A Semrush analysis of 126 million queries shows why the same question produces different recommendations depending on the model.
The study confirms the difference
A Semrush analysis of 126 million queries found meaningful differences in the sources each platform prioritizes. ChatGPT averages 15.4 references and leans on Wikipedia, Reddit, Facebook and YouTube; Gemini is more tightly connected to Google's ecosystem and e-commerce.
Why strategy changes
For years SEO meant optimizing for Google. A brand can now have strong traditional SEO and remain invisible in ChatGPT without community presence, or appear in ChatGPT and miss Gemini without strong signals inside Google's ecosystem.
How to diagnose the situation
Ask the same question in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI summary, record which brands appear and note which sources repeat. That map reveals where the category has authority and where the brand needs to build presence.
Strategy is not copy and paste
You do not need a totally isolated strategy for every model, but you do need to understand which sources each one weights most heavily and prioritize based on audience. Wikipedia and YouTube are common ground, while Reddit and Google Shopping play very different roles.
What it means for a brand
AI visibility increasingly resembles multi-platform public relations: owned content, external sources and community signals need to tell a consistent story even when each engine interprets them differently.
Conclusion: Each system prioritizes different sources. AI visibility strategy can no longer treat every engine as if it worked the same way.
