Optimising Your Brand for AI Search: Strategies for 2026 and Beyond

The opportunity is substantial: AI-referred traffic converts at dramatically higher rates than traditional search traffic. Research from multiple independent studies shows conversion rates between 14% and 16% for AI referrals compared to 2–3% for Google organic. However, AI referral traffic currently represents only about 1% of total web traffic—meaning the window for establishing first-mover advantage remains open.

This guide provides Whitehat SEO's complete framework for optimising brand visibility across AI search platforms, incorporating the latest 2026 statistics, UK-specific regulatory developments, and evidence-based tactics that work for B2B companies.

AI Search Platform Statistics for 2026

Understanding platform-specific statistics helps prioritise optimisation efforts. The AI search landscape has matured dramatically since mid-2025, with clear leaders emerging and distinct user behaviours across platforms.

ChatGPT Dominates AI Referral Traffic

ChatGPT's growth accelerated throughout 2025, reaching 800 million weekly active users by October 2025—double the 400 million reported in February 2025. OpenAI reportedly targets 1 billion users by Q1 2026. The platform processes approximately 2.5 billion daily prompts, with 31% triggering web search functionality and 53.5% for commercial-intent queries specifically.

For UK businesses, ChatGPT's dominance in AI referral traffic is particularly significant. According to Conductor's 2026 Benchmarks report analysing 13,770 domains and 3.3 billion sessions, ChatGPT accounts for 87.4% of all AI referrals to websites—more than Reddit and LinkedIn combined. This concentration means ChatGPT optimisation should be the primary focus for most B2B companies beginning their answer engine optimisation journey.

Google AI Overviews: The 25% Threshold

Google AI Overviews now appear on approximately 25% of all searches, according to Conductor's analysis of 21.9 million queries. This figure rises to 30–45% for informational queries specifically. The click-through impact is significant: Seer Interactive's September 2025 study found organic CTR dropped 61% when AI Overviews appeared (from 1.76% to 0.61%), and paid CTR crashed 68%.

However, there's a crucial nuance that changes the strategic calculus: brands cited within AI Overviews earn 35% more organic clicks and 91% more paid clicks than non-cited brands. This makes citation the critical differentiator—appearing in AI Overviews is now essential for maintaining search visibility.

Perplexity: The Fast-Growing Challenger

Perplexity reached 780 million monthly queries by May 2025, with projections of 1.2–1.5 billion by mid-2026. The platform achieved 800% year-over-year growth from 2024 to 2025 and secured an £18–20 billion valuation in its September 2025 Series D funding round. Perplexity has established 300+ publisher partnerships for revenue-sharing on cited content—a model that may influence how brands approach content distribution.

For B2B companies, Perplexity's citation patterns warrant specific attention. Research shows that Reddit accounts for 46.7% of Perplexity citations—a dramatically higher share than other AI platforms. This makes Reddit presence and engagement a priority tactic for Perplexity visibility specifically.

Why AI Traffic Converts Better Than Google Traffic

The business case for AI search optimisation becomes compelling when examining conversion data. Multiple independent studies demonstrate that AI-referred visitors convert at dramatically higher rates than traditional search traffic.

The conversion rate differential appears across multiple studies and methodologies. Seer Interactive's June 2025 analysis found ChatGPT referrals convert at 15.9% versus 1.76% for Google organic. Semrush reports LLM visitors convert 4.4× better than organic search visitors. Microsoft Clarity data across 1,200 sites shows AI platform sign-up rates of 1.66% versus 0.15% for traditional search.

These elevated conversion rates likely reflect selection bias: users clicking through from AI answers are pre-qualified and high-intent. They've already received context and a recommendation from the AI, making them warmer prospects than typical search visitors who must evaluate multiple options. Whether these rates hold at scale remains to be seen, but at current AI traffic volumes, the business case for optimisation is clear.

Adobe Analytics data from the 2025 holiday shopping season reinforces the trend: AI referral traffic surged 693% year-over-year. AI search is no longer a future consideration—it's a current business reality that UK companies must address.

What Actually Drives AI Visibility: Brand Authority Over Backlinks

The most consequential finding for SEO practitioners is that traditional ranking factors don't translate directly to AI citation. Brand mentions correlate more strongly with AI citations than backlink metrics—a fundamental shift in how visibility is earned.

Seer Interactive's study of 300,000+ keywords found that Google page-one rankings showed approximately 0.65 correlation with LLM mentions—the strongest signal measured. Backlinks showed weak or even neutral impact on AI citation likelihood. Brand search volume was the second-strongest correlation factor.

Ahrefs' study of 75,000 brands confirmed this pattern. YouTube mentions showed the strongest correlation with AI visibility (approximately 0.737 Spearman coefficient), followed by branded web mentions (0.66–0.71). Domain Rating—a traditional SEO authority metric—showed only approximately 0.27 correlation with AI visibility.

