Higglo Digital Research
State of AI Search 2025
A deep dive into how generative AI is reshaping search, traffic, and digital visibility across industries.
Expanded with detailed benchmarks and market verticals.
What’s inside
Executive Summary
- Key learnings & macro trends
- Performance benchmarks across AI models
- Strategic recommendations for GEO
AI Search Landscape
- The end of the "10 blue links" era
- The paradigm shift to answer engines
- Why this matters now for every brand
Higglo Digital Playbook
- Why traditional SEO alone isn't enough
- New KPIs for generative engines
- 4-step GEO operating model
Vertical Benchmarks
- Technology & Software
- Financial Services & Fintech
- Media, Retail, Government & more
Foreword from the CEO
After years working on Google Search, Higglo Digital's CEO watched classic "10 blue links" give way to AI systems that answer questions directly. Users no longer want long lists of results—they expect contextual, synthesized guidance tailored to their situation.
Generative engines mark the end of the old search era. Instead of fighting for clicks, brands now need to become part of the answers that AI systems deliver. Higglo Digital calls this new discipline Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
The report is based on millions of AI responses and live work with hundreds of customers. It shows how companies are already capturing double-digit share of voice in AI answers—and how others can do the same.
Andrew Yan · Co-Founder & CEO, Higglo Digital
We Are Higglo Digital
Higglo Digital is a GEO platform that helps brands earn visibility in AI answers, build authority with generative engines, and understand how LLMs talk about their market.
- Built by alumni of Google, ServiceNow, DeepMind, and more.
- Trusted by 200+ leading companies.
- Backed by insights from millions of AI responses.
What Higglo Digital Delivers
- Monitoring of AI answers across major LLMs and AI search.
- Measurement of brand share of voice and citations.
- Playbooks to improve visibility and conversion from AI.
Report Overview
Full outlineExecutive Summary
- Key learnings & macro trends
- Performance benchmarks across AI models
- Strategic recommendations for GEO
AI Search Landscape
- The end of the "10 blue links" era
- The paradigm shift to answer engines
- Why this matters now for every brand
Higglo Digital Playbook
- Why traditional SEO alone isn't enough
- New KPIs for generative engines
- 4-step GEO operating model
Vertical Benchmarks
- Technology & Software
- Financial Services & Fintech
- Media, Retail, Government & more
Executive Summary
Generative AI has turned search into an answer surface. AI Overviews and AI modes respond directly on the results page, cutting clicks to publisher sites—some brands have seen organic traffic fall by more than half. The upside: the smaller number of visitors that do click through are far more educated and ready to buy.
Traditional Search (SEO)
- Users scan link lists and navigate to publisher sites.
- Stable organic traffic but many low-intent visitors.
- Success measured with rankings, clicks, and CTR.
AI Search (GEO)
- Answers rendered directly in the SERP or chat window.
- Lower volume, but visitors arrive highly informed.
- Success measured with share of voice, citations, and AI-sourced leads.
Key Learnings & Trends
From 6M AI responses- 1Search is now about answers, not clicks. AI summarizes information in-line, eroding impressions and click-through to external sites.
- 2GEO is the new playbook. Brands need strategies, metrics, and content specifically designed for generative engines.
- 3Customers ask richer questions. People move from basic definitions to nuanced comparisons and "what should I do?" style prompts.
- 4Content must compare options. It's no longer enough to say you are a solution—you have to explain why you are better than alternatives.
- 5Writing for LLMs is different. Clear structure, explicit comparisons, and explicit claims backed by sources make it easier for models to cite you.
- 6Traffic decline is real. Marketers must plan for a world with fewer organic visits from classic search.
- 7SEO → GEO. The goal shifts from ranking URLs to being quoted, cited, and recommended directly by AI.
- 8New visibility metrics matter. Share of voice, mentions per prompt, and daily citations reveal who truly owns the conversation.
General AI Search Benchmarks
Across all segments, brands are mentioned in about 17% of AI responses on average, while category leaders reach nearly 60%. Average domain citation rates hover around 9%.
Brand Mentions
Market average: ~17% of responses mention a given brand when at least one competitor is present.
Top Share of Voice
#1 brands often own ~36% of mentions, #2 around 20%, #3 ~13%—a steep drop-off.
Domain Citations
On average, only ~9% of AI answers cite a brand's website explicitly, underscoring the need for stronger authority.
Where AI Models Look First
AI engines repeatedly return to a small set of trusted domains. Reddit, Wikipedia, YouTube, Forbes, LinkedIn, Gartner, and G2 are all disproportionately referenced, while AI often lands on /blog and /home as entry points for brand sites.
Strategic Recommendations for GEO
- 1Publish open, structured, trustworthy content. Concentrate knowledge in crawlable hubs like /blog and /docs, avoid hiding key material behind forms or heavy JS, and give clear context so models can trust what they read.
