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Glossary·AI search visibility

What is branded search

Definition

Branded search is any search query that contains a company's name or one of its product names, such as "Slack login" or "Nike running shoes." A query is branded if it stops making sense once you remove the brand.

The people who type these queries already know the company and want to reach it.

TermBranded search3 min read · reviewed by the Snoika team

Branded search defined simply

Branded search includes every query in which someone types a brand name on purpose. Misspellings count, so "shopfy themes" is still a branded search for Shopify. Queries that add a task to the name also count, such as "Notion pricing" or "Canva sign in." In each case, the searcher has already picked a company and wants the page that belongs to it.

Branded search signals brand health

When branded search volume rises, more people remember your name and go looking for it. A brand gets searched after someone hears it on a podcast or a friend recommends it. Because of that, branded demand shows the effect of offline work as well as online work. Look at the trend over months instead of weeks, because one launch or news story can push volume up for a few days and then fade.

Branded versus generic queries

A branded query names a company. A generic query describes a need without naming anyone. "Mailchimp templates" is branded. "Email newsletter templates" is generic, and that searcher could end up with any of a dozen providers. Generic queries bring in people who haven't heard of you yet, and every competitor in your category is trying to win them too.

Branded vs non-branded keywords

Branded keywords are the brand terms you track, and non-branded keywords are the category terms you want to rank for without your name attached. SEO teams report on them separately because they behave differently. You rank first for your own name already, and those clicks convert well. Non-branded rankings tell you whether your content reaches new audiences. If you put both in one report, strong brand traffic can hide weak organic growth.

Branded queries in AI search

In AI search, a branded query is someone asking an assistant such as ChatGPT about your company by name. The assistant builds its answer from your site and from third-party pages that mention you. If those sources are thin or out of date, the answer about your brand will be too. Once a month, ask the main assistants about your brand and write down what they get wrong.

Grow branded search volume

To grow branded search volume, give more people a reason to remember your name and look it up later. These methods work over time:

Publish useful articles on non-branded topics so first-time readers come across your name.
Get mentioned in industry press and in comparison articles.
Run campaigns built around a name or phrase people can search for afterward.
Give products names that are distinct and easy to spell.

Expect a delay. Branded volume follows awareness by weeks or months, so judge a campaign by the trend after it ends.

Measuring branded search performance

To measure branded search performance, track how often people search your name and what happens after they click. Two kinds of data cover most of the work.

Search volume and impressions

Google Search Console shows impressions and clicks for each query your site appeared for. Filter the report by your brand name and its common misspellings. Google Trends shows relative interest over time and lets you compare your name with a competitor's. The monthly trend tells you more than any single figure.

Click-through rate and position

Your branded click-through rate is high because the searcher is looking for you. If it drops, a competitor may be bidding on your name in ads, or a review site may have pushed past your own pages. Check your average position for brand terms as well. If you're anywhere below first place for your own name, look at that results page closely.

Related terms to know

The terms below sit close to branded search, and each one measures something different:

Non-branded searchqueries about a category or problem that don't name a company.
Navigational querya search made to reach a specific site. Most branded searches are navigational, but "Nike vs Adidas" is branded and comparative.
Share of searchyour brand's portion of all branded searches in your category, used as an early stand-in for market share.
Direct trafficvisits from people who type your web address and skip search altogether.

The next time someone on your team asks what is branded search, open Search Console and show them the last 12 months of your own data filtered for your brand terms. You'll see what your branded demand looks like right now.

Branded search is one of the signals in our AI visibility guide, and a brand audit shows where those searches start. Our AI search visibility tool tracks the brand mentions in AI answers that feed them.

Related terms

All terms
AI citationAn AI citation is a link or named reference to a source that an AI assistant attaches to the answer it generates. For a brand, an AI citation is proof that a model read your page and trusted it enough to point users to it.AI visibilityAI visibility is how often and how favorably AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews mention or cite your brand when buyers ask questions in your category. We measure it as a share of tracked buyer prompts.LLM visibilityLLM visibility is how often, and how favorably, large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT name a brand when people ask questions in its category. It shows whether the AI answer a buyer reads includes the brand and links to the brand's own pages.Prompt trackingPrompt tracking is the practice of running the same buyer questions through AI assistants on a fixed schedule and recording whether each answer names or cites your brand. It shows what ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews tell your buyers, which a rankings report can't.Share of voiceShare of voice (SOV) is the percentage of all visibility in a market that one brand holds compared with its competitors. In practice, it is your brand's mentions, ad impressions or ranking-weighted clicks divided by the total for your category. Marketers use it to see whether a brand is gaining grouSentiment analysisSentiment analysis is the automated process of reading text and judging where an opinion falls on a scale between positive and negative. Neutral opinions fall in between. Software runs it on reviews and social posts. It also analyzes support tickets and survey answers. If you're asking what is senti

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