Consistency Across Platforms Matters More Than Volume

SparkToro's research revealed a counterintuitive finding: AI systems prioritise consistency of brand mention across platforms over raw mention volume. A brand mentioned consistently across 15 different authoritative sources often outperforms a brand with higher total mention count concentrated in fewer sources.

This finding has direct tactical implications. Building presence across review platforms (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot), industry publications, YouTube, Reddit, and partner sites creates the "digital consensus" that AI systems use when deciding which brands to recommend. Concentrated effort on any single platform—even your own website—produces diminishing returns.

The 90/10 Reality: Third-Party Sources Dominate AI Citations

Perhaps the most important statistic for UK marketers to understand: brand websites account for only approximately 10% of AI citations. Third-party sources—Reddit, review sites, Wikipedia, news publications, YouTube—account for approximately 90% of citations. Research from Chen et al. documented a "systematic and overwhelming bias" toward earned media sources in AI-generated recommendations.

This 90/10 split fundamentally changes how marketing investment should be allocated. On-site content optimisation remains important for the 10% of citations that do come from brand-owned properties, but the majority of AI visibility work must happen off-site.

Platform-Specific Citation Sources

Each AI platform draws from different sources, requiring platform-specific strategies:

• ChatGPT favours established domains (45.8% of citations come from sites over 15 years old) and relies heavily on Wikipedia (cited in 47.9% of responses in the top-10)
• Google AI Overviews cite Reddit (21%) and YouTube (29.5%) heavily, with 46% of citations from top-10 organic results
• Perplexity shows the most diverse source selection, with Reddit accounting for 46.7% of citations and educational content prioritised
• Claude favours longer, coherent passages and shows zero Reddit citations in testing—focusing on 2024-2025 content from authoritative sources

Research shows only 12% domain overlap between platforms—meaning a brand visible in ChatGPT may be invisible in Perplexity. This demands distinct optimisation strategies for each platform rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

UK Market Context: Adoption, Impact, and Regulatory Developments

UK businesses face specific considerations that differ from US-focused guidance. Understanding the UK adoption landscape, measured impact, and emerging regulatory framework helps prioritise investment appropriately.

UK AI Adoption Statistics

One in five UK internet users has used ChatGPT, and the UK ranks 5th globally in ChatGPT usage (3.48% of global users). Among UK knowledge workers, 43% now use AI tools at work, and 77% of UK marketing professionals have adopted ChatGPT specifically. AI adoption in marketing among UK SMEs rose from 12% in 2023 to 35% in 2025, according to British Chambers of Commerce data.

The Magenta Associates November 2025 survey provides the strongest UK-specific business case for AI search optimisation:

• 66% of UK purchasing decision-makers use AI to find and assess suppliers
• 45% rank AI as a main research channel—ahead of LinkedIn
• 90% trust AI recommendations when making purchasing decisions
• 85% have discovered a new supplier through AI search
• 83% still visit the original website mentioned in AI responses

That final statistic is particularly important: AI visibility drives qualified website traffic rather than replacing it entirely. Users seek validation by visiting recommended sites—making the combination of AI citation and website quality essential.

Measured Impact on UK Organic Traffic

Tank agency's study of 800 UK companies across 16 sectors found organic traffic growth rate declined by 22.6 percentage points following a year of Google AI Overviews in the UK market. The hospitality sector was most affected, with monthly organic traffic dropping 6.7% compared to 47.9% growth in the year prior.

Google AI Overviews launched in the UK on 15 August 2024, followed by Google AI Mode on 28 July 2025. UK businesses have had less time to adapt than US counterparts—but the impact is now clearly measurable.

CMA's Strategic Market Status Designation

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) officially designated Google as having Strategic Market Status (SMS) in search services in October 2025—the first-ever SMS designation under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Google handles 90.1% of UK search queries, and 203,847 UK businesses spend £10.2 billion annually on Google Ads.

On 28 January 2026, the CMA published four proposed conduct requirements with consultation closing 25 February 2026. The most significant for AI search:

This regulatory development could fundamentally alter what content appears in AI Overviews in the UK market. If major publishers opt out of AI citation while maintaining traditional indexing, the competitive landscape for AI visibility could shift significantly—potentially creating opportunity for brands that remain opted in.

Practical Tactics for AI Search Optimisation

Based on the research landscape, three tactical priorities deserve the strongest emphasis for UK B2B companies building AI search visibility.

1. Prioritise Earned Media and Third-Party Validation

Given the 90/10 citation split favouring third-party sources, earned media and review platform presence become core marketing activities—not nice-to-haves. Specific actions include:

• Complete and optimise profiles on relevant review platforms (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot) with consistent brand messaging
• Pursue guest posting and thought leadership opportunities on industry publications
• Engage authentically in Reddit communities relevant to your industry (critical for Perplexity visibility)
• Build YouTube presence with educational content (strongest correlation with AI visibility)
• Encourage and respond to customer reviews across multiple platforms

2. Structure Content for AI Extraction

AI systems extract and evaluate individual passages independently—they don't read pages top to bottom like humans. Content must be structured for extraction, not just reading. Research shows specific patterns correlate with higher citation rates:

• Answer capsule pattern: Present in 72.4% of cited posts—direct answer in first 1-2 sentences followed by supporting context
• Self-contained passages: Each section should make sense independently without requiring prior context (134–167 words optimal)
• High fact density: Include 19+ data points per article—content with specific statistics receives significantly more citations
• Clear heading hierarchy: Never skip heading levels; use descriptive H2s (which slightly outperform question-format headers)

Whitehat SEO's complete guide to AI search optimisation provides detailed implementation guidance for content structure.

