AI brand visibility & awareness: What I found when I search my brand on AI

The way you get people to your website is changing.  It isn’t just about ranking on Google anymore — it’s about being recommended by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and other AI tools.

The statistics back this up.

A Vox Media survey says that 61% of Gen Z and 53% of Millennials prefer AI tools to traditional search, and a Gartner report predicts that conventional search engine volume will drop by 25% by 2026. 

And it got me thinking:

If more people turn to AI for answers, how does my brand fare in this new landscape? And what can I do to make improve AI visibility.

Loaded with questions, curiosity got the better of me, and I started a deep dive into AI brand visibility and awareness. Naturally, this started with ‘googling’ (AI’ing? GPT’ing?) my brand on AI. This is what I found…

Key takeaways

• Clear messaging helps AI get you right. AI tools respond best when your brand values, services, and differentiators are clearly spelled out. A strong About page, detailed service descriptions, and a distinctive voice go a long way.
• Generative AI tools look beyond your website. AI tools don’t just rely on your website. They pull info from social media, directories, podcast appearances, and event listings. If your brand isn’t showing up in multiple places, it might not show up at all.
• AI inaccuracies and hallucinations present opportunities. When AI gets it wrong (and it will), it’s usually a sign that there’s a content gap. You’ve just found an opportunity for a blog post, an FAQ, or a clearer service description.
• Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can work together! The strategies we apply to rank on Google are ALSO the strategies that help AI tools find, understand, and showcase our brands. Just like Google, AI wants trustworthy, human content with clear answers, consistent structure, and real expertise. It’s about showing up with quality, expertise, and originality.
• YOU are in charge of the narrative. AI doesn’t know what you don’t tell it. The more helpful, human, and specific your content is, the more likely AI is to recommend you, represent you accurately, and amplify what makes you great.

The experiment: Conducting an AI brand awareness audit

I started by auditing my business for AI brand visibility. How much did generative AI know about Amanda Jane Copy — and how much of it did they get right?

My AI brand awareness audit involved systematically searching for my business across different AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini) to see what info surfaced and what opportunities I was missing.

(But before I go any further: As someone who cares deeply about my environmental footprint, I tried to keep my questions to a minimum!). 

To get a broader picture, I also searched some of my clients for whom I have spent a decent amount of time building a strong bank of content on their websites.

It didn’t start well for my brand.

When I asked each chatbot to recommend the best copywriters in Australia, I got an initial ego boost to see Amanda Jane Copy mentioned on Google AI Overviews.

 

But on a separate laptop without my digital fingerprint muddying the landscape, the answers across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and even Google AI Overview were much more uncomfortable, though not entirely unexpected:

Amanda Jane Copy was nowhere on any list. 

Only when I narrowed the location down to the suburb I’m based in did ChatGPT mention me, thanks to my presence in the local council’s small business directory. 

My clients fared a little better. When I asked each platform for great music classes on the Mornington Peninsula, Sounds Like This was front and centre. When I asked for good hair loss treatments, The Hairy Pill® showed up. 

But no such luck for Amanda Jane Copy. I’d have to hold these chatbots by the hand. 

My next question was more straightforward:

Tell me about Amanda Jane Copy. 

All generative AI tools were able to answer this question with a surprising degree of depth and (to a certain extent) accuracy — except for Claude, which declared it did not know my brand at all until it received a little extra prompting (‘it is a copywriting brand’). 

Here’s Gemini:

Amanda Jane Copy refers to the copywriting business run by Amanda Jane. She is a copywriter, editor, and content coach with over 10 years of experience. Her services are geared towards helping founders, leaders, and experts craft clear, confident, and purposeful content for their brands.

 

And Perplexity’s answer is truly impressive:

Having found my brand across all platforms, the next step was to analyse the links, images, and text that each platform used to get a full picture of my brand’s AI visibility and what I could do to improve awareness.

What I Learned: 9 takeaways from my AI brand audit

There’s a lot to absorb here so just click on a link if you’d like to skip to a particular section!

