Indexing - Establish Your Brand Identity in AI Search

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Problem

In AI, search results come from many different sources. You need to make sure that your company or brand is seen as a distinct concept or entity within the AI search services.

People unfamiliar with AI search services will often say that they “just return nonsense” and that “they can’t be trusted,”…which makes them pretty much the same as anything else on the Internet.

Let’s use an example because it’ll be easier to understand than something abstract.

Consider Taylor Swift (because how can we not).

Asking any of the services "Who is Taylor Swift?" gets an answer that says she’s a singer.

Despite all the talk of hallucinations and weirdness of AI search (aka “pizza glue”), an alien who had never heard of TravisAndTaylor ™ would get a reasonable answer out of any of the AI services.

Right now, your brand index is likely all over the place. Some services have a clear idea of who you are, and some have no knowledge. The good news is that you can change this.

Action

1. Check manually

Check each AI service manually, asking questions like "what does <company-name> do?", "who is <company-name>?", and "what is <company-name> best known for?"

Here are some examples for us:

2. Brand Statements

Start developing “brand statement” type content that clearly answers:

• What it is that your brand does (solves problems, entertains people, connects buyers and sellers)
• Who the brand serves (Consumers? Businesses? Small breed dog owners concerned about the dental hygiene of their pups?)
• What uniquely sets the brand apart
• How does the brand deliver on its promise?

This type of content is often not part of established search content strategy either because it’s considered “too on the nose” or difficult to agree on - but failing to publish at least some aspirational brand statements leaves too much opportunity for a stray Reddit comment or review to color your brand perception in AI search services.

Key Takeaways

• AI search services build brand understanding from multiple sources
• Test how each AI service describes your brand with direct questions
• Create clear brand statements that define your purpose, audience, differentiation, and delivery
• Publishing brand statements prevents third-party content from defining your narrative

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Next Step: Learn how to understand and manage your brand’s sentiment in AI search → Continue to Sentiment

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