As AI chatbots become go-to tools for everything from travel planning to product recommendations, marketers face a growing question: How do you make sure your brand shows up in the answers?
Semrush thinks it’s found an answer — and it’s launched an award program to highlight the brands leading the way.
The newly announced AI Visibility Awards recognize the companies most cited, recommended, and surfaced in AI-generated responses, drawing from Semrush’s AI Visibility Index — a dataset built on over 2,500 real prompts run through ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode.
“This year marks a turning point in how brands earn visibility,” said Andrew Warden, CMO at Semrush. “It’s not about submissions or panels — it’s about real user behavior. These awards recognize the marketers cracking the AI code and earning trust where it counts: inside the answers”.
What the AI Visibility Awards measure
The awards highlight three types of performers across four major verticals:
- Category Leaders: Brands with the largest footprint in AI search
- Growth Engines: Fastest gainers in visibility
- Challengers: Up-and-comers gaining traction in AI results
For example, Google topped the Business & Professional Services category, while Rippling was recognized as a Challenger brand. In Consumer Electronics, Samsung led the pack, with Logitech and Nothing Technology earning Growth Engine and Challenger honors, respectively.
Other notable winners:
- Microsoft, Category Leader for Digital Tech & Software
- UNIQLO, Growth Engine in Fashion & Apparel
- Anthropic, Challenger in Digital Tech & Software
AI search trends marketers should watch
The award data reveals a few emerging truths about AI-driven discovery:
- Stability among leaders: Top brands showed less than 20% monthly volatility in AI share-of-voice, suggesting AI engines “lock in” trusted names.
- Niches break through: Brands with clear topical relevance — like Patagonia in ethical fashion or Logitech in gaming accessories — punch above their weight.
- Challengers can compete: Newer players like Nuuly and Anthropic are finding traction with strong positioning and momentum.
- Verticals behave differently: Some, like Business & Professional Services, remain highly competitive, while others reward consistency or focus.
Why this matters for marketers
These awards reinforce what many marketers are just beginning to grapple with: AI visibility is now part of the competitive equation. And for some, it’s already driving strategy.
Semrush is the parent company of MarTech.
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About the author
Constantine von Hoffman is managing editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.
