Ahrefs analyzed 75,000 brands to identify which factors correlate with brand visibility across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews. The strongest individual factor in its follow-up study was YouTube mentions at about 0.737, while branded web mentions remained strongly correlated at roughly 0.66 to 0.71.
Backlinks showed a materially weaker relationship. That is important — and easy to overstate.
What the study supports
Brands that are talked about across the web tend to be more visible in AI-generated results. Off-site brand signals were among the strongest correlations in the dataset. This supports investment in legitimate editorial coverage, expert commentary, video, communities and useful content people actually refer to.
What the study does not prove
Correlation is not causation. Established brands naturally have more mentions, more searches, more links, more customers and more content. Adding fifty artificial mentions does not mean AI visibility will rise by a predictable amount.
Why YouTube is strategically interesting
YouTube mentions had the strongest correlation in the Ahrefs analysis. For businesses, that makes video more than a social format: accurate channel identity, expert appearances, interviews and useful explanatory videos can become part of the wider corroboration layer.
Backlinks still matter
Do not interpret this as “links are dead”. Links remain important for traditional search discovery and authority. The practical conclusion is narrower: if your entire authority strategy is link acquisition and nobody independently talks about the brand, you are probably underinvesting in the signal AI systems appear to encounter most often.
Source: Ahrefs, Top Brand Visibility Factors in ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews.
For implementation, see Entity SEO for AI Search and AI Search Visibility.