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The brands appearing in AI-generated search answers are often not the same ones ranking in organic online search, according to a study by a US-based digital marketing agency.
“We found that four in 10 brand domains cited in organic aren’t cited in AI overviews for the same query. On the flip side, three in 10 brands cited in AI overviews have little to no organic presence,” explains LQ Digital in a post summarising the results of its research report, titled ‘Same Query, Different Winners: Why Your Brand is at Risk in AI Search’.
“This study indicates organic rank doesn’t transfer to AI citation share. They’re running on different signals, with different source preferences, and increasingly, different winners.”
Giving practical examples from its research, the agency says it input the query ‘how to start investing’. Fidelity and US Bank were among the brands with the highest citation share in organic results. Yet neither appeared among the top-cited sources in AI Overviews for that same query.
Robinhood, a financial services platform, had minimal organic search presence for the query, but earned a prominent citation in the AI overview.
“Same search intent, same moment in the buyer’s journey, but a largely different set of brands depending on how the answer gets delivered,” comments LQ Digital.
What should marketers be doing?
The agency suggests marketing teams wanting to remedy the situation should start by using an AI search visibility tool to understand their brand’s citation rate in organic versus AI search. If your brand is highly cited in both, then you’re probably looking at less disruption than a brand that was well-represented in organic but poorly cited in AI overviews.
“Invest in AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) as a discipline alongside SEO, not a replacement for it. The content formats AI cites, the signals it weighs, and the sources it trusts are different from what organic rewards. In practice, that means driving AI citation share through question-based content, deep topical authority and key content architectures,” LQ Digital says.
“It’s also worth taking a commonly overlooked path: getting your brand mentioned on the publisher pages AI already cites. Review sites, comparison platforms and editorial guides are among the most consistently cited sources in AI overviews, and securing placements on them is a direct lever for improving AI visibility.”
You can access the full report here.
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