Experimenting with AI Search: What ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini Taught Me About Brand Visibility
Authored by: Adam Driggs, Director of Adobe Solutions
Setting the Stage: SEO Is Not Enough Anymore
Over the past decade, brands have poured resources into SEO, content strategy, and personalization to gain visibility across digital channels. But the landscape is shifting fast. Before users hit your site, AI assistants might already be shaping their perception of your brand. AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are now the default “front door” to brand discovery. These AI models don’t just index content. They also summarize, interpret, and recommend it, turning into powerful gatekeepers of brand presence. Many organizations don’t even realize whether their content is being surfaced and possibly overlooked by these tools. For example, Bain & Company reports that 80% of consumers rely on AI-written summaries for at least 40% of their searches, and Gartner projects a decline of 50% or more in organic traffic by 2028 as people shift away from traditional search channels (Adobe, 2025).
A few key data points highlight the stakes:
- Younger consumers are skipping Google altogether. Surveys show that Gen Z is more likely to start with AI assistants than search engines when researching products or services (Search Atlas, 2025).
- AI answers drive buying decisions. Over half of one marketing community (52%) said they’ve made a purchase based on a ChatGPT recommendation. Some even approved purchases north of $10,000 based on AI research (Search Atlas, 2025).
- Traffic patterns are changing fast. Publishers and e-commerce sites are reporting organic traffic declines of up to 25% as AI answers satisfy queries without a click (Financial Times, 2025).
In short: visibility is shifting from “ranking on Google” to “being in the AI’s answer.”
The Experiment: Asking the AIs About Adobe Content Supply Chain Experts
Given the recent shift, I decided to run an experiment to see how visible LeapPoint is across today’s leading AI search models including ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini. The premise was simple: I asked each model the same question a CMO, CIO, or Creative Ops leader might ask:
“I’m seeking a consultancy for Adobe’s Content Supply Chain (CSC) that covers strategy, product evaluation, technical architecture, lifecycle implementation, and more. Can you suggest several consultancies that can help support me?”
The results:
- ChatGPT immediately listed LeapPoint alongside major global consultancies, recognizing our specialization in the Adobe ecosystem (Workfront, AEM Assets, GenStudio, Creative Cloud, Firefly).
- Claude skipped LeapPoint entirely. But when I followed up—“Why didn’t you mention LeapPoint?”—Claude admitted the omission was an oversight and acknowledged LeapPoint should have been included as a top choice.
- Google Gemini also missed LeapPoint on the first pass. When pressed, Gemini backtracked, apologized, and then produced a detailed case for why LeapPoint is an excellent partner. It listed credentials like our Adobe Solution Partner status, focus on content supply chain, and recognition as an Adobe GenStudio Partner of the Year.
In other words, the other models “knew” LeapPoint but didn’t surface it by default. Only after prompting did Claude and Gemini correct themselves. ChatGPT, meanwhile, nailed it from the start.
This sparked a bigger question: If AI search models are the future of products and services discovery, what does it take for a brand to consistently show up in their answers?
Lessons From the LeapPoint Experiment
My small test revealed three critical truths about AI search optimization:
- Presence is not guaranteed—even for credible players. Claude and Gemini clearly had knowledge of LeapPoint, but still failed to surface us in their first-round answers. This mirrors the unpredictability organizations now face: even if you have strong SEO, you may not make the cut in AI-generated answers.
- Persistence (and prompting) pays off. Once I challenged the models, they course-corrected. This suggests brands must actively monitor how AI tools talk about them and correct gaps where needed.
- Authority and clarity matter. The reasons Gemini eventually listed for LeapPoint, citing our Adobe Partner status, GenStudio specialization, and Fortune 100 client work, map directly to signals of credibility and authority. AI tools reward clear, authoritative brand footprints.
- Earned is king. Earned media is the biggest driver of brand visibility in AI search. If you’re not building an AI-optimized earned media strategy, you’re missing the chance to influence how your brand shows up (Edelman, 2025).
The Broader Challenges Brands Face in AI Search
Based on wider research into AI search trends, here are the biggest hurdles organizations face when shifting from traditional SEO to AI visibility:
- Declining organic traffic: Even top-ranking Google pages lose up to 45% of clicks when AI summaries appear (Concord USA, 2025).
- Zero-click answers: AI assistants often satisfy the user without sending them to your site, eroding attribution (SEO.com, 2025).
- Opaque algorithms: Unlike Google SEO, AI models operate as black boxes. It’s unclear why some brands get mentioned and others don’t (Financial Times, 2025).
- Attribution gaps: A customer may tell you, “I found you via ChatGPT,” but in analytics it shows up as a direct visit or branded search (SEO.com, 2025).
From SEO to GEO: Generative Engine Optimization
The old playbook of keyword targeting and backlinks is no longer enough. Brands now need to embrace Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)—the art of becoming the answer inside AI-driven search experiences.
Here’s how:
1. Structure Content for AI Consumption
- Write content in a Q&A format, anticipating how users phrase questions.
- Use concise, factual answers supported by bullet points and summaries.
- Implement schema markup (FAQ, Product, Organization) to provide machine-readable context.
