How AI Picks Which Brand to Mention First

Let's say a user queries, "What is the best CRM for early-stage startups?" The response from an AI program such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity is, "Here are three: Brand A, Brand B, Brand C."

Even if your brand has a high Google ranking, you will miss the opportunity when a customer asks a question and anticipates a recommendation if you don't show up here.

What, then, causes Brand A to be mentioned first, Brand B second, and your brand not at all?

These are the main criteria that AI systems appear to consider when deciding which brands to highlight.

1. Credible Brand Signals & Entity Clarity

AI models increasingly treat brands as "entities" in a knowledge graph rather than mere keywords. According to industry analysis:

"AI tools like ChatGPT prioritise well-known brands that appear frequently in authoritative contexts and have clean entity signals (e.g., consistent names, descriptions, and categories across platforms)."

What this implies for your company:

• Don't use odd spellings or variations; instead, use consistent naming.
• Give a clear description of yourself, such as "Visiblie — AI visibility platform for SMEs."
• Make sure LinkedIn profiles, About pages, metadata, and schema are all in alignment.
• Be found in reliable third-party sources to give the AI signals it can rely on.

A Reddit marketer observed:

"If your brand isn't clearly defined in that graph, the AI doesn't risk mentioning you."

In short: clarity + consistency builds trust, and trust = more likely mention.

2. Visibility Across Trusted Sources

AI doesn't pick brands based only on your site. It looks at how your brand appears across the web: reviews, forums, news, expert round-ups.

"Brands mentioned often in authoritative publications, industry discussions, and expert content have higher probability of AI inclusion."

Examples:

• Being included in a "top CRM for startups" roundup on a recognized blog helps.
• Getting reviews on platforms that AI systems use for signals.
• Being discussed in forums like Reddit or product review sites.

As one Redditor put it:

"Everyone talks about mentions and authority, but if your structured data is a mess, the model will struggle to recognize or surface your brand accurately."

So: presence matters—across many signals, not just your own site.

3. Relevance to the User's Query + Prompt Context

When a user asks a question like "What CRM should a small startup use in 2025?", the AI tries to parse: does this brand fit this problem?

Relevance is key. As one analysis pointed out:

"Relevancy involves how clearly AI models understand your brand's relationship to different topics and search intents."

What to pay attention to:

• Make sure your brand is linked to the specific use case that your audience is interested in, like "CRM for early-stage" or "AI visibility tool for SMEs."
• Make sure your content and outside mentions consistently illustrate that connection.
• Watch which prompts your competitors show up in and where you're lagging behind.

One Reddit thread stated:

"The signals that actually matter... Relevance (does your brand actually fit the topic?)"

4. Freshness & Up-to-Date Content

Answer engines and AI models are favoring more recent and up-to-date information. Stale, outdated, or query-unrelated content has a lower chance of being selected.

"Recently published or updated content receives preference. AI models trained on current data favour up-to-date information."

To give the AI more recent and reliable signals, make sure you publish new insights, update your content frequently, and maintain a fresh online presence for your brand.

5. Sentiment, Authority & Trustworthiness

It matters not only if your brand is mentioned, but also how. AI programs try to grasp authority and emotion. Recommendations are more likely to come from positive, reliable mentions.

"Track online reviews, sentiment and context. AI platforms analyse the sentiment of their source material, so positive mentions from trusted sources dramatically increase your recommendation frequency."

Reddit highlighted how missed mentions can be invisible:

"I had a friend mention a tool they found by asking ChatGPT... It didn't. Not even once. Meanwhile, competitors were being mentioned."

So: fostering positive reviews, being included in trusted listicles, and being cited by credible sources all feed into AI's decision-making.

6. Share of Voice & Competitor Gap Awareness

Even if you've got good signals, you're competing for attention in the AI answer space. Being first often matters.

"Being included in AI answers (not just appearing on a SERP) is becoming the new standard of 'visibility'."

Understanding how often you show up compared to competitors helps:

• Monitor how frequently your brand is mentioned for key prompts
• Look at what topics you're missing where competitors appear
• Target those gap areas with content & visibility efforts

Bringing It All Together: Why Your Brand Might Be Getting Skipped

If your brand isn't showing up in AI-driven answers, some common reasons might be:

• Your brand lacks consistent entity signals across the web
• You're mentioned rarely outside your own site (few credible third-party mentions)
• Your brand isn't strongly tied to the specific query context users ask
• Your content is stale or lacks structured data that AI can easily parse
• You're mentioned, but the sentiment or authority of those mentions is weak
• Your competitor is showing up more often (higher share of voice) and the AI picks them first

One Reddit marketer shared:

"Tracking how often our brand is mentioned... Then we saw competitors in Gemini queries that we were not showing up in. Once we added better coverage of those subjects, we started showing up."

What You Can Do Today

1. Audit your brand entity signals. Verify the alignment of your name, description, schema, About pages, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, and Wikidata.

2. Map the main queries your audience poses, such as "best AI visibility tool for SMEs" and "CRM for startups 2025."

3. Examine competitor mentions. Determine which brands appear for those prompts and why by using AI brand-visibility tools.

4. Create organized, current content — case studies, bullet lists, comparison pages, and FAQs — that clearly connects your brand to the prompt.

5. Obtain reputable external mentions for your brand through forums, listicles, reviews, guest posts, and Reddit threads where it is mentioned favorably and contextually.

6. Track and maximize sentiment and authority by keeping an eye on mentions, fixing errors, and making sure your brand narrative is compelling.

7. Measure your AI Brand Visibility Score: (Answers mentioning you ÷ Total relevant answers) × 100. That gives you a benchmark and helps track progress.

Final Thoughts

The change is obvious: an AI-driven response's first suggestion is gold. But it's mechanics, not magic. Brands are not chosen at random; they are chosen because they are recognizable, reliable, pertinent, organized, and consistent.

You must think beyond traditional SEO if you want your brand to succeed in this new era. AI Visibility is something you should consider. You must be the brand that the AI is familiar with, believes in, finds pertinent, and brings up first.

Because when a user asks, "Which solution should I go with?" the AI may be introducing your brand to a new customer. Will they learn about your brand first?