 study, a domain’s link-based Ahrefs Rank showed almost no relationship with mention share: -0.12 for AI Overviews and 0.01 for ChatGPT.
Interestingly, Stox notes that Domain Rating still correlated more strongly with AI Overview brand mentions (0.326) than with normal Google rankings across a million keywords (0.131). So links are not useless. They just don’t explain much on their own.
Ad spend was similar. Ad traffic and ad cost correlated at roughly 0.22 to 0.29. Buying search ads does not appear to buy you mentions in AI answers. I cover the link question in more depth in do backlinks still matter for AI visibility?
Content volume: why publishing more pages barely moves AI visibility
The weakest measured factor was the number of pages on a site, at about 0.194. In other words, a brand with 10,000 pages was not much more likely to be named than one with 500.
Ryan Law at Ahrefs put it well:
“It’s not just a content creation arms race.”
— Ryan Law, Ahrefs, Top Brand Visibility Factors in ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews
This does not mean content is useless. Your own pages still need to be clear, accurate and easy for AI systems to read and cite, and Google’s guidance on AI features still asks for the usual SEO basics such as crawlable pages and important content in text. It means that publishing more pages is not the same as becoming more visible. Ten pages that others reference beat a hundred that nobody mentions.
How ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews differ
The three platforms mostly agree on which brands to name. The study measured how closely their brand mentions matched:
| Platform pair | Output overlap correlation |
|---|---|
| AI Overviews and AI Mode | 0.821 |
| AI Mode and ChatGPT | 0.769 |
| AI Overviews and ChatGPT | 0.749 |
So if you are visible in one, you are likely to be visible in the others. But the details differ:
- AI Mode showed the highest correlations with brand authority signals: branded web mentions (0.709), branded anchors (0.628) and branded search volume (0.466).
- ChatGPT showed weaker links to classic authority metrics, such as branded search volume (0.352) and Domain Rating (0.266).
- AI Overviews had the strongest link with Domain Rating of the three (0.326), though still weak.
One more difference worth knowing: AI Mode names far more brands per answer than AI Overviews (3.3 entities on average versus 1.3, in Ahrefs’ separate September 2025 comparison). I explore that in AI Mode vs AI Overviews.
Correlation is not causation: three traps to avoid
The study’s authors are clear about this:
“The usual disclaimer applies: correlation isn’t causation.”
— Ahrefs, Top Brand Visibility Factors in ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews
Let me spell out what that means in practice, with three traps I see people fall into.
- The fame trap. Famous brands get mentioned on YouTube, on the web and in AI answers. Fame may be driving all three. Getting a few YouTube mentions won’t make you famous overnight.
- The big-brand trap. The sample only included sites with Domain Rating above 40. Results for small businesses could look different. I look at this in do AI assistants favor big brands less than Google?
- The shortcut trap. If mentions matter, people will try to fake them with paid posts and spam. Low-quality mentions are unlikely to help and can damage trust.
Seer Interactive faced the same problem with its AI Overview click data and said plainly that it “cannot definitively prove” cause and effect. I treat all of these studies as direction, not hard science.
Turning the factor ranking into a six-month plan
So what should you actually do? Here is how I would turn the ranking into work, in order.
- Measure your starting point. Track your brand across ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews for 30–50 important prompts. My guide on tracking your brand’s visibility in AI search shows how, and this comparison of AI visibility tools helps you pick one.
- Count your mentions. Note how many web pages and YouTube videos mention your brand, and compare with two or three competitors.
- Get on YouTube, through other people. Send products to reviewers, appear on podcasts that publish video, and make your own videos answering real customer questions.
- Run steady digital PR. Aim for mentions in trade press, comparison articles and community discussions. Ask for your brand name as the link text when a link is offered.
- Build branded demand. Anything that makes people search your name helps: email, events, social, partnerships.
- Keep your own pages clean and clear. Clear product and service pages make it easy for AI to describe you correctly once it decides to name you.
- Re-measure every month. Look at share of voice, not single answers. My guide to share of voice in AI answers explains the calculation.
Example: splitting 40 hours a month (hypothetical)
Here is a made-up example for a mid-sized software company with 40 hours a month for AI visibility work:
| Activity | Hours per month | Factor it targets |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube creator outreach and own video answers | 12 | YouTube mentions |
| Digital PR and expert commentary | 12 | Branded web mentions, branded anchors |
| Community and review site presence | 6 | Branded web mentions |
| Page clarity updates on key product pages | 5 | Accurate descriptions when named |
| Tracking and reporting | 5 | Measurement |
Notice what is not on the list: publishing dozens of new blog posts or buying links. That follows directly from the data. It is a starting split, not a rule, and you should shift hours toward whatever moves your own numbers.
Also keep expectations sensible. AI traffic is still small for most sites. Ahrefs found it averaged about 0.25% of total site traffic in mid-2025. The value of being named often shows up in branded search and sales conversations, not in a referral report.
Questions about AI brand visibility factors
What is the biggest factor for appearing in AI answers?
In Ahrefs’ study of 75,000 brands, YouTube mentions had the strongest correlation (about 0.737), followed by YouTube mention impressions and branded web mentions (0.66–0.71).
Do backlinks help with AI visibility?
Weakly. Domain Rating correlated at 0.266–0.326, and raw backlink counts were very weak. Links that use your brand name as anchor text did better (0.511–0.628).
Will publishing more content get my brand into ChatGPT?
Not by volume alone. The number of pages on a site correlated at only about 0.194 with AI visibility.
Are the factors the same for ChatGPT and Google AI Mode?
Broadly yes, since the platforms name similar brands (overlap of 0.749–0.821). AI Mode shows the strongest links to brand authority signals, and ChatGPT the weakest.
Does this prove that mentions cause AI visibility?
No. These are correlations. Famous brands may simply earn both more mentions and more AI visibility. Use the data as direction, and test changes on your own brand.
Where I would put your next hour of brand-building
If you have one free hour this week, don’t spend it on another blog post. Spend it making a list of ten YouTube channels, publications or communities where your customers already gather, and work out how your brand could earn a genuine mention in each. That single list will do more for your AI visibility than most on-site tweaks.
If you would like help building that list and running the outreach, our SEO and digital PR team does exactly this for brands of all sizes. Get in touch for a free quote, and we can look at where your brand stands today.
Further reading on AI brand visibility factors
- AI Mentions Without Links: How Often Assistants Link to Brands They Name
- What Triggers AI Overviews? Query Types That Show Them (and Don't)
- Does Content Length Matter for AI Citations?
Sources for this AI brand visibility factors guide
- Ahrefs: Top Brand Visibility Factors in ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews (75k Brands Studied)
- Ahrefs: Branded web mentions and visibility in AI search
- Ahrefs: Domain-Level Link Metrics May Not Be Good Predictors of AI Search Mentions
- Ahrefs: Are AI Mode and AI Overviews Just Different Versions of the Same Answer?
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website
- Seer Interactive: AIO Impact on Google CTR, September 2025 Update
- Ahrefs: AI traffic study (June 2025)
