Ahrefs’ study of 75,000 brands analysed through its Brand Radar tool shows that off‑site brand presence trumps traditional SEO when it comes to being cited in Google’s AI Overviews.
🔑 **1. Branded Web Mentions Top the Charts (ρ = 0.664)**
Branded web mentions—instances where your brand is referenced anywhere on the web—have the strongest correlation (Spearman 0.664) with AI Overview citations
This far outweighs link metrics—for instance, total backlinks only correlate at 0.218.
🧷 **2. Branded Anchors & Search Volume Matter Too**
Branded anchor text (links using your brand name) comes in next (ρ = 0.527).
Branded search volume—people actively searching your brand—ranked third (ρ = 0.392).
This echoes Kevin Indig’s finding: branded search volume correlates strongly with ChatGPT citations.
🔗 **3. Traditional SEO Has Limited AI Impact**
Domain Rating (0.326), referring domains (0.295), and backlinks (0.218) show weak to moderate correlations with AI citations.
In contrast to web mentions, these pale in significance.
💰 **4. Paid Campaigns Don’t Boost AI Presence**
Branded ad traffic (0.216) and ad spend (0.215) have minimal association with AI Overview visibility.
As ads remain rare in AI Overviews, paid reach alone won’t help much.
📈**5. Leapfrogging the Competition: Top Quartile Wins**
Brands in the top 25% for web mentions were cited median 169 times in AI Overviews—over 10x more than the next tier (14 mentions) and vastly ahead of the bottom half (0–3 mentions) (ahrefs.com).
🛠️ **Lmo7‑Style AI Brand Visibility Framework**
Following Ahrefs’ data-driven insights, here’s how Lmo7 could structure a brand-AEO strategy:
A. Cast a Wide Web Mention Net 🕸️
Leverage thought leadership, PR, podcasts, guest posts, and influencer outreach to stimulate off-site brand mentions.
B. Optimise for Anchor Text
Encourage partners to use your brand name in links versus generic CTAs.
C. Boost Branded Search Volume
Promote your brand in campaigns, webinars, and asset launches to increase brand-name searches.
D. Maintain Baseline SEO
While not core for AI Overviews, ensure you still meet fundamentals—backlinks, DR, technical health.
E. Track Visibility with Tools
Use Ahrefs Brand Radar’s “Google AI Overviews” tab or other tools to monitor brand mentions over time.
🧩 **Summary Table**
Signal Spearman ρ vs AI Mentions
Branded web mentions 0.664 (highest)
Branded anchor text 0.527
Branded search volume 0.392
Domain Rating 0.326
Referring domains 0.295
Backlinks 0.218
Branded ad traffic/cost 0.215
🚀 **Final Take**
To secure brand mentions in AI Overviews, which increasingly appear for informational searches, invest in your off‑site brand presence. Focus on getting your brand name mentioned widely and linked properly across the web. Paid ads and standard link-building are helpful but secondary.
In the AI-first era, visibility isn’t just about SEO, it’s about becoming a recognisable entity across the web and building the textual footprint that AI systems use to attribute authority.
__Sources:__
“An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors” by Louise Linehan & Xibeijia Guan, Ahrefs, May 26 2025 (ahrefs.com, ahrefs.com).