Artificial Intelligence—specifically AI search—is the talk of the town. In recent weeks (early 2026), several significant reports have been published that shift our understanding of how companies appear in AI-driven searches. The results are partly surprising and partly confirm what we at Trustmary have seen in our own pilots.

In this article, I will go through the key findings of the latest publications and explain what they mean in practice. At the end, you’ll find concrete action lists for companies of different sizes.

1. AI Visibility is Up to 30 Times Harder Than Google Visibility

In January 2026, SOCi published its Local Visibility Index study, which analyzed the visibility of nearly 350,000 business locations across various AI platforms. The results were startling:

  • ChatGPT recommended only 1.2% of locations.
  • Gemini recommended 11% of locations.
  • Perplexity recommended 7.4% of locations.
  • For comparison: Google’s local results (3-pack) featured 35.9% of locations.

In practice, this means achieving AI visibility is 3 to 30 times harder than traditional search engine visibility. AI systems don’t show all options; they carefully curate and select only those they recommend.

Why is this happening? AI models operate on a different logic than traditional search engines. In a Google search, a company can appear based on location and category even if its reviews are mediocre. In AI searches, this isn't the case.

According to the study, the average rating of companies recommended by ChatGPT was 4.3 stars. For Gemini, it was 3.9 stars, and for Perplexity, 4.1 stars. Companies with ratings below the average were often omitted from recommendations entirely.

In other words: AI systems use reviews as a filter, not just a ranking factor. If your ratings don’t cross a certain threshold, your business won’t even make the cut.

2. AI Recommendations are Random by Nature – And That’s Intentional

Rand Fishkin (SparkToro) and Patrick O’Donnell (Gumshoe.ai) published a study where 600 volunteers ran identical prompts through ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI nearly 3,000 times. The results challenged the conventional way we measure AI visibility.

Key Findings:

  • Probability of getting the same list twice: less than 1%
  • Probability of getting the same list in the same order: about 1/1000
  • Even the list length varied greatly (from 2 to 10+ recommendations).

This means traditional "rank tracking" is practically meaningless in AI search. You cannot claim your brand is "ranked #3 on ChatGPT" because the next time, it might be #1 or missing entirely.

What works as a metric instead? The study highlighted one key metric: visibility percentage. Even though the order varied, certain brands appeared in responses consistently—in 60% to 90% of cases in certain categories.

Another important observation: even when user prompts differed significantly, AI models identified the user's intent and returned similar sets of brands. For example, when searching for headphones, Bose, Sony, Apple, and Sennheiser appeared repeatedly, even when the questions were phrased in hundreds of different ways.

3. 12 Proven Tactics for AI Visibility

Search Engine Land gathered practical tips for building AI visibility from top industry experts like Lily Ray, Kevin Indig, Steve Toth, and Ross Hudgens. These are not theories, but tested tactics.

Key findings regarding reviews and social media:

  • Social Media Works Fast: LinkedIn posts and Pulse articles can appear in AI searches within hours, or even minutes. Reddit and YouTube behave similarly. Accounts with a strong following see a faster impact.
  • Authority Sites Speed Up Entry: Publishing on respected industry sites can lead to AI visibility within hours. When reviews and customer stories are shared on trusted third-party sites, they are likely to be included in the AI models' source material.
  • ~250 Publications Impact Brand Perception: Experts estimate that roughly 250 pieces of content or publications are needed to significantly influence how an AI model perceives a brand. If a company doesn't publish and share content regularly, others will define the narrative for them.
  • Fresh Content is Prioritized: LLMs favor fresh, up-to-date content. Collecting and sharing new reviews is more important than recycling old ones. However, artificial "updates" without actual content changes do not work.

Other Important Tactics:

  • Clear Homepage: LLMs read homepage content, not navigation menus. State immediately who you are for and what you offer.
  • Visible FAQs: 8–10 well-answered questions in a visible spot (no hidden accordions) signal expertise.
  • Audience-Specific Pages: LLMs understand relevance better when each audience has its own dedicated page.
  • Footer Optimization: Brand and service signals in the footer influence AI visibility.
  • Diversification: Content should be adapted into text, video, audio, and images.

Source: Search Engine Land: How to optimize for AI search: 12 proven LLM visibility tactics

What Does This Mean in Practice?

Based on these reports, it is clear that AI search visibility differs significantly from traditional SEO:

  1. Threshold Logic: AI doesn't rank all companies; it only selects those that exceed a quality threshold. Reviews are your "entry ticket."
  2. Randomness is a Feature: LLMs are designed to produce variation. This is not a bug, but an intentional feature. Tracking specific rankings is futile.
  3. Visibility = Frequency: The most important metric is how often your brand is mentioned across different queries—not its position in a single response.
  4. Good AEO = Good SEO + Systematic Distribution: Google’s John Mueller confirmed that good AI visibility (Answer Engine Optimization) is rooted in good SEO. Gimmicks work temporarily; long-term work prevails.

Concrete Action Lists

For Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (Start Now)

  • [ ] Check your ratings on Google Maps, Yelp, and industry sites. Goal: over 4.0 stars.
  • [ ] Start actively collecting reviews. Ask every satisfied customer.
  • [ ] Respond to all reviews—including negative ones. AI models see the responses too.
  • [ ] Update your homepage: clearly state who you are, who you serve, and what you provide.
  • [ ] Add an FAQ section in a visible spot (8–10 questions, not hidden).
  • [ ] Ensure your business information (NAP: Name, Address, Phone) is identical across all channels.

For Mid-sized and Large Enterprises (Strategic Level)

  • [ ] Build a content strategy aiming for a "footprint" of ~250 publications over the next 12 months.
  • [ ] Create dedicated pages for every target audience, industry, and use case.
  • [ ] Start systematically sharing reviews and customer stories on LinkedIn and other social channels.
  • [ ] Ensure presence on trusted review sites like Trustmary, G2, and Capterra.
  • [ ] Seek guest posting opportunities on industry authority sites.
  • [ ] Repurpose top content: Text → Video → Podcast → Infographic.
  • [ ] Track visibility percentage (how often your brand is mentioned), not rankings.
  • [ ] Optimize the footer: add clear brand and service signals.

Specifically for B2B Companies

  • [ ] Collect reviews on Trustmary, G2, Capterra, and other B2B-specific platforms.
  • [ ] Publish case studies regularly and share them actively.
  • [ ] Build personal brands: AI models recognize and trust established experts.
  • [ ] Produce comparison content: "X vs Y" articles help AI models understand your market positioning.

Summary: Three Things to Remember

  1. AI visibility is selective. Only a fraction of companies make it into recommendations. Reviews and reputation are your entry ticket.
  2. Order is random, frequency is not. Don’t chase rankings. Focus on making sure your brand is mentioned as often as possible.
  3. Systematic work beats shortcuts. AI visibility is built on the same pillars as good SEO: quality content, a good reputation, and a consistent presence.

Want to know how your company currently appears in AI searches? At Trustmary, we help businesses build systematic review strategies that improve visibility in both traditional search and AI platforms.

Sources

1. SOCi: 2026 Local Visibility Index
2. Search Engine Land: AI local visibility is up to 30x harder than ranking in Google (28.1.2026)
https://searchengineland.com/ai-local-visibility-report-2026-468085
3. Search Engine Land: AI recommendation lists repeat less than 1% of the time (28.1.2026)
https://searchengineland.com/ai-recommendation-lists-rarely-repeat-study-468076
4. Search Engine Land: How to optimize for AI search: 12 proven LLM visibility tactics (29.1.2026)
https://searchengineland.com/optimize-ai-search-llm-visibility-tactics-468106