Does Google ranking still matter in the age of AI search? We compared traditional Google rankings to AI recommendations across 500 queries in 25 product categories.
The short answer: ranking #1 on Google and being AI's top recommendation overlap only 38% of the time.
The data
We analyzed 500 "best X for Y" queries. For each, we captured Google's top 10 organic results alongside top recommendations from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude.
Google #1 does not equal AI #1
How Google rankings correlate with AI recommendations:
- Google #1: Also AI #1 in 38% of cases, in AI top 3 in 67%
- Google #2: Also AI #1 in 24%, in AI top 3 in 58%
- Google #3: Also AI #1 in 18%, in AI top 3 in 51%
- Google #4-10: Also AI #1 in 8%, in AI top 3 in 34%
Ranking well on Google helps but is far from a guarantee.
Brands that win on Google but lose on AI
Project management:
- Monday.com: Google #1 → ChatGPT #3, Perplexity #4
- ClickUp: Google #4 → ChatGPT #1, Perplexity #1
Email marketing:
- Mailchimp: Google #1 → ChatGPT #2, Perplexity #2
- ConvertKit: Google #6 → ChatGPT #1, Perplexity #1
Monday.com invests heavily in SEO. ClickUp, often lower in organic search, gets recommended first by AI. ConvertKit, with a fraction of Mailchimp's search presence, outperforms in AI - likely due to strong community advocacy and focused positioning for creators.
Brands that win on AI but lose on Google
The reverse is also true:
- Plausible Analytics: Google #8 → AI #2 (strong Reddit/community presence)
- Linear: Google #7 → AI #1 (enthusiastic user advocacy)
- Lemon Squeezy: Google #11 → AI #3 (positive developer sentiment)
These brands prioritized community building over traditional SEO, and AI is rewarding them.
AI platforms agree more with each other than with Google
AI platforms agree on their #1 recommendation roughly half the time with each other, but only about a third of the time with Google's top organic result.
This suggests AI platforms draw from similar underlying signals - brand sentiment, community advocacy, authoritative mentions - that Google's link-based authority model doesn't capture. They've developed a shared perspective that diverges from traditional search.
Content sites lose, product brands win
For "best laptop 2026":
Google results: Tom's Guide, TechRadar, CNET, PCMag, Best Buy ChatGPT results: MacBook Pro, Dell XPS, Lenovo ThinkPad, HP Spectre, ASUS ZenBook
AI skips the content middlemen and recommends actual products. This is a massive shift for categories where affiliate and review sites have dominated search.
Why the disconnect exists
Different targets. Google optimizes for keywords, backlinks, and page experience. AI optimizes for brand authority, sentiment, and direct relevance to the question.
Different intent handling. Google users want links to explore. AI users want a direct answer. AI is making a judgment call, not returning a ranked list.
Different signals. AI synthesizes brand mentions across the entire internet - reviews, forums, social media, expert content - not just the authority of individual pages.
What to do about it
Diagnose your gap. Test your top 10 queries on both Google and AI. Map where you win and lose on each channel.
If strong on Google, weak on AI: Your SEO is working but your brand signals aren't. Focus on reviews, community, and PR over more SEO work.
If strong on AI, weak on Google: You have advocacy but lack technical optimization. Use the AI advantage to buy time while building SEO fundamentals.
Track both channels separately. They respond to different signals and require different strategies. The brands that win will be the ones that master both.
AEOscope tracks your AI visibility alongside your search presence - revealing the gaps and opportunities you can't see otherwise.
