Why Measurement Is Hard — and Why It Matters
There's no "ChatGPT Search Console." No click-through data. No ranking position. AI platforms decide whether to mention your brand at all — and each one makes that decision differently. If you're new to this topic, start with our guide on what AI search visibility is.
Our analysis of 5,600 queries across four platforms reveals just how different each platform's behaviour is:
| What to Measure | Google AIO | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand mention rate | 42.5% | 74.2% | 70.1% | 82.5% |
| Recommendation rate | 0.2% | 8.9% | 7.3% | 7.3% |
| Citation rate | 3.1% | 28.6% | 8.7% | 30.4% |
| Avg brands per response | 1.1 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 3.4 |
A brand mentioned by Gemini in 82.5% of responses might only appear in 42.5% of Google AI Overviews. Measuring one platform gives you a misleading picture.
The Measurement Framework
1. Mention Rate: Are You in the Conversation?
The most fundamental metric. What percentage of relevant AI responses include your brand? Our data shows this varies from 42.5% (Google AIO) to 82.5% (Gemini). Track this per platform, not as a blended average.
- Run a consistent set of queries across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Google AI Overviews
- Record whether your brand appears in each response
- Note the position: Claude mentions brands earliest (8.5% into the response). Gemini buries them later (20.2% in). Position affects whether users see your brand before they stop reading.
2. Recommendation Rate: Does AI Endorse You?
Being mentioned isn't the same as being recommended. ChatGPT explicitly recommends brands in 8.9% of responses — 44x more often than Google AI Overviews (0.2%). This distinction matters because a recommendation carries significantly more weight than a passing mention.
- Track whether AI frames your brand positively, neutrally, or as just one option among many
- Compare your recommendation rate against competitors for the same queries
3. Citation Behaviour: Does AI Credit You?
Citation rates vary enormously by platform. Gemini cites sources in 30.4% of responses. Claude does so in just 8.7%. This means the same high-quality content might earn citations on Gemini but go unattributed on Claude.
- Track which platforms link to your content vs just mention your brand name
- Monitor citation frequency over time — this is where Share of Memory comes in
4. Intent-Based Behaviour: Context Changes Everything
AI platforms don't treat all queries the same. Our research found significant behavioural shifts based on query intent:
- ChatGPT contracts 33% on booking-intent queries (422 → 284 words) and increases hedging 4x — it actively retreats from the conversion moment
- Google AIO uses 4.3x more superlatives on comparison queries ("best", "top", "leading") — it leans into verdicts
- Gemini barely changes regardless of intent (CV 9.8%) — it applies the same thoroughness to every query
Measure your visibility by intent type. You might dominate discovery queries but be invisible for booking queries — or vice versa.
5. Competitive Benchmarking
- Run identical queries for your brand and competitors across all four platforms
- Compare mention rates, recommendation rates and brand density
- If competitors are cited for topics you want to own, that's your content gap. Read more about why brands don't show up in AI answers.
Key Takeaways
- Measure per platform: brand mention rates range from 42.5% to 82.5% — a blended average hides the truth
- Track recommendations, not just mentions: ChatGPT recommends 44x more often than Google AIO
- Monitor citation behaviour: Gemini cites sources 3.5x more than Claude
- Segment by intent: ChatGPT shrinks 33% for booking queries — your visibility changes with context
- Benchmark competitors: compare on the same queries across the same platforms
Conclusion
Measuring AI search visibility requires a platform-by-platform approach. Each AI system has different brand mention rates, different citation behaviours, and different responses to query intent. The brands that measure all four platforms — and segment by intent — will be the ones that understand their true visibility. The ones that check one platform and assume the rest are the same will miss the picture entirely.