Introduction

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google SGE, Google Bard/Gemini and Bing Chat (Copilot) are changing the way people search for brand and product information. A recent survey¹ conducted by Purchased showed that approximately 43% of online US respondents aged 18-54 have used a generative AI tool, and 29% report having used a generative AI tool to research product categories like technology, food, personal care, beauty and automotive. To stay ahead of the game, your brand must understand how it's represented in the responses these AI tools are creating. Keep reading to learn how your company can benefit from tracking its presence in Generative AI. 

• Develop Data-Driven Marketing Content: Analyze how your brand and those of competitors are described by popular AI platforms. Identify common attributes and phrases to ensure your brand messaging stays aligned with what people are likely to read or hear.
• Strengthen Brand Share and Prominence: Monitor the platforms and content sources where your brand has the highest (and lowest) share of voice and is most (and least) prominent. Optimize your marketing mix and strategy to target the channels where you gain the most impact.
• Reinforce Positive Attributes/Counter Misinformation: Monitor perceptions to create content that counters misinformation and reinforces positive attributes.

The overview screen above shows that:

• The top three platforms for brand mentions in the whitening toothpaste category are Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE), Bard (renamed to Gemini), and Claude.
• The top brands mentioned (share of voice) are Colgate, Crest, and Tom's of Maine.

Tracking brand share of mentions will determine if the brand is being under- or over-represented relative to market share. The metric also can be used to see if content strategies move the needle. Below you can see the variability in brand share for all five toothpaste brands:

To understand the bigger picture, though, we need to look at Brand Prominence. Prominence is a measure of a brand’s position in the Generative AI results and is important for several reasons:

• Visibility: Prominence directly relates to how easily customers find your brand. If your brand is consistently mentioned in the top results of AI-generated responses, you have a higher chance of being noticed.
• Authority: Prominence helps build your brand's perceived authority among consumers and within the AI model itself. If consumers repeatedly see your brand prominently placed when they search for certain terms, they'll begin to associate your brand with those concepts.
• Competitive Advantage: Tracking prominence lets you monitor not only your brand's position but how it fares against competitors. Knowing when and where your brand is losing prominence lets you adapt your messaging and placement strategies.
• Content Optimization: By studying where your or competitor brands gain high prominence, you can hone your messaging for that specific platform or content type. This creates a tailored approach leading to stronger results.

In the chart below we can see that Sensodyne and Tom’s of Maine’s prominence across AI platforms varies from day to day from January 17, 2024 - February 12, 2024.

Drilling down we can see what sources are driving these changes. For example, below we see that the Tom’s of Maine brand shows up more prominently when eBay, NBC News, Marie Claire and Allure are used as sources, and in a lower position when Buoy Health is used as a source.

Unlocking Brand Attributes
Looking at the brand attributes mentioned across platforms we can see what's associated with each toothpaste brand.

Attributes (like "gentle," "pricey," or "effective") offer a granular look at how consumers perceive your products in AI-generated text responses.  Staying abreast of these perceptions reveals what content best counters misinformation or boosts positive attributes.

Harnessing the Data in your Business
Generative AI will transform product search behavior. Tracking your brand within this growing ecosystem offers marketers immediate advantages in developing content, strengthening brand presence and reinforcing attributes.

¹ In mid-February 2024, Purchased recruited approximately 500 U.S. respondents, aged 18-54, from an online panel to complete a brief 10 question survey. In addition to basic demographic information, questions included if the respondent had used a generative AI tool, and if so, which one(s), for what purpose(s), and which product categories were researched using the tool, if any.