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AI search · Client projects
A potential customer asks an AI assistant to compare products or suggest an alternative to a competitor. The answer introduces several options, explains their differences and links to supporting sources.
Your brand could become part of that decision before the customer visits your website.
At UM, we’re working on AI search visibility alongside our clients’ wider SEO strategies. We’re seeing websites appear in AI answers, products enter comparison conversations and AI referrals generate purchases.
Here’s what we’ve changed, what we’ve measured and what these projects suggest for other businesses.
Start with the questions customers ask when choosing a product or provider. Publish useful comparisons, make your brand information clear, build a credible presence on relevant websites and maintain the SEO foundations. Measure brand mentions, website citations, referral traffic and business outcomes separately.
Why AI Visibility Matters Beyond Website Traffic
AI-generated answers can satisfy part of a user’s information needs directly within the search experience.
Research from Pew Research Center illustrates this behaviour. Among the US adults studied in March 2025, users clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits to pages with an AI summary, compared with 15% of visits to pages without one. These findings describe a specific sample and period, rather than a forecast for every website. Source: Pew Research Center.
For businesses, this expands the role of content. A useful page can attract visitors, support an AI-generated answer and introduce a product during the research process.
Those outcomes need separate measurements.
Medical products · Client case
Case 1: AI Referrals That Led to Purchases
Our published medical products case provides measurable visits and purchases from AI traffic.
The project included developing a content library in French and German as part of ongoing SEO work.
The published results show:
- AI sessions in August 2026
- 315
- Up from 58 in June 2026.
- Growth in monthly AI sessions
- 5.4×
- August compared with June 2026, approximately.
- Revenue attributed to AI traffic
- €1,225.70
- Over three months.
These results were recorded during a broader SEO programme, with paid advertising also running alongside it.
For the business, the important development was that visitors arriving from AI assistants began purchasing. That connects AI visibility with an observable commercial outcome. Read the medical products case study.
Health & wellness · Client case
Case 2: Appearing When Customers Search for Alternatives
For a client in the health and wellness sector, we worked on the website’s content, brand information and presence across external websites.
The work included:
- Updating existing articles comparing the client’s product with competing options.
- Expanding information about the brand across the website, particularly on the homepage.
- Publishing more informational content to reach relevant audiences.
- Continuing off-page activities and building external brand mentions.
Comparison content was an important part of this approach. It addressed people who were already exploring their options and needed help understanding the differences.
What the Reports Showed
- Google AI impressions
- ≈10.2K
- Three-month view in the Generative AI features report.
- AI responses in Ahrefs
- 68
- A separate snapshot across the tracked platforms.
- Website pages in those responses
- 12
- Pages recorded in the same Ahrefs snapshot.
The Ahrefs snapshot included 52 responses in Google AI Overviews, with additional appearances across AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
Wider Web Search performance: Google Search Console recorded 58,417 impressions and 325 clicks between July 21 and October 20, 2026.
These figures come from different reporting views. AI impressions, recorded responses and search clicks describe different aspects of visibility.
A Concrete Example of Product Discovery
In one captured Google AI response, a user asked about alternatives to a competing product available in the UK.
The answer included our client’s product among the alternatives and linked to an informational page on the client’s website.
This is a commercially relevant discovery scenario: the user already knows one product and is considering other options. Appearing in that answer gives the brand an opportunity to enter the customer’s shortlist.
We believe the updated comparison content and external brand mentions contributed to the project’s AI visibility. Several activities were underway together, so the available evidence does not isolate the contribution of each one.
What These Projects Suggest About AI Optimisation
Help Customers Compare Their Options
In our digital projects, content built around “best solution for a specific problem” has been a promising format. The health and wellness project also highlights the value of product comparisons and alternatives content.
Useful comparison pages answer practical questions:
- Who is each option suitable for?
- Which differences matter?
- What are the limitations?
- What evidence supports the claims?
- What should a buyer consider before choosing?
The opportunity lies in providing information that helps someone make a decision. First-hand experience, clear criteria and accurate product details make that content more useful.
Make the Brand Easy to Understand
The website should clearly explain what the business offers, who it serves and what distinguishes its products or services.
In the health and wellness project, expanding the homepage and other brand information was part of this work.
For another business, the priority might be clearer service descriptions, more complete product information or stronger evidence supporting its claims.
Build a Credible Presence Across Relevant Websites
PR coverage, guest contributions, independent reviews and useful community discussions can expand the information available about a brand.
We treat relevant external mentions as part of the wider strategy and assess their value within each project. The focus should be the publication’s relevance, audience and substance.
Maintain the SEO Foundations
Google states that established SEO practices remain relevant to its generative AI search features. Pages need to be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet. Meeting the requirements creates eligibility; appearance is not guaranteed. Source: Google Search Central.
Useful content needs a website that search systems can access and understand.
Local Businesses Need Different Priorities
For local businesses, our observations suggest that AI recommendations often overlap with a strong local search presence.
That makes accurate business information, relevant services, location details and customer reviews important areas to examine.
Google identifies relevance, distance and prominence as the main factors in local rankings. It also states that more reviews and positive ratings can help local visibility. These are local Google ranking principles, rather than a universal formula for every AI assistant. Source: Google Business Profile.
In our observations, AI selections can include businesses with different combinations of ratings and review counts. Results can also vary by service and search context.
We have not yet established that “best companies” content produces the same benefits across local projects as it does in our digital work. Local strategies need to reflect the niche, location and competitive environment.
Measure the Path From Appearance to Purchase
A useful measurement framework separates four outcomes:
-
Brand mentions
Does the business appear, and in what context?
-
Website citations
Which pages are used as sources?
-
Referral traffic
Do people visit the website from AI services?
-
Business outcomes
Do those visitors enquire or purchase?
For visibility checks, record the query, platform, date, language and location where relevant. Repeat the checks to understand how consistently the brand appears.
One screenshot documents an appearance. Repeated observations and website analytics help establish its wider significance.
Where Should Your Business Start?
Start with the questions customers ask when choosing a product, comparing alternatives or looking for a local provider.
Review which brands and sources appear in those answers. Then assess whether your website and external presence provide clear, credible information for those decisions.
That review can reveal priorities: better comparison content, stronger product pages, clearer brand information, relevant external coverage or improvements to local visibility.
Talk to UM about your project. We’ll help identify visibility gaps and prioritise the next steps for your business.
Discuss your AI search strategy
