Why Do Some Brands Appear and Others Don’t?
When you ask a chat to recommend a perfume or a watch, there’s no randomness behind its answer.
Artificial intelligence systems —such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot— don’t choose brands at random: they decide based on context, relevance, and trust.
AI doesn’t “promote” products; it interprets millions of signals and looks for the best match between what you ask and what it finds. And that completely changes how brands need to position themselves.
How Brands Rank in Smart Chats
Language models work differently from traditional search engines.
They don’t return a list of links but rather a conversational answer, and within it, they decide which brands to mention.
That decision is based on several factors:
- Topical authority.
Brands consistently associated with a specific category (e.g., “luxury perfumes” or “minimalist watches”) gain relevance in that niche. - Verifiable digital presence.
The more a brand appears on trusted sites —reviews, media, blogs, or e-commerce— the more “visible” it becomes to AI. - Clear and structured content.
Product pages with complete descriptions, natural language, and up-to-date data are easier for models to understand. - User context.
Conversational assistants prioritize what makes sense for the person asking: country, language, style, price, or local availability. - Optimization for generative answers.
This emerging field, known as AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) or GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), adapts traditional SEO to how AI systems respond.
How to Make Your Brand Get Recommended
Appearing in smart chat responses isn’t something you can buy —it’s built.
Here are the key strategies to achieve it:
- Write for humans (and AI).
Use natural language, answer real questions, and focus on benefits rather than features.
For example: “Perfect for those looking for an elegant everyday perfume” is more powerful than a technical list. - Publish semantic content.
Create guides, comparisons, or articles where your brand is associated with values or styles (“sustainable fabrics,” “minimalist watches”). - Maintain digital consistency.
Ensure your information is the same across your website, social media, and online stores.
Implementing structured data (schema.org) helps AI interpret your content correctly. - Build external authority.
Be featured in media, reviews, or trusted marketplaces.
The more positive mentions, the more “credibility” AI models perceive. - Focus on user experience.
AI prioritizes brands that adapt to user context: language, country, shipping times, visible prices, etc.
Toward the New SEO: When AI Assistants Recommend
We’re entering an era where ranking no longer depends only on Google but also on how AI assistants interpret content.
Appearing in those recommendations is the new frontier of digital marketing —a balance between human content, technical clarity, and presence.
The brands that learn how to be understood by artificial intelligence will be the ones to connect first.
Because in the end, when a chat recommends a brand, it’s not luck: it’s strategy, context, and trust. a chat recommends a brand, it’s not luck: it’s strategy, context, and trust.
