*Thisarticle is based on a YouTube video by Sophie Hundertmark, an expert in the use of artificial intelligence with a focus on chatbots and strategic AI applications in companies and public institutions. Sophie is a researcher and lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and is doing her doctorate in Conversational AI at the University of Fribourg. The blog text was created using a custom GPT model that was trained on Sophie’s video content, language style and expertise. The result is well-founded, up-to-date articles based on Sophie Hundertmark‘s own expertise.
You can find the link to the video at the end of this article.
Artificial intelligence is currently not only changing the way people search for information, but also how companies become visible online. It is no longer enough to simply be “found”. What matters more is the context in which your brand is mentioned, the tonality with which AI systems describe you and which characteristics are attributed to you.
This is precisely where a new competitive factor arises: visibility in AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity or other large language models. This article is based on a video transcript on the topic of AI visibility and analysis frameworks.
Why AI visibility is so important today
More and more people are using AI systems to receive recommendations, compare providers or find solutions to specific problems. The systems draw on training data, current web content and a wide variety of sources.
This means that AI helps decide how your brand is perceived.
Several factors play a role here:
- Is your company mentioned at all?
- Is the presentation positive, neutral or negative?
- Is the information correct?
- Are your services described correctly?
- Does the AI understand your industry and positioning?
Incorrect representations in particular can be problematic. For example, if AI systems claim that you do not offer certain services – even though you do – you will lose potential customers. Conversely, problems also arise if services are mentioned that do not exist in your company.
What information AI systems use about you
AI systems evaluate companies based on a wide variety of signals. These include, among others:
- Website content
- LinkedIn profiles
- Press mentions
- Content structures
- Topicality of content
- Professional classification
- Geographical information
- Contact details
- Quality signals
Most importantly, you can actively influence many of these factors. An up-to-date website, clearly structured content and consistent company information help AI systems to categorize you correctly.
Training data vs. real-time web search
Today, AI systems work in two different ways:
Answers from training data
In some cases, models draw directly on their existing training knowledge. In this case, answers are based on already known data sets.
Answers with current web sources
AI systems are also increasingly using current web content. Systems such as Perplexity in particular work with current sources almost in real time. Other systems sometimes only update their information after a few days.
For companies, this means
You should not only be visible in training data in the long term, but also ensure that current content is easy to find on the web.
Why AI answers are not always the same
An exciting aspect of AI systems: Answers can vary.
Among other things, this is due to:
- different prompt formulations
- Language settings
- geographical factors
- Topicality of the contents
- Model temperature and random variations
The geographical context in particular strongly influences results. Users in Germany sometimes receive different answers than users in Switzerland or other countries. It is therefore becoming increasingly important to understand where your target group uses AI systems and what content is visible there.
New competitors through AI
AI is also changing the concept of competition.
In addition to traditional competitors, new indirect competitors are emerging.
One example:
When users ask:
“How do I increase my visibility on the Internet?”
An AI system can then respond differently:
- Recommendation of an AI tool
- Recommendation of a consultation
- Recommendation of an online course
All three solutions address the same problem – although they come from completely different areas. As a result, providers who previously would not have seen themselves as competitors are suddenly competing with each other.
The importance of niche expertise
Specialized providers in particular are gaining in importance in the AI context. AI systems often prefer sources with clear expertise in a specific subject area.
That’s why you should ask yourself:
- Are you a clear niche expert?
- Are you positioned as an industry leader?
- Are you still invisible at the moment?
- Or do you have a very general approach?
It is particularly difficult for companies without a clear positioning. If your content covers “a bit of everything”, AI systems will find it difficult to clearly categorize you.
The analysis framework for AI visibility
To systematically analyze your own visibility, you can focus on three key areas.
1. are you mentioned at all?
This is about basic visibility:
- Does your brand appear in AI responses?
- In what contexts are you mentioned?
- What attributes are attributed to you?
2. how are you positioned?
Analyze how AI classifies you:
- Expert or general provider?
- Premium or standard?
- Innovative or conservative?
3. which topics have you not yet covered?
Compare yourselves with competitors:
- Which topics dominate others?
- Where are the content gaps?
- Which questions have you not yet answered sufficiently?
How to start your AI visibility analysis
A sensible analysis process consists of several steps:
- Define relevant questions and prompts
- Set up a test system
- Analyze results
- Derive measures
- Optimize content
- Repeat analysis regularly
AI visibility is not a one-off project, but a continuous process.
Why “more content” is not the solution
A common mistake: companies produce as much AI-generated content as possible without a strategic basis.
But sheer mass does not help.
The decisive factor is rather:
- What questions your target group really asks
- What information gaps exist
- What content is missing so far
- Which expertise you want to make visible
Blogs in particular offer enormous potential here. Instead of publishing content at random, you should focus on topics that are relevant to your customers and are not yet sufficiently covered by your competitors.
Conclusion
AI visibility is becoming a key success factor for companies. It’s no longer just about being found on Google. The decisive factor is increasingly how AI systems understand, interpret and recommend your brand.
Those who analyze how AI systems represent their own company at an early stage can take targeted countermeasures, optimize content and build competitive advantages in the long term.
This is particularly important:
- Clear positioning
- current contents
- Consistent information
- real expertise
- Strategic content gap analysis
This is because AI systems do not automatically favor the loudest providers – but often the clearest and most relevant ones.
Any further questions?
Do you have any questions? I am happy to support you, act as a sparring partner and answer your questions. I am always happy to receive your messages, preferably by WhatsApp message or e-mail.
