Semrush Study Finds AI Mentions and Citations Diverge Across Platforms

Adobe's Semrush division released an AI Visibility Index study comparing brand mentions and citations across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google Gemini, and Google AI Mode in the UK and US, using seven monthly measurements from January to July 2026. Adobe's Andrew Warden, Global VP for Marketing, said the average consumer spends nine minutes per conversation with AI chat platforms, and argued marketers need to understand the behavioral science behind this new intimacy with search surfaces.

The study distinguishes two metrics: a mention records whether a brand appears in an answer, but does not indicate the platform recommended it or described it positively; a citation records which domains appear as sources, and is not a measure of trust or editorial approval. Across categories and platforms, fewer than half of domains in the Top 100 mention lists also appeared in the matching Top 100 source lists, on average, in every month measured. Only Apple and YouTube stayed inside the Top 100 for both mentions and citations every month in both markets.

Leigh McKenzie, Semrush's Director of online visibility, said only 24 websites or platforms appeared consistently across the UK report compared with 36 in the US, and that 15 were shared between markets. Platforms disagreed more often in the UK, which has more varied sources. The report uses UK grocery chains Tesco and ASDA as an example: Tesco ranked ninth for mentions on ChatGPT versus 24 for ASDA, and 25 versus 606 for citation rank. McKenzie said Tesco's website is cited far more often on ChatGPT and questioned how its technical SEO might explain this.

The study found Gemini mentions more distinct brands per answer than ChatGPT in every month measured in both markets, while ChatGPT includes the most source entries and Gemini the fewest. Semrush recommends marketers compare mentions and citations separately against competitors on the same platform, and start by targeting the platforms their customers use. ChatGPT's citations are led by news and information sites, which account for 26.4% to 34.3% of citation weight among its UK Top 100 source domains, compared with 15.9% to 25.0% in the US. In the UK, Gemini's leading category is news sites at 16.6% to 23.0% of citation weight; in the US, streaming leads in five months and online learning in two. The report advises: Don't assume that a US Gemini plan will work unchanged in the UK.

Warden said brand visibility in one market does not guarantee visibility in others, and that brand sentiment matters mainly because it reflects whether customers' experiences on third-party platforms echo the brand promise. He argued that sentiment is now an aggregate of third-party content as interpreted by AI, and that marketers focused on sentiment alone may be missing whether their message matches their first-party site. Eli Goodman, Semrush SVP of Product Solutions, said zero clicks do not mean zero value, since content surfaced in an LLM carries authority even when traffic falls.

Adobe's Semrush division released an AI Visibility Index study comparing brand mentions and citations across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google Gemini, and Google AI Mode in the UK and US, using seven monthly measurements from January to July 2026. Adobe's Andrew Warden, Global VP for Marketing, said the average consumer spends nine minutes per conversation with AI chat platforms, and argued marketers need to understand the behavioral science behind this new intimacy with search surfaces.

The study distinguishes two metrics: a mention records whether a brand appears in an answer, but does not indicate the platform recommended it or described it positively; a citation records which domains appear as sources, and is not a measure of trust or editorial approval. Across categories and platforms, fewer than half of domains in the Top 100 mention lists also appeared in the matching Top 100 source lists, on average, in every month measured. Only Apple and YouTube stayed inside the Top 100 for both mentions and citations every month in both markets.

Leigh McKenzie, Semrush's Director of online visibility, said only 24 websites or platforms appeared consistently across the UK report compared with 36 in the US, and that 15 were shared between markets. Platforms disagreed more often in the UK, which has more varied sources. The report uses UK grocery chains Tesco and ASDA as an example: Tesco ranked ninth for mentions on ChatGPT versus 24 for ASDA, and 25 versus 606 for citation rank. McKenzie said Tesco's website is cited far more often on ChatGPT and questioned how its technical SEO might explain this.

The study found Gemini mentions more distinct brands per answer than ChatGPT in every month measured in both markets, while ChatGPT includes the most source entries and Gemini the fewest. Semrush recommends marketers compare mentions and citations separately against competitors on the same platform, and start by targeting the platforms their customers use. ChatGPT's citations are led by news and information sites, which account for 26.4% to 34.3% of citation weight among its UK Top 100 source domains, compared with 15.9% to 25.0% in the US. In the UK, Gemini's leading category is news sites at 16.6% to 23.0% of citation weight; in the US, streaming leads in five months and online learning in two. The report advises: Don't assume that a US Gemini plan will work unchanged in the UK.

Warden said brand visibility in one market does not guarantee visibility in others, and that brand sentiment matters mainly because it reflects whether customers' experiences on third-party platforms echo the brand promise. He argued that sentiment is now an aggregate of third-party content as interpreted by AI, and that marketers focused on sentiment alone may be missing whether their message matches their first-party site. Eli Goodman, Semrush SVP of Product Solutions, said zero clicks do not mean zero value, since content surfaced in an LLM carries authority even when traffic falls.