How Leading Brands Are Winning AI Visibility Battles (and What You Can Learn)

It’s not a secret to anyone that the AI disruption in the market is shaking up things and changing many established rules. Although according to some reports, AI accounts for just 0.15% internet of internet traffic compared to 48.5% from organic search in 2025, the fact that it grew sevenfold in just one year clearly shows that any company will benefit from being at the forefront of this field. 

To add complexity to this developing landscape, even between LLMs, disagree on brand recommendations nearly two-thirds of the time, according to data from BrightEdge when comparing ChatGPT and Google’s AI systems. This fragmentation causes both massive confusion and unprecedented opportunities. 

Everything we mentioned so far begs the question: Who’s winning and what are they doing? 

The New Battleground: Mentions vs. Citations 

Before we start naming brands or companies, let’s define what “winning” actually is in AI visibility. There are two dimensions. 

Getting Mentioned: This means that your brand or company appears in the AI-generated answer itself. Whenever someone asks their favorite LLM, “What are the best tools for X?” and your name shows up, that’s a mention. No click involved, just pure visibility and brand awareness. 

Getting Cited: This is when AI uses your content as a source with a link in the reference list. It shows authority, it’s validation more so than just visibility. 

According to Semrush's AI Visibility Index, very few brands achieve both consistently. Most are mentioned but not cited, or vice versa. The brands that master both are building an insurmountable advantage. 

Let's look at some examples. 

Patagonia: The Evangelist Strategy 

If you ask ChatGPT about sustainable fashion brands, Patagonia dominates the answers. In fact, it holds the highest share of voice for the fashion and apparel vertical. This is not due to ads or aggressive AI optimization but because of customer evangelism. 

Patagonia’s strategy is simply to create products and experiences that are so remarkable, customers can’t help but to share and talk about them with others. And they do it really well. On Instagram, LinkedIn, or Reddit, you’ll see Patagonia’s customers sharing photos and recommendations organically. 

The Lesson: Don’t ask for testimonials. Sell products or bring services worth talking about and make them easy to share, where AI can find them (Reddit, reviews, social posts). Authentic engagement and advocacy are better than any marketing copy you can write.
 

Garmin: Pure Consistency 

Garmin is there in virtually every single “best GPS watch” article across multiple running or cycling forums and publications. And the key it’s not even the size of the coverage, but the consistency. 

Whenever you read reviews for their products anywhere, the same features get emphasized: Battery, accuracy, water resistance, etc. This repetition and alignment through thousands of posts and reviews is strategic in itself. 

AI builds trust through pattern recognition. If they see the same details across hundreds of independent sources, it takes that trend as a “fact” it trusts enough to cite. Garmin’s press itself makes this even easier with high-resolution images, ready-to-use descriptions and clear specs. All that creates a consistent and verifiable information source. 

The Lesson: Build a better press kit. Make your product easier to cover accurately. Then pitch aggressively to "best of" lists in your category. The more independent sources confirm your key details, the more AI will trust and cite you.
 

SentinelOne: The Citation Engine 

SentinelOne, a top cybersecurity company, is our first example of the rare case in which they are highly mentioned AND cited by LLMs. According to Semrush AI Visibility Index, they are the 15th in citations and 19th brand in mentions in the digital technology vertical. 

SentinelOne regularly publishes threat intelligence reports, security benchmarks, and data-driven insights that don't exist anywhere else. When sites like TechCrunch cover their findings, those articles become source material for hundreds of AI responses. The compound effect is more than meaningful as their research gets cited by news outlets, which get cited by AI, which drives more coverage, which builds more authority. 

The Lesson: Publish original research that answers questions only you can answer. Use proprietary data and partner with research firms if needed. Include methodology for credibility, and promote through industry publications. When your data becomes the source, AI has no choice but to cite you. 

Tally: The Community Champion 

Tally is a form-building tool that doesn't have the budget or brand recognition of Typeform or Google Forms. But when you ask ChatGPT for the best free form builder, Tally shows up consistently. 

They don't run ads or buy backlinks. She shows up on Reddit. She answers questions honestly. She participates in discussions even when Tally isn't the best solution. She shares what they're building, what they won't build, and addresses complaints directly. 

This authentic engagement creates the context needed by AI to recommend Tally favorably. Meanwhile, larger competitors with minimal community presence get characterized as "expensive but powerful" or "limited but easy." The sentiment battle matters, and Tally is winning it by being genuinely helpful. 

The Lesson: Treat forums like customer support, not marketing channels. Address misconceptions. Share roadmaps. Be more human. AI systems can detect promotional language, and they prioritize helpful, authentic responses. Your community and customer success teams should be active on Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn, building the conversations AI will cite. 

Shared Strategies 

Despite their different industries and tactics, winning brands follow a pattern: 

• They don’t hide information: Transparent pricing, clear specs, accessible documentation. 

• They optimize for humans rather than algorithms: Don’t obsess with schema markup or keyword density. Create remarkable products and helpful content. 

• They think beyond their domain: Your website is just one point. Build presence across Reddit, Wikipedia, review sites, news outlets, and "best of" lists. 

• They move fast: The sites AI trust by default like Wikipedia, Reddit or Forbes are already established. But within industries, positioning is still up for grabs. Brands acting now can secure mentions and citations before competitors catch on. 

The Window Is Wide Open 

Right now, AI visibility is fragmented. Platforms disagree, and patterns are still forming. The brands moving fastest are securing positions that will compound as AI traffic scales. 

A year from now, the winners will be entrenched. Their consistent mentions, growing citations, and positive sentiment will be nearly impossible to overcome. 

The question isn't whether AI visibility matters. It's whether you'll move before your competitors do. 

Want to know where your brand ranks in AI-generated answers and how to improve? Don't wait until you're invisible. Contact HatchEcom to explore how AI visibility strategies can transform your brand's discoverability.