Why does your brand name now come with an AI answer?
Get the 5 AI search links every Tuesday
Hi, Tanya here.
Every week my team shares the 5 links that actually mattered in AI search. It's how we stay sharp for our clients. This week I thought: why are we keeping this to ourselves? So this is the first one going outside the team.
I respond to every email, so feel free to hit reply.
This week in 30 seconds
- Why does your brand name now come with an AI answer?
- Is AI traffic really falling, or are we just measuring it badly?
- Where do the links go in Google's AI answers?
- Who does Gemini trust on your topic, and why isn't it you?
- Can AI search repeat things that are not true?
Why does your brand name now come with an AI answer?
Ahrefs · Oct 2
AI Overviews now appear for 83% of branded searches, according to Ahrefs. Here's the thing: people searching your name are usually close to buying, and Google is now summarizing you for them.
Why it matters: The summary leans on Wikipedia, YouTube and LinkedIn more than on your own pages, so it can be wrong without anyone noticing.
What to do: Search your brand name. Note anything wrong or missing, then fix it at the source: your pricing, integrations and comparison pages.
Is AI traffic really falling, or are we just measuring it badly?
Search Engine Journal · Oct 15
Probably the second. SEJ reports that the ChatGPT traffic drop that started Oct 9 appears to come from ChatGPT links opening without tracking tags, and OpenAI reportedly began a fix on Oct 15.
Why it matters: If ChatGPT traffic shows up as "direct", AI referrals look smaller than they are, and you might cut budget over a reporting gap.
What to do: Compare direct traffic and ChatGPT traffic over the same dates. Add an AI assistant option to your "how did you hear about us" field.
Where do the links go in Google's AI answers?
Search Engine Journal · Oct 15
Higher. Google says it is moving inline links up in AI Mode and AI Overviews and expanding the Preferred Sources carousels, though it has not said by how much.
Why it matters: A citation buried at the bottom of an answer gets few clicks, so higher placement changes how much a citation is worth. Search Console will not show the move, because all links in an AI Overview share one position.
What to do: Run your top 5 buyer queries in AI Mode and note whether your page is linked, and where.
Who does Gemini trust on your topic, and why isn't it you?
Suganthan Mohanadasan · Oct 12
Suganthan's walkthrough shows how to find out. The answer changes from run to run, so one check is not enough.
Why it matters: The pages Gemini already cites show what it rewards. Your content plan should respond to that.
What to do: Run your top 10 queries at least five times and log the citations. Pick the two biggest gaps and brief content for them.
Can AI search repeat things that are not true?
Search Engine Journal · Oct 19
Yes. In a study SEJ covered, researchers planted articles about a made-up concept on sites AI tools already cite, and several tools cited it within a week.
Why it matters: AI answers can pick up claims from trusted sites without checking them, so a wrong claim about you can spread from one page into answers.
What to do: Once a month, ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini five buying questions about your product. Log any wrong claim, find the page it came from, and get it corrected.
That's this week. Which one should I go deeper on? Just reply.
Tanya