AI has become a routine part of how buyers research companies. They ask it questions, read its summaries, and lean on its comparisons when deciding who to buy from.
For marketers, the natural question has been whether their brand shows up in those answers. Our latest research points to the real problem. When AI compares companies, many start to sound alike, and what buyers take away often isn’t the brand at all.
AI-assisted research is now a routine step in the buying process, and it’s shaping choices between companies, not just first impressions.
AI-generated comparisons tend to flatten differences. Consumers notice. The sameness problem didn’t start with AI. AI is making it easier to see. Distinctiveness matters in every channel, not only in search.
When asked what they remember most from their AI comparison searches, only 26% remember the company or product name.
The audiences most comfortable with AI are the least patient with interchangeable brands. Nearly 70% of Gen Z say AI-generated sameness has made it hard to choose between companies.
We asked what made an AI chat assistant on a company's website feel like that company rather than a generic chatbot. The insight: knowledge is more critical than design.
AI has become a routine part of how buyers research companies. They ask it questions, read its summaries and lean on its comparisons when deciding who to buy from. For marketers, the natural question has been whether their brand shows up in those answers.
Our latest research points to a harder one. When AI compares companies, many start to sound alike, and what buyers take away often isn’t the brand at all. Consumers remember the information but frequently can’t say which company it came from.
Proprietary expertise is what makes an AI experience recognizably yours.
Clear, well-structured content helps AI systems find your brand. Differentiation takes more: original research, firsthand expertise, customer evidence, and perspectives competitors can’t easily reproduce. Those signals give both AI systems and buyers something distinct to associate with you.
If you want to know what AI systems associate with your brand and how distinctly they represent it, we’d like to help. We’ll discuss how your brand shows up in AI-assisted comparisons and what a category authority strategy looks like for your organization.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY | This survey was conducted by Skyword and fielded by Dynata in August 2026 and included 1,000 online responses from U.S. adults aged 18 and older.
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