2. Build Authority and Trust
- Double down on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) (Moz, 2025).
- Maintain consistent brand facts across platforms (Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Wikidata, directories).
- Secure mentions in high-authority sources: news outlets, analyst reports, industry forums (OpenTools AI News, 2025).
3. Monitor AI Mentions
- Regularly test queries in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and others.
- Track “Share of Model” (how often your brand is recommended vs competitors) (MarketingWeek, 2024).
- Use tools like RankPrompt or manual audits to spot gaps and misrepresentations.
4. Rethink Metrics and KPIs
- Don’t just track traffic and conversions but measure brand mentions in AI answers.
- Consider impressions and visibility as leading indicators of influence.
- Survey customers about where they heard about you, adding “AI assistant” as an option.
5. Prioritize Earned Media and Diversify Visibility Beyond Your Website
- Contribute thought leadership on forums like Quora, Reddit, and LinkedIn. AI models ingest these (Edelman, 2025).
- Produce evergreen resources and guides AI is likely to draw from.
- Create multimedia assets (videos, podcasts, infographics) that surface in multimodal AI.
Renewed Focus on Earned Media
In today’s AI-dominated search landscape, earned media has become the currency of credibilityand it’s more impactful than ever in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
Credibility Over Control
As AI search models like ChatGPT, Google’s Overviews, and Claude increasingly rely on trusted third-party sources, earned media—like news articles, analyst mentions, podcasts, and Reddit threads—carry more clout than your own content. AI platforms favor such independent signals when sourcing information for answers, brands that appear in them earn higher trust with customers than self-published pieces (Axia PR, 2025).
Edelman captures the shift: “Generative AI search or GEO … is gradually replacing Search Engine Optimized content… What feeds GEO? High-quality earned media results. In short, you cannot buy it, you must earn it.”Gartner even predicts organic search traffic could fall by 50% in three years as users gravitate toward AI-based answers. Credibility now trumps clicks (Edelman, 2025).
AI Search Depends on Earned Mentions
A recent article from Search Engine Land highlights how PR now complements—and in some cases outpaces—SEO in supporting AI visibility, especially by generating high-value backlinks and brand mentions (Search Engine Land, 2025). Similarly, Collectivist Agency reports that AI tools like Google’s Overviews and ChatGPT regularly cite top-tier media outlets to enrich answers with context, trends, and discourse making earned media an essential input for AI-generated knowledge (Collectivist, 2025).
Strategies to Integrate Earned Media into Your AEO Playbook
Here’s how you can weave earned media into your AI optimization strategy:
- Treat PR as your GEO engine. Brands should not leave AI visibility only to SEO teams. PR teams tasked with managing reputation and shaping quality coverage are better aligned to influence AI summaries and brand narratives. One recent analysis found only 8% of companies put PR in charge of AI search strategy, while 54% left it to SEO—an oversight given the shifting landscape (Michael Brito, 2025).
- Focus on prestige and reach. Secure coverage in well-respected, high-authority publications. These placements offer strong citations and reinforce your brand’s visibility to AI systems.
- Diversify formats. Earn mentions not only via articles but through podcasts, analyst interviews, or discussion threads. AI digs into multiple sources to assemble responses.
- Encourage earned engagement. Foster mentions in social platforms like Reddit or LinkedIn especially when responses come from real users and lend authenticity. AI models often value lived experiences and community trust signals. A contributing expert notes that AI seems to favor “lived human experience” from platforms like Reddit when forming answers (Collectivist, 2025).
- Monitor and amplify. Once you’ve earned media mentions, feature them in your owned channels to amplify their signal. This increases the likelihood AI engines will weigh them, too.
Practical Takeaways for Marketing and Creative Leaders
- Audit your AI visibility. Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity about your category. Are you showing up? If not, why?
- Invest in content quality. Create resources that are factual, evergreen, and structured in ways AI can easily cite.
- Expand your footprint. Ensure your brand is present across trusted third-party sites, not just your own domain.
- Monitor and adapt. Treat AI search visibility as a new KPI and track it like you would keyword rankings in the past.
- Experiment continuously. Run small tests (like the LeapPoint experiment) to spot patterns, learn, and adjust.
Final Thoughts: Being the Answer
AI search is transforming how brands are discovered, trusted, and chosen. Winning in this new landscape isn’t just about technical SEO tweaks—it’s about building stronger content strategies, investing in credibility through earned media, and designing marketing operations that adapt as fast as customer behavior changes.
LeapPoint, an Omnicom Precision Marketing Group company, helps organizations bridge that gap. We work with creative and marketing leaders to modernize their strategies, align teams, and unlock scalable ways of working that ensure their brand isn’t just visible, but trusted when it matters most. From shaping content that resonates in AI-driven discovery to rethinking how campaigns are planned and executed, our role is to help you stay ahead of the curve.
About this article: This article was co-created with GenAI tools. From early ideation to final polishing, I use GenAI as a creative partner to work smarter and bring ideas to life faster. It’s not just theory—it’s how I put into practice what I advocate every day: collaborating with AI to scale content creation without sacrificing quality or creativity.
