LLM Brand Visibility: What Does AI Think Your Brand Does?

Let’s play a quick game. Fire up ChatGPT or Gemini, and ask: “What is [your brand] known for?” or “Why would someone choose [your brand] over a competitor?” 

If the answer is cringingly vague, wildly inaccurate, or worse – it confidently describes something you don’t even sell – you’re not alone. Generative AI is fast becoming the first point of contact between brands and users. In fact, Matthew Howells-Barby recently said, “LLMs are now the first screen in your signup flow.” However, AI’s understanding of your brand is not always accurate, complete, or even fair.

So the million-dollar question is: what does AI think your brand does? And more importantly, what can you do to correct or influence that perception? Let’s break down some of the components of LLM brand visibility that were discussed in our latest webinar with Daniel Foley Carter, Chima Mmeje, and Dixon Jones, without whom I wouldn’t have been able to put together this article.

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Welcome to the agentic internet

We’re not in the “user types a keyword into Google” era anymore. Instead, users are increasingly outsourcing that task entirely. Whether it’s ChatGPT, Perplexity, or AI Overviews on Google, people are relying on generative tools to do their research for them.

As Dixon Jones put it:

“Content now has to talk to the LLMs as much as it does to a human being, and the human being may never go to the website to get the sale.”

Dixon Jones   CEO

It’s not that your blog or About page doesn’t matter anymore, it’s just that it may never be seen. If the LLM can answer a user’s question based on what it knows about you, it will. So if that information is wrong, vague, or outdated? Tough luck. 

When LLMs hallucinate (and how it affects your brand)

Hallucinations aren’t just a quirky AI trait, they’re a legitimate threat to your brand’s credibility. Case in point? InLinks, the SEO tool founded by Dixon Jones, was erroneously described by an LLM as being acquired by Semrush. Total fabrication.

And then there’s Red Bull. The brand has nailed cultural storytelling, sponsoring everything from Formula 1 to astronauts in stratosphere balloons. But as Dixon noted:

“Red Bull’s marketing talks to its audience, not about its product. So now an LLM has the opportunity to hallucinate and misunderstand what it’s about.”

Dixon Jones   CEO

The takeaway? If your messaging is ambiguous, or if your brand identity lives mostly in vibes and campaigns, LLMs might fill in the blanks incorrectly.

By the way, we also mentioned in the webinar Carrie Rose’s presentation at SEO Week, where she shared an example where Red Bull failed to rank for “energy drinks for gamers,” which is interesting so go check that out too. 

How to find out what AI thinks of your brand

So how do you actually audit your AI footprint? There are a few ways to start poking around.

As mentioned in my intro, there’s the manual method:

• Ask ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini directly: “What does [Brand] do?”
• Use prompts like: “Why would someone choose [Brand] over [Competitor]?”
• Pay attention to how your brand is framed, what it gets compared to, where the LLM is sourcing its information, and whether the description is accurate.

Then there’s the tools-based route. Dixon’s own platform, Waikay, tracks brand mentions in LLMs and shows which prompts trigger citations. You might also want to try Profound.

And this brings us to an opportunity: start monitoring where your competitors are being cited, then go and get yourself mentioned in those same places. It’s not about backlinks anymore; it’s about being present where the LLMs are looking for answers.

FYI, we look at AI Search Auditing in more depth in July’s webinar workshop with Lily Grozeva.

How to correct the narrative

If you’re realising AI doesn’t have the right story about your brand, don’t panic. But do act.

Step one? Clarify your brand’s message.

This isn’t just about writing clearer copy on your homepage. It’s about consistency and repetition. Have a tagline or story that reinforces your value? Great—bake it into everything. As Chima Mmeje pointed out:

“BrightonSEO’s story is ‘from a room above a pub.’ Every time they say it, they reinforce that underdog narrative”

Chima Mmeje   SaaS Content Strategist

Next, bring your brand people into the light. These are the influencers inside (or outside) your company who know the product, love the mission, and can talk about it in human terms. Chima gave an example from her own life: “I discovered Gong through Udi Ledergor. I didn’t even know what Gong was until I started seeing Udi’s content.” 

Empowering internal experts to post, speak, or contribute builds organic authority. LLMs love first-person, original content—especially the kind that shows up in community spaces like Reddit.

Mentions, not links, are the new power signal

LLMs don’t treat links the way Google does. But they do crawl and weigh mentions, especially when those mentions come from trusted sources. Chima said:

“We know they like recognisable brands… and we also know they like links. But we’re also seeing an aggregation of sentiment from review sites and forums.””

Chima Mmeje   SaaS Content Strategist

In other words, they care not just where your name shows up, but how people talk about you. Positive sentiment in UGC (user-generated content), community chatter, and unbiased third-party mentions all feed into AI’s understanding of who you are and what you do.

Which makes review platforms, guest contributions, and community engagement potential AI optimisation tactics.

How to track and measure AI visibility

This is where things get a little tricky. LLM results aren’t static. They change depending on the model, the version, the user’s memory settings, and the specific prompt. “Tracking mentions in LLMs isn’t always efficient… LLMs are so inconsistent,” warned Daniel Foley Carter.

That said, you’ve got a few options:

• Use tools: Waikay, Profound, and others help track LLM citations over time.
• Monitor brand search trends: Use Google Trends, GSC impressions, and branded search volume to detect shifts.
• Manual spot-checks: Make prompt testing part of your SEO or content audit workflow.
• Puppeteer scripts (if you’re technically inclined): Daniel’s own script checks frequency of in-text mentions on Google over time.

These methods aren’t perfect, but collectively they give you a sense of how your brand is being retrieved and interpreted.

Build for clarity, not just clicks

It’s tempting to start optimising your content for AI with surgical precision. After all, SEOs are optimisers right? But Chima issued a strong warning:

“The moment we start to write for summarisation… we’ve lost the plot.”

Chima Mmeje   SaaS Content Strategist

There was a bit of disagreement and debate amongst the speakers at this point—with Dixon advocating for chunking and re-stating that, “it's not about the link anymore. But it sure as hell is about having your brand mentioned in the place where the LLM looks.”

Perhaps we can all agree that the priority should be clarity. Who you are, what you do, and what you don’t do needs to be unambiguous across your web presence. That helps both users and AI agents.

Daniel, meanwhile, is a strong advocate for doing your own learning and research instead of blindly following what the loudest SEO is saying on LinkedIn:

“The more you understand the fundamentals of how LLMs work, the better you can shape your content so that it’s more likely to be cited.”

Daniel Foley Carter   SEO Evangelist

So take the time. Watch a few 3Blue1Brown videos. This is the new playing field, and understanding it gives you an edge.

TL;DR? Here’s your action plan:

• Audit your brand’s AI visibility: Run prompt tests in major LLMs.
• Fix inconsistencies: Clarify your brand story and eliminate ambiguity.
• Amplify authentic voices: Elevate internal experts and community content.
• Monitor mentions: Use tools or prompt testing to track progress.
• Educate yourself: Learn how LLMs actually process and surface content.

AI isn't going anywhere. And if it's going to act as your customer's first researcher, you might as well make sure it gets your story straight.

Oh and here’s a little reminder to be careful what you wish for 😉