Most people ask AI about a need, not a brand. This view compares the two kinds of question: how often the focus brand appears, which sources the engines lean on, and how brands are framed.
Answers to questions that name a brand cite 6.2 distinct domains on average, against 8.3 for unbranded questions. The brand’s own website is cited in 70% of those answers, which makes owned pages the default fact base once a buyer knows your name.
Even in branded answers, earned media makes up 24% of citations (20% for unbranded) and social and community platforms 10% (7%). Wikipedia appears in 8% of branded answers against 5% of unbranded. What others publish about a brand travels into its own branded answers.
Across the dataset, 5% of answers that discuss brands frame them negatively. That rises to 10.3% for brand trust and reputation questions and 15.7% for health and medical questions, against 2.6% for recommendation questions.
We benchmark how ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot describe, cite and recommend brands, then build the content and earned-media plan to change it.
Want to understand your brand opportunities and risks on AI search? Contact We AI & Data Advisors for a sample audit: AIAdvisors@wecommunications.com