In recent months, we have all been talking a lot about the change that SEO is undergoing with the arrival of artificial intelligence. AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini... are now part of every digital marketer's day-to-day life.
But there is one point about which little is yet known, and which makes all the difference: how to really measure the impact of AI on your website.
Because yes, traffic can go down, impressions can go up and clicks don't mean as much as they used to. But if we don't measure where our brand appears within the AI responses, what it says about us and our competitors are gaining space, we will be completely blind.
The new visibility no longer depends only on the Traditional SERPsbut of our presence in the responses generated by AI models.
And to understand it, and to improve it, we need new metrics and tools that allow us to see clearly where we are and where we should be going.
How the new AI landscape requires us to measure and adapt now
We already know that the advent of ChatGPT, conversational search modes and AI-generated summaries are not "a future novelty": they are here. But what many forget is that with this change we must measure what we do more and better.. If we don't, we risk falling behind.
For example, a recent Ahrefs study analysed 300,000 informational keywords and found that the presence of Google AI Overviews is associated with a drop of approximately 34,5 % of the CTR for position 1 compared to similar queries without such summaries.
In parallel, AI abstracts are increasingly "appearing": in the US, they account for close to 16 % of all desktop searches. And according to OpenAIChatGPT already has global figures that we cannot ignore: more than 400 million active users per month in 2025.
So what does all this mean for you and your website?
- The traffic you previously measured (organic clicks, rankings) is now is not enough to understand your visibility.
- When a user gets their direct response in the AI summary, may not click on your sitebut your brand can appear there. That needs to be measured.
- It's not just about not losing too many clicks, it's also about take advantage of the new visibility offered by AI formats: to appear in the summary, to be cited as a source, to be mentioned as a brand name.
And what's more: Google's new conversational mode, AI ModeAlthough it is still at a very early stage, its deployment has already begun. As of today, only accounts for about 3 % of searches in the United States.This may not seem like much, but you have to read between the lines.
Google is clearly opting to make AI Mode the default search modeThe search engine will gradually replace the classic search results experience with an AI-assisted conversation. If this happens, and all indications are that it will, we would not be looking at a simple search engine update, but at the biggest change in Google's historyAn environment where the AI filters, summarises and selects for us what content to show.
That is why it is more important than ever measuring our presence within these new formats. It's not enough to know where you rank in the SERPs: now you need to know if your brand is appearing in an AI response, if it is being cited as a source or if it is being left out of the conversation.
And now... How to measure your visibility in the age of AI?
If this new era of SEO is teaching us anything, it is that we cannot improve what we do not measure. It is no longer enough to review organic traffic or Google rankingsvisibility now extends to AI environments, and we must learn to measure how and where we appear within those responses generated by language models.
Until recently, our success was measured in clicks. But today, a brand can be gaining notoriety without receiving direct visitorssimply because it is mentioned in an AI response.
It is the modern equivalent of having a good "digital shop window": the user may not yet enter your website, but your brand is there, visible, when decisions are made.
Key metrics
At this point we will focus on SEMrushIt is a tool that we use on a daily basis in the agency and it offers a very comprehensive view of the new landscape.
That said, it is not the only one: Ahrefs, Otterly.AI o Authoritas are also launching AI visibility reports with similar data. The important thing is to have a tool that helps you to understand if your brand is part of the responses generated by AI models and how it compares to your competitors.
SEMrush proposes a new approach to measuring your search presence powered by artificial intelligence. Here are the most relevant metrics and what they bring to you:
AI Visibility Score
A score from 0 to 100 reflecting how many times your brand appears in AI responses compared to the industry average. The higher the value, the greater your presence in the responses generated by LLMs. It is an ideal metric to track the overall evolution of your visibility.
Mentions
Indicates the total number of times your brand is mentioned in AI responses. The more mentions, the greater the recognition and perceived authority of the models. This is the equivalent of your "number of appearances" in this new digital showcase.
Platform Coverage
It shows which AI platforms you appear on (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, etc.) and how many times you are mentioned. Key to understanding where you are gaining visibility and where you are not yet present.
Sources
Identifies the specific sources and URLs from which AI models extract information when you are mentioned. Knowing which pages are being referenced allows you to reinforce them with more content or links.
Competitor Visibility Comparison
A direct comparison between your brand and your main competitors in terms of visibility, mentions and estimated reach. Helps you see at a glance who is winning the battle in AI results.
Prompts and Volume
Reveals the user prompts that make the AI mention your brand, along with the monthly search volume associated with those queries. This is very useful for detecting the topics that really drive your presence.
Opportunities
Sample high volume consultations where your competitors appear, but you do not. In other words: it points you to visibility gaps where you could be but aren't yet. Perfect for planning new pieces of content or specific SEO campaigns.
These metrics allow you to go beyond the classical "how much traffic I have" and start analysing "how much AI algorithms recommend to me".. And, in a scenario where there are fewer and fewer clicks and more and more direct responses, that's the visibility that really counts.
How to interpret the results
If you AI visibility score is highmeans that your brand is already in the conversation: it appears in the answers when users search for information related to your sector. In this case, the challenge is to maintain and strengthen that position:
- Reinforce the sources you are already quoted from.
- Create new content on the topics where you are already relevant.
- Ensure that mentions are positive and up to date.
Conversely, if your score is lowDon't be alarmed: it's a sign of opportunity. Start by analysing which prompts or questions mention your competitors, but not you, and optimise your content to respond directly to these queries. In many cases, it will be enough to improve the structure of your answers, add comparative links or reinforce the authority of your domain through quality links.
At DDigitals we believe that this new scenario should not be viewed with fear, but rather as a real opportunity to anticipate and evolve. Artificial intelligence is transforming the way brands are visible, and measuring that presence is key to not being left behind.
Tools like SEMrush allow us to understand where we appear, how we are mentioned by AI models and what our competitors are doing. But beyond the tool, what is important is to maintaining a proactive, inquisitive and analytical attitude.
Being aware of these changes, adapting quickly and making data-driven decisions will make the difference between losing relevance or continuing to lead the digital conversation. In short, AI has not come to replace us: it has come to challenge us to be better strategists.