1. Your website matters — but so do third-party mentions
2. AI is interested in your values and unique selling points
3. AI wants to detail your services and products
4. AI loves location data
5. High-quality, optimised visuals help you stand out
6. If the AI gets it wrong, you might have a content gap
7. AI hunts for proof points
8. Metadata is as important as ever
9. AI can position you as an authority

1. Your website matters — but so do third-party mentions

One intriguing insight from my AI brand awareness audit is that the content on my website was only half the picture. AI also gathers information from external sources, including LinkedIn, social media, directories, guest and featured articles, podcast appearances, and even Reddit. 

Importantly, it values these third-party sources so much that it doesn’t seem to matter how old they are. ChatGPT pulled information about my client, Sounds Like This, from their old Eventbrite profile, even though the listing featured an outdated logo, no current class schedule, and no link to the actual website. 

Platforms that AI tools love to source information from include:

• Company websites with clear, structured content
• LinkedIn business pages
• Industry-specific or location-specific directories
• Event platforms
• Social media profiles (like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook)
• News articles and media coverage
• Professional profiles and portfolios

AI loves reputable sources, but if those sources aren’t up to date, you miss out on visibility opportunities.

What you can do: 

• Ensure your business features on external sources, including social media and directories.
• Ensure your directory listings and social profiles are up to date and link back to your site.
• Collaborate or guest-post on other websites (such as on complementary blogs within your industry; for example, a website designer writing an article for a copywriter’s blog — hello!)
• Get cited in neutral, authoritative sources (such as Wikipedia, news sites, and high-quality blogs).
• Publish your thought pieces on LinkedIn.
• Provide expert advice in forums and other relevant communities.
• Create YouTube videos and post high-quality content on social media regularly.
• Feature in more podcast interviews.

2. AI is interested in your values and unique selling points

AI platforms pay special attention to how businesses describe themselves, and they love clear, detailed descriptions of your brand purpose, values, and strengths. 

For example, in its brand overview of Sounds Like This, ChatGPT took the information we have deliberately embedded in their website over the years and wrote about their services:

Or take a look at its response to an enquiry about my Brand New Website client, The Sorbetto Group, where we worked hard on building strong differentiators (props to ChatGPT for embedding our chosen brand voice into its response):

And finally, look at this answer to a Perplexity follow-up prompt: What makes Amanda Jane Copy’s approach to content marketing unique?

Amanda Jane Copy stands out in the content marketing landscape through a blend of deep subject matter understanding, brand storytelling, and a focus on making complex topics accessible and engaging.

What you can do:

• Develop a strong brand story, including your brand mission and values.
• Make sure your About page clearly articulates:
  • Your brand mission and values
  • What you do and who you serve
  • Your unique value proposition
  • Your approach

If any of this feels a bit overwhelming, you can enlist my help! My services include developing your brand foundations and ensuring your messaging aligns! Simply reach out to find out how we can work together.

3. AI wants to detail your services and products

I was surprised by how detailed AI tools were in describing my services. They are looking for specific information. Here’s ChatGPT’s description of Sounds Like This sessions:

And Perplexity’s description of my services:

What you can do:

• Provide specific service and product names
• Be explicit about features and inclusions in your descriptions
• Specify how your service is different from others
• Identify who the service or product is for
• Outline the benefits and outcomes that clients and customers can expect
• Add pricing information where appropriate

 

4. AI loves location data

Many platforms placed my location front and centre in their answers, even though I’m location-independent:

• Claude: She’s based in the Greater Melbourne Area.

• Gemini: While based in Melbourne, Australia, Amanda operates her business from anywhere in the world, embracing a nomadic lifestyle.

• ChatGPT: Based in Australia, works with clients globally.

This information is all correct, because I list my location clearly in the FAQs section of my Contact page (a fantastic place for brand FAQs, by the way):

Location is particularly important if you’re a local business or service provider. 

For example, in my prompt ‘Good kids music making sessions on the Mornington Peninsula’, ChatGPT includes a section with direct heading links to my client’s Google My Business profile on Google Maps:

What you can do:

• Include your business address on your Contact page. 
• Embed a Google map of your business location on your Contact page.
• Create a Google My Business profile, fill it with as much information as possible, and keep it up to date.
• Get listed in local directories and featured in local media.

