eMarketer AI Visibility Index tracks how brands rank inside ChatGPT answers
A new metric measures whether brands get mentioned inside AI-generated answers, not just search rankings.
Mariano De Vitto · July 2026
eMarketer has launched an AI Visibility Index, a new tool that tracks how often and how favorably brands appear inside ChatGPT responses. It's the clearest sign yet that measuring presence inside AI answers is becoming its own discipline, distinct from traditional search rankings.
Rather than tracking clicks or SERP positions, the index looks at whether a brand gets mentioned at all when users ask AI assistants for recommendations, comparisons, or advice. For many categories, that mention is now the entire customer touchpoint. No link, no page visit, just a name surfaced or ignored.
This matters because AI-generated answers are increasingly replacing the search results page as the first stop in the buying journey. If a brand isn't part of the answer, it may not get considered at all.
For marketers, this means SEO is expanding into AEO, or answer engine optimization. The skills overlap, but the goals shift: structured data, clear brand associations, and consistent third-party mentions matter more than keyword density alone.
The index also hints at a new competitive layer. Brands can now benchmark their AI visibility against rivals, similar to how share of voice worked in traditional media. Expect this to become a standard reporting metric alongside search rankings and social sentiment.
The Signal Brief · Mariano De Vitto — Head of Marketing, Barcelona