TLDR: A new study by BrightEdge indicates that ChatGPT directly references brands in 90% of its responses, significantly more than Google’s AI Overviews at 59%. While both AI platforms maintain similar sentiment, their approaches to recommending solutions differ, with ChatGPT favoring specific brands and Google AI Overviews directing users to review sites. This divergence presents distinct opportunities and challenges for marketers in optimizing AI visibility.
A recent study conducted by BrightEdge, utilizing its proprietary Generative Parser technology, has shed light on the differing approaches of leading artificial intelligence platforms, ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, in referencing brands. The findings, released on May 8, 2025, reveal a notable disparity: ChatGPT directly mentions brands in a striking 90% of its responses, whereas Google’s AI Overviews does so in only 59% of cases.
The research, which analyzed thousands of AI-generated responses, also found that in approximately 60% of instances where both AI systems mention brands, they emphasize entirely different brand attributes. Despite these distinct focuses, the sentiment distribution across both platforms remains largely consistent, with positive mentions dominating.
A key difference lies in their recommendation methodologies. ChatGPT frequently recommends specific brands as direct solutions. For example, when queried about digital banking options, ChatGPT typically suggests particular institutions like Ally Bank. In contrast, Google’s AI Overviews tends to guide users towards review websites, comparison tools, and expert evaluation resources, such as NerdWallet, rather than directly naming brands.
Jim Yu, CEO of BrightEdge, commented on this divergence, stating, “The sentiment across both platforms remains essentially the same, but the discovery pathway for consumers is dramatically different.” This fundamental difference, Yu notes, creates both challenges and opportunities for brands aiming to optimize their visibility within the evolving AI landscape.
For marketers, the study underscores the importance of developing unified content strategies that can effectively perform across all AI platforms. Furthermore, investing in robust review management programs and implementing structured data markup are crucial steps to ensure that AI engines accurately comprehend and represent brand attributes.
The study also highlighted the growing influence of ChatGPT in the e-commerce space. In the past week alone, ChatGPT processed over 1 billion web searches. Its integrated shopping feature allows the conversational interface to present users with curated lists of buying options, redirecting them to the retailer’s website to complete purchases.
Additional insights from BrightEdge AI Catalyst research indicate that 70% of all AI prompts now trigger brand mentions, with an average of 5.15 brands referenced per prompt. Product-focused categories consistently generate more brand mentions than service categories. Moreover, shopping-oriented queries, such as ‘Where can I find the best deals on laptops right now?’, typically result in five specific brand recommendations.
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Consumer behavior studies further support this trend. Tinuiti’s 2025 Prime Day Study revealed that 34% of respondents planning to shop during Prime Day intend to use ChatGPT for purchase research, slightly surpassing the 33% who expect to use Amazon’s AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus, during the sale. These findings collectively emphasize the critical need for brands to adapt their digital strategies to effectively engage with consumers through AI-powered search and recommendation systems.
