In 2025, AI isn’t just generating content – it may also be starting to influence how people discover and understand brands. Tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are becoming everyday companions for research, learning, and decision-making. While they don’t produce news stories or traditional media content, they do surface brand names, summarise messaging, and shape the context in which people encounter information.
This shift introduces a new kind of visibility – one that isn’t coming from a journalist, influencer, or publisher, but from a machine. That raises a key question: Do AI-generated mentions matter for your business? And if they do, what should you do about it?
What Are AI Mentions?
When a user asks an AI system something like, “What are the top skincare brands for sensitive skin?” and your brand appears in the response – that’s an AI mention. It’s not traditional coverage. There’s no journalist, no headline, no outlet. But it’s exposure nonetheless, and in many cases, it’s shaping public perception.
These mentions typically come from:
🔹Summaries of published articles and blog posts
🔹Content from your website or public documents
🔹Repetitions of widely circulated information or reputational signals
They don’t have a clear author or reach figure, but they’re part of how people understand your brand.
Why It Matters
AI tools are increasingly part of how people encounter information – especially when searching or researching online. Whether users are planning purchases, comparing companies, or exploring new topics, generative AI is shaping what they see and the narratives they absorb.
Even if your brand isn’t being talked about in a traditional media outlet, being included in AI-generated responses can:
🔹Reinforce brand associations (e.g. innovation, sustainability, affordability)
🔹Reflect on how well your messaging is landing online
🔹Support discoverability and SEO indirectly
Challenges in Measurement
Traditional media metrics – like Share of Voice or sentiment – were built around structured, verifiable content with measurable reach. AI-generated content doesn’t follow those rules:
🔹There’s no publisher or timestamp
🔹Content varies from one AI prompt to the next
🔹Responses are dynamic and influenced by training data, not editorial decisions
This makes it difficult to assess how often you’re mentioned, by whom, and to what audience.
So, Should You Track AI Mentions?
Right now, this is an emerging area – not yet something most brands track systematically. But it’s worth watching for a few reasons:
🔹AI-generated content can affect brand perception
🔹It reflects how visible your key messages and content are across the web
🔹It’s becoming part of how the public, investors, and even journalists form opinions
What Comes Next?
As this trend grows, we may see new approaches to monitoring AI visibility. Some early ideas include:
🔹Testing brand-related prompts to see how your company is represented
🔹Tracking common themes and associations that emerge in AI answers
🔹Comparing your visibility against competitors across AI tools
This is less about exact numbers and more about understanding where your brand stands in a changing landscape.
Final Thoughts
AI is starting to influence how people encounter and interpret brand information. And as these tools become more widely used, AI mentions are becoming part of the brand perception puzzle.
You don’t need a new tool just yet. But it’s worth asking: What does AI say about us? That answer might be more influential than you think.
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