 

5. High-quality, optimised visuals help you stand out

Perplexity (like Google) doesn’t just look at the words around your business. It also looks at your other assets: your logo, brand photos, videos, and other visual assets. 

Take ChatGPT’s overview of Sounds Like This. The first thing that showed up? Well, it surprised me:

Unfortunately, this is an old video that doesn’t clearly explain what the brand is about. But there’s a clear takeaway: AI platforms increasingly search for and incorporate relevant photos and videos into their responses. 

Let’s look again at Perplexity’s answer to the question What is Amanda Jane Copy? 

Do you think my brand would look as authoritative, trustworthy, and credible if it didn’t have these branded images?

Having an up-to-date brand video that clearly explains what your business is about doesn’t just impact how AI interprets and presents your company; it also provides a visual point of interest that could be the difference between a lead and a lost opportunity.

What you can do:

• Use high-quality, branded visuals on your website pages and blog posts (I can highly recommend my good friend Candice at Design Salad or Brodi, from Brodi Rose Digital, who created my branding).
• Use descriptive file names (not just ‘IMG_1234’)
• Write detailed alt text descriptions for your images — for Google and AI to read, yes, but also for accessibility. 
• Use infographics to explain your processes, simple technical info, and feature in your blog posts.
• Create a branded About video that clearly explains what you do and what makes you different. (Psst: I can help you write the script for it, just as I did for Violeta Finance. Just reach out!)

 

6. If the AI gets it wrong, you might have a content gap

OK, sometimes, these things are outside your control, particularly if the AI is trained on outdated data (for example, ChatGPT’s ‘knowledge cutoff’ is October 2023). 

Even so, it’s common for AI to either make up, hallucinate, or misinterpret info. 

ChatGPT and Gemini list my full name as Amanda Jane, whereas it should be Amanda Bensted. ChatGPT also lists my service specialisations as sales pages and email marketing. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve written sales pages (like this landing page for Sounds Like This) and many emails for clients and my own business. 

But as I tell every client who asks for these services, my forte is in strategic SEO website copywriting and blog copywriting. 

Most chatbots also habitually ask a follow-up question once they’ve answered your question. Perplexity even provides ‘related’ prompts that resemble Google Suggest, but with more targeted questions:

 

These provide a great opportunity to see what people might ask about your business. Asking follow-up questions or clicking on these prompts will allow you to explore more deeply what AI knows about your brand — and where it runs out of steam. 

For example, when I went too deep down the Perplexity-prompt rabbit hole, it completely made up answers the further away from my brand it got.

But I view these as content opportunities — perhaps I need to include a blog post or an FAQ that answers the questions it’s suggesting, as long as they are relevant to my business (bonus: the more Q&A-style content you have, the more likely you will be to guide AI prompts!). 

Don’t forget: you’re in charge. Tell AI what to say about you. 

What you can do:

• Get into a deep conversation with AI. See where it takes you and identify any knowledge gaps. 
• Create content to plug the gaps. Share it on your website and repurpose it to post across social media. 
• Use prompts to write natural-sounding FAQs on your website. Answer questions directly and confidently.

 

7. AI hunts for proof points

Both Gemini and ChatGPT summarised client testimonials with a credibility-boosting ‘What Clients Say’ section:

Even if they didn’t mention testimonials organically, they resorted to them when prompted with additional questions. Here’s Perplexity again:

Interestingly, AI platforms don’t seem to pull review information from Google My Business profiles. Instead, they referenced testimonials that appear directly on my website. 

Even Gemini, Google’s AI child, favoured testimonials on the website over Google My Business reviews:

What you can do:

• Collect testimonials and feature them prominently on your website. 
• Share case studies, success stories, or a portfolio on your website.
• Highlight credentials and awards.

 

8. Metadata is as important as ever

Metadata has always been important for SEO, but it may be relevant in generative engine optimisation (GEO) too! Look at how these source citations appear on Perplexity:

And on ChatGPT, when you hover over a link:

And finally, on Claude, upon hovering:

On each of these occasions, you can see the metadata. For Claude and Perplexity, this is just the title tag (the blue title you see on Google search results). 

