Semrush Unveils AI Visibility Index, Rewrites the Rules of Enterprise Brand Discovery in the AI Era

Semrush – AI search is eliminating billions of clicks and unraveling the very foundations of how brands are found by–and connect with–their customers. Some companies are thriving. Others have fallen behind overnight. To help marketers navigate this upheaval, Semrush Enterprise unveiled the AI Visibility Index, a definitive benchmark measuring brand performance across ChatGPT and Google AI Mode.

With the biggest shift in digital marketing since the founding of Google, new industry benchmark offers Enterprise marketers insights and playbook on how to win in the AI search era.

“AI search is likely the biggest shift in digital marketing since Google’s founding in 1998,” said Andrew Warden, CMO of Semrush. “The rules of visibility, brand discovery, and traffic were rewritten overnight. It’s no longer only about scale and quality of content but also about reinforcing trust and authority. We built the AI Visibility Index based on 2,500+ real-world prompts in both ChatGPT and Google AI Mode. This data-backed approach explores which brands are winning, why they’re on top, and provides a blueprint based on these proven tactics for how you can turn AI visibility into real competitive advantage.”

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A New Standard for AI Search

Built on data from Semrush Enterprise’s AI Optimization tool, the Index offers marketers a transparent, actionable view of brand visibility in AI search results. It uses real-world prompts across the five key industries of Finance, Digital Tech, Business, Fashion, and Consumer Electronics, to provide a transparent, data-driven view of not only who’s winning in AI discovery, but also why.

The Two Battles of AI Discovery

No matter what LLM a marketer is optimizing for, one of the biggest challenges remains: being cited as a trusted source doesn’t guarantee you’ll win a click or conversation. And, with AI search traffic projected to surpass traditional search by 2028, marketers now face two distinct battles:

• The Sentiment Battle: User-generated content represents new currency as AI models scrape reviews, community forums, and social media discussions to understand who is being talked about.
• The Authority Game: LLMs seek to validate the hype with information from authoritative sources, like an official website or Wikipedia entries, so content must be clear, factual and structured for easy digestion.

For brands that want to win at both, consistency and repetition are key to building trust and shining through.

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Key Findings: The State of AI Visibility in 2025

• Mentions ≠ Authority: Fewer than 1 in 5 brands are both frequently mentioned and consistently cited as authoritative sources. This is called the Mention-Source Divide.
• Community Voice Dominates: What others say about your brand comes ahead of what you have to say. Moreover, different engines lean on different sources of authority (e.g., Reddit fuels ChatGPT mentions, while Google AI Mode leans heavily on authorities like Bankrate and LinkedIn).
• The Game Varies by Industry: What works for one industry isn’t necessarily a winning strategy for another. The five key industries studied (Finance, Digital Tech, Business & Professional Services, Fashion, and Consumer Electronics) show drastic performance and competitive differences.