Your Brand's Biggest Competitor in AI Search Isn't Another Company - It's Invisibility
When people ask ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for product recommendations this holiday season, will your brand make the list? For 58% of consumers now using AI for purchase research, that's not a hypothetical question - it's the new path to purchase.
Evertune's AI Brand Index Holiday 2025 Edition analyzed six major product categories - examining every significant player in Contemporary Fine Jewelry, Smart Watches, Gaming Consoles, Electric Vehicles, Domestic Airlines and Customer Relationship Management platforms. The findings reveal a marketing landscape where traditional advantages, market share, revenue, century-old heritage, no longer guarantee visibility in AI search.
The New Rules of Brand Awareness in the Age of AI
Our analysis surfaced the top 10 brands in each category based on their AI Brand Score. Across the board, we discovered the same pattern: cultural narrative beats traditional scale.
Consider these surprises from the top 10:
Jewelry: Mejuri (AI Brand Score: 46) matches century-old Bulgari (48), while ethical newcomers Brilliant Earth and Catbird languish at the bottom despite Gen-Z appeal
Smart Watches: Apple dominates with a score of 96, but Google—despite owning Fitbit and making Pixel Watch—barely registers at 28
Airlines: American Airlines scores 43, trailing smaller regional carriers Alaska (66) and JetBlue (65) despite being one of the world's largest carriers
EVs: Startup Rivian (54) essentially ties with established Hyundai (56), while German luxury brands BMW and Audi sink to the bottom
And these are just the top 10. There are plenty of known brands that didn't even make the list.
Why Some Brands Win While Others Disappear
The AI Brand Score measures both frequency (how often brands appear) and rank (where they appear in responses). The holy grail? Being mentioned first, 100% of the time—an AI Brand Score of 100.
Three factors drive AI visibility:
- Strong editorial presence - Coverage and reviews across many different sites get embedded in training data
- Distinct brand narratives - Garmin owns "serious fitness tracking," Tiffany owns "fine jewelry"
- Active content marketing - HubSpot's content strategy nearly matches Salesforce's first-mover advantage in CRM
Legacy brands face a reckoning in the age of AI. Revenue doesn't equal visibility. Retail footprint doesn't guarantee recommendations. Even being first to market—like Nissan with EVs—doesn't ensure lasting mindshare.
What This Means for Your Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Strategy
This isn't traditional SEO. You can't buy your way into AI answers through paid ads—at least not yet. The brands winning in AI search are those actively cultivating their presence through content, community and cultural relevance. This is brand building for AI.
The holiday season marks the first time consumers will make purchasing decisions influenced by AI responses at scale. The visibility gaps revealed in our AI Brand Index won't close on their own—they'll widen as AI adoption accelerates.
Download the full AI Brand Index Holiday 2025 Edition for detailed methodology, category-by-category analysis and strategic implications for marketers ready to win in the AI economy.
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