ChatGPT also provides a meta description (the description beneath the title tag on Google search results). 

Metadata isn’t new. It’s been essential for search engine optimisation (SEO) for years. But since AI tools show fewer links overall, and people are less likely to click on the link, metadata seems even more important. 

We need to create title tags and meta descriptions that are so enticing and authoritative that you can’t help but click on them to view the real thing. 

What you can do:

• Make sure you have a strong title tag and meta description that describes exactly what the page is about. 

9. AI can position you as an authority 

Of course, there is one more way you can achieve AI brand visibility, even when people aren’t directly asking about your brand: by creating high-quality content. 

When it’s not hallucinating, AI relies on info it can find online to answer your questions — including information it finds from company blog posts. And many AI tools are now being transparent about their source information. 

Here’s Claude:

Perplexity:

And Gemini:

We still have opportunities to ‘rank’ on AI tools, especially if we already have good AI brand awareness based on all the other insights I’ve mentioned. 

But it’s about positioning yourself as an authority and leader in your field. This is where it’s important to write content for your website and third-party platforms to demonstrate your expertise. 

What you can do: 

• Create content based on questions your target audience is asking.
• Write long-form blog posts that feature original research, data, tools, expert commentary, and anecdotes.
• Create topic clusters or ‘hub and spoke’ content around your expertise.
• Ensure your blog has an author bio. 
• Publish comprehensive guides, expert commentaries, and practical resources.
• Add proprietary data, unique stats, surveys, and case studies.
• Showcase expertise through author bios, cite sources, and keep information updated.

Need help creating a content strategy for your website? I can provide copy mentoring or develop a detailed blog strategy to help you build your authority. Get in touch. 

Is SEO still a relevant strategy?

One of the reasons I’ve had my head in the sand about AI is the threat it poses to traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) — my copywriting specialty. 

But at the end of the day, AI looks for the same things Google looks for. Generative AI tools still rely on web crawling to get the information they need to answer any query. So, it’s no surprise that search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies remain as relevant as ever. 

Just like Google, AI is looking for:

• In-depth, quality content that answers real questions.
• Authority and trust signals (yep, Google’s E-E-A-T is as relevant as ever)
• Key summary points and clear formatting for AI to interpret
• Backend stuff (things like mobile optimisation, site speed, security, and so on)
• Structured, well-organised content (generally signposted with things like clear headings and FAQs)
• Use of conversational language and long-tail keywords (basically just long questions)
• A brand footprint that spans platforms (e.g. YouTube, media sites, social media, academia, and branded websites)

These are all things SEO copywriters like me have been recommending for years to build your authority, expertise, and trustworthiness online. The difference is in execution: with AI, it’s about intent, context, and authority, not just keywords. 

But there’s some beauty in that. 

We no longer have to focus on fixing awkward phrases naturally into our copy. We have the opportunity to express ourselves and our ideas more freely: AI can read and interpret this data quite naturally!

But just like SEO, GEO will take time and ongoing effort. And a part of that is setting up regular AI brand visibility audits — preferably quarterly, but even once a year if you can. 

Are you ready to find out what AI says about you with an AI brand visibility audit?

If you haven’t yet asked AI what it thinks of your business, I highly recommend pouring yourself a tea (or wine, no judgement!) and giving it a whirl.

An AI brand visibility audit involves:

• Checking how your business appears across different AI platforms — what information surfaces? Is it accurate? Is it complete? What’s missing?
• Identifying new information gaps or inaccuracies
• Updating source materials based on what AI platforms are prioritising
• Monitoring competitors’ AI visibility for further insights

What you uncover will give you a good idea about what you need to do to improve your AI visibility and help you attract prospects who might never find you through traditional search engines. In any case, it’s one more reminder that our online presence isn’t just about looking good. It’s about being findable, trustworthy, memorable, and unmistakably you — no matter who’s doing the searching. 

Of course, you don’t have to do it yourself if you don’t have the time or simply can’t be bothered (no shame!). I can also do it for you.

Book a specific AI brand visibility audit or an all-encompassing website content audit. I’ll present you with a complete report and actionable checklist to boost AI brand awareness. All you need to do is reach out.