3. Ensure Technical Accessibility for AI Crawlers

A critical technical reality: all major AI crawlers except Googlebot cannot execute JavaScript. If your main content only appears after JavaScript runs, AI systems will miss it entirely. Server-side rendering is non-negotiable for AI visibility.

Technical requirements include:

• Allow AI crawlers in robots.txt (GPTBot, Google-Extended, Claude-Web, PerplexityBot)
• Configure WAF/firewall to not block AI user agents (many block by default)
• Render critical content server-side, not via JavaScript
• Include publication dates prominently and in schema markup
• Target sub-200ms server response times

For companies using HubSpot, ensure CMS implementations don't hide critical content behind JavaScript. Whitehat SEO's HubSpot onboarding service includes AI crawler accessibility configuration as standard.

What Doesn't Work: Tactics to Avoid

Some tactics that seem logical don't improve AI visibility—and may waste significant effort.

llms.txt Files: The Evidence Is Clear

The llms.txt specification—proposed as a way to provide AI crawlers with structured information about your site—has been tested extensively. The evidence is now clear that it doesn't work. No major AI system currently uses llms.txt files for citation decisions, and implementing them provides no measurable visibility benefit.

Focus effort on tactics with proven impact rather than speculative technical implementations.

Counterintuitive Findings from Research

• Question-style headers underperform: Descriptive headers achieve 4.3 average citations versus 3.4 for question-format headers
• Highly keyword-optimised URLs hurt performance: URLs stuffed with keywords average only 2.7 citations
• FAQ schema provides marginal benefit: Pages with FAQ schema average 3.6 citations versus 4.2 without—though FAQ content itself helps

Traditional SEO instincts don't always translate to AI optimisation. Test assumptions against measured outcomes rather than relying on conventional wisdom.

How to Measure AI Search Visibility

Measuring AI visibility requires different approaches than traditional SEO tracking. Several tools have emerged to help, though manual monitoring remains important.

AI Visibility Tracking Tools

• HubSpot AEO Grader: Free tool released March 2024 to assess brand visibility across major answer engines
• Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit: £99/month add-on tracking brand mentions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews
• Ahrefs Brand Radar: Tracks brand mentions and AI visibility indicators
• Profound: Tool-integrated 10-step GEO framework with visibility tracking

Configuring GA4 for AI Traffic Tracking

Google Analytics 4 can be configured to identify AI-driven sessions. Create custom channel groupings that recognise referral patterns from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and other AI platforms. Map AI-driven sessions to lifecycle stages in your CRM—for HubSpot users, this connects visibility to revenue attribution.

Manual Monthly Monitoring

Automated tools don't capture everything. Run target queries monthly across platforms:

1. Select 10-20 queries relevant to your business: "Best [your category]", "[Your brand] vs [competitor]", "How to [problem you solve]"
2. Test across ChatGPT (with web search enabled), Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode
3. Document which brands appear, your presence or absence, sources cited
4. When competitors appear and you don't, those queries represent content opportunities

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to Build AI Search Visibility?

Whitehat SEO helps UK B2B companies optimise for AI citation across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. Our Answer Engine Optimisation service combines technical foundations, citation-ready content architecture, and off-site authority building—with results tracked in HubSpot.

References and Sources

1. OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT Usage Statistics. OpenAI Blog.
2. Conductor. (2026). 2026 Organic Marketing Benchmarks Report. Conductor.
3. Seer Interactive. (2025). AI Overview CTR Impact Study. Seer Interactive Insights.
4. Ahrefs. (2025). Brand Authority and AI Visibility Study. Ahrefs Blog.
5. Magenta Associates. (2025). UK B2B Buyer AI Research Survey. Magenta Associates.
6. Competition and Markets Authority. (2026). Google Strategic Market Status Designation. UK Government.
7. Semrush. (2025). LLM Visitor Conversion Analysis. Semrush Blog.
8. SparkToro. (2025). Brand Mention Consistency Research. SparkToro.
9. British Chambers of Commerce. (2025). UK SME AI Adoption Survey. BCC.
10. Adobe Analytics. (2025). Holiday 2025 AI Referral Traffic Data. Adobe.

Related Resources

• From SEO to AIO: The Essential Guide to AI Search Optimisation

  Complete methodology for transforming your digital presence for AI search

• What Is AEO? How to Optimise Your Brand for AI Search Engines

  Practical tactics for getting cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude

• The Evolution of the Website Audit from 2014 to 2026

  How AI Overviews and E-E-A-T have changed website audit requirements