Semrush research reveals three strategies for brand visibility in the AI search era

Philadelphia, June 17, 2026 – Semrush (an Adobe company), the world's leading SaaS platform for online visibility management, today released a study based on billions of search and discovery signals, revealing key strategies for businesses to maintain brand visibility as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes how consumers discover brands. The study points out that nearly half (43%) of consumers now use AI tools for brand exploration, while nearly one-fifth (18%) of marketers report that although they are getting more leads, they cannot clearly attribute them.

"Brand visibility is one of the issues that keeps marketers up at night. AI systems are evaluating brands in conversations they can't see, and ensuring that a brand is accurately understood and trusted across every search interface becomes a challenge," said Andrew Warden, former CMO of Semrush (an Adobe company) and current Vice President of Marketing at Adobe. "This problem cannot be solved through a single channel; it requires a unified perspective to examine how brand discovery and brand authority operate as interdependent forces."

Traditional search engines still play a key role in the discovery process, but AI systems are increasingly shaping perceptions of brand relevance and authority. Semrush's research shows that the same signals that influence SEO also affect how brands are presented, interpreted, and trusted in AI-driven search environments. To this end, Semrush proposes a "Brand Visibility" framework and helps enterprises achieve integrated optimization through the following three strategies:

1. Elevate Visibility to a Cross-Company Mission Despite the growing pressure from AI-driven discovery, many organizations have not clearly assigned ownership for AI search. The study shows that 20% of companies delegate this task to the search team, 17% to brand or PR departments, and 5% have no designated owner at all. Warden noted: "Visibility is no longer achieved through isolated strategies; it must be built through a repeatable operating model. Companies should be led by the CMO, coordinating SEO, content, communications, analytics, and product marketing teams to collaborate around visibility outcomes."

2. Design a Holistic Brand Visibility Operating Model More than half (53%) of marketers consider AI search to be an extension of SEO, but only 23% say they have fully integrated the two into strategy, execution, and reporting. This operational gap leads to a lot of duplication, missing signals, and a lack of holistic decision-making. Semrush recommends that companies build a brand visibility framework that connects narrative, content, distribution, and feedback into a continuous system, and continuously measure visibility at every touchpoint.3. Execute Brand Authority Across the Entire Content Ecosystem AI systems form brand perception by synthesizing signals from a broad digital ecosystem, including publisher reports, expert commentary, community discussions, and third-party platforms. However, many organizations remain trapped in a high-volume, low-efficiency model, producing large amounts of content without establishing true authority. Semrush recommends that enterprises define a clear brand narrative, build machine-readable structured brand entities through basic SEO principles, and focus on a few strategic audiences and authoritative domains. This ensures that all content, optimization, and external signals reinforce the same story, thereby increasing the likelihood of the brand being discovered, trusted, and recommended by both humans and AI systems.

Warden concluded: “As AI systems increasingly act as intermediary agents to retrieve, synthesize, and recommend information for users, visibility is no longer just about ranking in search results or generative responses—it’s about being selected, interpreted, and presented by autonomous agents. Semrush’s brand visibility framework provides a shared language and maturity model for this, and the starting point lies in reaching a consensus on the problem and clarifying your current position.”

For more practical strategies on brand visibility in the AI era, stay tuned for the Semrush Spotlight conference in London on October 13, 2026.

About Semrush Semrush, an Adobe company, is a leading global SaaS platform for online visibility management, helping enterprises execute search engine optimization, advertising, content, social media, and competitive analysis.