Sector Intelligence Report · 2026-07
AEO & AI Search Visibility
Measured answer-engine citation benchmark for AEO and AI search visibility tools — who ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini cite when buyers ask for tools, methods, and how-to advice.
- Brands benchmarked
- 14
- Engine checks
- 155
- Buyer queries
- 45
- Never cited
- 3 brands
What the measurement found
- Semrush leads the sector: cited in 14.2% of checks (95% CI 9.6–20.6%).
- 3 of 14 benchmarked brands were never cited in 155 checks — a measured result, with check counts in the report.
- 14 buyer queries have no benchmarked brand cited at all — open ground named query-by-query in the report.
- Engines measured: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity; run-to-run flip rate 60% published in the methodology.
From the executive summary
“Semrush leads all benchmarked brands with a citation rate of 14.2% (CI 9.6–20.6%) across 155 engine checks, followed closely by Profound at 13.5% (CI 9.0–19.8%), creating a two-brand concentration at the top of the sector.”
The full report names every brand, every query, and every source behind this finding.
What's inside every report
- Sector citation leaderboard with 95% confidence intervals
- Query-by-query battlegrounds: dominated, contested, open
- The off-site source economy feeding AI answers
- Engine behavior differences (volume, depth, source mix)
- The invisible brands — measured zero-citation analysis
- Full methodology incl. test-retest variance and limitations
- Appendix: complete per-query data tables
- Your private addendum: rank, gap queries, off-site opportunities for your domain