- 2Design a prompt-aligned content strategy. Discover the real questions people ask LLMs in your category, then create pages that answer those prompts directly and in depth.
- 3Monitor and optimize continuously. Track share of voice, brand mentions, and citations over time to see where you appear, where you are absent, and where competitors are gaining.
- 4Strengthen authority signals. Use up-to-date data, cite respected third-party sources, and secure coverage on high-trust sites like major media, analyst firms, and review platforms.
- 5Go deep on critical topics. For your highest-value prompts, invest in rich content and multiple third-party validations that reinforce the same differentiated story.
Metrics that matter
From SEO Metrics to GEO Metrics
Traditional SEO looks at rankings, impressions, clicks, and CTR. GEO introduces new, AI-native metrics that better reflect influence in AI answers.
Share of Voice
Your percentage of brand mentions in AI answers compared to all competitors for a given prompt set.
Mentions per Prompt
How consistently your brand appears across different phrasings of the same user intent.
Daily Citations
How often AI engines explicitly cite your domain when generating answers.
AI-Sourced Leads
Leads and conversions that originate from discovery in AI answers—not classic search results.
ROI per Prompt
Business outcomes tied to performance on specific, high-value AI prompts.
Average Brand Mentions
How often you are included whenever any competitor is mentioned in an answer.
How the Data Was Collected
The report analyzes roughly 6 million AI responses from six major models over six months. Response samples were capped per model to avoid skew from power-law distributions, and results were tracked over time to see how sources and citations evolve.
Benchmarks provide a reference for "normal" behavior, while action-oriented insights show where brands can move the needle with GEO.
Monitoring AI Sources
Source rankings are volatile. For example, Reddit's share of citations in some models has swung from around 10% to over 70% at different points in time. Because of this, it's important to monitor AI answers continuously rather than over-reacting to short-term spikes.
The long-term strategy is to build stable, high-quality content and a flexible team that can adapt as algorithms and favored sources change.
Vertical Benchmarks
High-level overviewHigglo Digital breaks out performance by sector to show how AI search behaves differently in each market. Below is a high-level overview of the main verticals.
Technology & Software
Tech brands see average mention rates similar to the market (~17%), while leaders exceed 59%. AI often leans on Reddit, Wikipedia, YouTube, Gartner, Medium, IBM, AWS, and Microsoft Learn.
Common entry paths: /blog, /home, /learn, and /docs. Thought leadership and product documentation both matter.
Financial Services & Fintech
Finance brands slightly outperform the average on mentions and have higher citation rates (~10%). AI relies heavily on specialist hubs like NerdWallet, Investopedia, and Bankrate, plus outlets like Forbes, CNBC, and Business Insider.
Key entry paths include /blog, /compliance-hub, /life, and /learn, reflecting the importance of regulatory and educational content.
Media, Entertainment & Education
Leaders in this space command very high share of voice (~43% for #1 brands). AI often cites Wikipedia, YouTube, Reddit, social and marketing tooling sites, and learning platforms.
AI frequently lands on /blog, /home, /stories, and other narrative or learning sections. Educational and story-driven content performs best.
Retail, E-commerce & Consumer Goods
Retail brands sit near the global average for mentions, with top players around 57% share. AI references a mix of Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, Amazon, Walmart, lifestyle media, and product review sites.
AI uses /home, /blog, /collections, /products, and tips or ideas sections as entry points—brand storytelling and product architecture both matter.
Government, Nonprofit & Public Sector
Visibility is more concentrated: average mentions are slightly lower than market, but top organizations still hold strong dominance. AI leans on specialized nonprofit and HR hubs like People Managing People, Instrumentl, NeonOne, and WildApricot, plus generalist sources.
Here, /blog dominates as the main entry path (well over half of AI landings), alongside grant and resource sections such as /browse-grants and /copilot.
Real Estate & Hospitality
This sector sees higher-than-average brand mentions (~19%) and strong citation rates (~15%). AI frequently cites Tripadvisor, HotelTechReport, SiteMinder, Mews, Lighthouse, and Reddit.
Typical entry paths: /stories, /things-to-do, /blog, and /plan. Experience-driven and destination content is critical.
Industry, Energy & Infrastructure
Average brand mentions are lower (~14%), but top brands reach over 60% share of voice. AI cites a mix of retail/DIY platforms (HomeDepot, Lowe's), official energy and government sites, and community sources.
Common entry paths include /blog, /collections, /home, restaurant or brand directories, emphasizing both technical content and practical catalogs.
Putting GEO Into Practice
Get the PDFThe takeaway is simple: AI doesn't crawl the whole web evenly. It keeps returning to the same trusted sources and structured content hubs. To win, brands must intentionally publish and promote material that generative engines can understand, trust, and reuse in their answers.
GEO is how you move from being one more result to being part of the answer.