Observed Signal · Aug 18, 2026 · Research Study · Source: https://martech.org/feed/ · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Search & AI brand visibility Market: Study: AI visibility often diverges from SEO rankings
Fractl analyzed how three large language models (GPT-4o, Gemini 2.5 Flash, and Claude Sonnet 4.6) referenced brands across eight industries and compared those references to traditional SEO metrics from Ahrefs. While more than 90% of brands showed alignment between search authority and AI visibility, notable outliers existed: about 5% of brands (471) were underrepresented in model responses and about 4% (377) overperformed relative to their SEO footprint. Only 11% of brands were referenced by all three models, and model-specific recall patterns (e.g., Claude favoring SaaS/insurance, Gemini favoring travel/healthcare) create measurement and strategy challenges. The study concludes brands should measure AI recall separately, strengthen third-party corroboration, and fix categorization signals to improve AI recall.
Quantitative study showing that LLM recall often diverges from traditional SEO, with actionable implications for SEO measurement, brand categorization, digital PR, and model-specific visibility tracking.
Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Fractl analyzed 4,320 model responses and more than 8,500 unique brand references across eight industries.
- About 5% of brands (471) were underexposed in LLMs despite high domain ratings and organic traffic.
- About 4% of brands (377) overperformed in AI references relative to their traditional SEO metrics.
- Only 11% of brands (900) in the dataset were referenced by all three models; 77% were referenced by only one model.
- Monday.com was the largest overperformer with an AI Visibility Score of 0.71.
Connected Companies & Entities
28 Entities mappedTrustpilot
Public reviews platform with SaaS tools for business reputation management.
“Legacy insurance carriers got displaced:Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Liberty Mutual, and Trustpilot all sat at DR 80+ with millions of monthly visi...”
Humana
Unclear / To Be ClassifiedUS health insurer focused on Medicare and integrated care.
“Legacy insurance carriers got displaced:Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Liberty Mutual, and Trustpilot all sat at DR 80+ with millions of monthly visi...”
SEMrush
B2B marketing intelligence software for SEO, ads, and competitive research.
“MarTech is owned by Semrush....”
Anthropic
Foundation model company selling AI assistants and model APIs.
“Fractl analyzed AI visibility across eight industries using GPT-4o, Gemini 2.5 Flash, and Claude Sonnet 4.6....”
Expedia Group
Online travel marketplace group with a scaled travel advertising business.
“Travel was the most concentrated category:Booking.com (285 mentions), Airbnb (227), and Expedia (215) accounted for roughly 20% of the secto...”
Professional social platform for hiring, advertising, sales and learning.
“Six of the top 15 overperformers were in education:Stanford, MIT, Khan Academy, LinkedIn Learning, IBM Data Science, and Google Career Certi...”
Spotify
Audio streaming platform with subscriptions, ads and creator tools.
“A few of the patterns we spotted:Microsoft and Spotify topped the list in FinTech:They’re the giants of traditional visibility, but the mode...”
Samsung Electronics
Global electronics maker monetising devices, streaming, advertising and digital services.
“Lifestyle was the loudest signal of the methodology working:Patagonia, Allbirds, Eileen Fisher, and Everlane (sustainability-coded direct-to...”
monday.com
Work management and business workflow software for teams and enterprises.
“Monday.com was the biggest overperformer in the dataset,with an AI Visibility Score of 0.71....”
Peloton
Connected fitness hardware and subscription workout platform.
“Wellness had the deepest bench:Peloton, Headspace, Calm, Whoop, and Oura all cleared 168 mentions....”
Progressive
US insurance carrier serving consumer and commercial policyholders.
“Root Insurance (165) ranked above Progressive (114)....”
Coursera
Online learning platform for consumers, enterprises and degree seekers.
“The pattern held across every sector. A handful of categories do have winners the models clearly recognize, but plenty of the time, those pi...”
State Farm
US insurance and financial services provider.
“Insurance broke the way industry watchers should have expected:Lemonade (213) ranked above State Farm (172)....”
Airbnb
Consumer travel marketplace for stays, experiences and local services.
“Travel was the most concentrated category:Booking.com (285 mentions), Airbnb (227), and Expedia (215) accounted for roughly 20% of the secto...”
Medtronic
Unclear / To Be ClassifiedGlobal medical device and healthcare technology manufacturer.
“Healthcare giants were under-indexed.Medtronic, GoodRx, Humana, and 23andMe....”
Ahrefs
SEO intelligence and web analytics software for marketers and agencies.
“Fractl then mapped the brands identified in those responses to Ahrefs data, including domain rating, organic traffic, referring domains, and...”
Stripe
Financial infrastructure platform for payments, billing, fraud, and commerce operations.
“The pattern held across every sector. A handful of categories do have winners the models clearly recognize, but plenty of the time, those pi...”
Root Insurance
Telematics-driven digital insurer with a mobile-first consumer app.
“Root Insurance (165) ranked above Progressive (114)....”
PayPal
Digital payments network spanning wallet, merchant tools and commerce media.
“SaaS and FinTech sat between 3% to 4% over and 6% under. That’s because in these categories, the story is one incumbent replacing another (S...”
Microsoft
Diversified software, cloud, advertising and gaming platform company.
“A few of the patterns we spotted:Microsoft and Spotify topped the list in FinTech:They’re the giants of traditional visibility, but the mode...”
IBM
Enterprise cloud, AI, security and consulting provider.
“Six of the top 15 overperformers were in education:Stanford, MIT, Khan Academy, LinkedIn Learning, IBM Data Science, and Google Career Certi...”
Sephora
Prestige beauty retailer with omnichannel commerce, loyalty and digital engagement.
“Lifestyle was the loudest signal of the methodology working:Patagonia, Allbirds, Eileen Fisher, and Everlane (sustainability-coded direct-to...”
Notion
Unified workspace software for docs, knowledge and projects.
“The pattern held across every sector. A handful of categories do have winners the models clearly recognize, but plenty of the time, those pi...”
OpenAI
Foundation model company selling AI software, APIs and subscriptions.
“Fractl analyzed AI visibility across eight industries using GPT-4o, Gemini 2.5 Flash, and Claude Sonnet 4.6....”
Allbirds
Sustainable footwear brand selling direct and through branded resale.
“Lifestyle was the loudest signal of the methodology working:Patagonia, Allbirds, Eileen Fisher, and Everlane (sustainability-coded direct-to...”
Booking.com
Global travel marketplace connecting travellers with accommodation, transport and activity suppliers.
“Travel was the most concentrated category:Booking.com (285 mentions), Airbnb (227), and Expedia (215) accounted for roughly 20% of the secto...”
MIT
Non-profit university with digital learning and specialist media properties.
“Six of the top 15 overperformers were in education:Stanford, MIT, Khan Academy, LinkedIn Learning, IBM Data Science, and Google Career Certi...”
Search, video, adtech and cloud giant within Alphabet.
“Six of the top 15 overperformers were in education:Stanford, MIT, Khan Academy, LinkedIn Learning, IBM Data Science, and Google Career Certi...”
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