Which are the 36 brands that appear most frequently in artificial intelligence responses, according to Semrush?
07:25
YouTube, Google, Reddit, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple have something in common beyond their global popularity: they are among the brands that consistently appear in responses generated by the leading artificial intelligence systems. This is revealed by the AI Visibility Index 2026, a study conducted by Semrush in collaboration with Adobe, which identified the 36 brands with the greatest presence across ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Google AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews. The analysis is based on 126 million real-world queries conducted between January and April 2026 and provides a snapshot of which companies dominate the new generation of AI-powered search.
What are the “Universal 36”?
Semrush coined the term “Universal 36” to describe the group of brands that managed to rank among the 100 most mentioned across all four artificial intelligence platforms analyzed during every month of the study.
According to the researchers, achieving this classification represents the highest possible level of visibility within AI systems, as it demonstrates that a brand is consistently recognized regardless of the model used by the user.
The report notes that more than 1,200 brands appeared at some point in AI-generated responses, but only 36 managed to maintain a presence across all platforms throughout the entire period analyzed.
The 10 brands dominating artificial intelligence
According to Semrush, this is the ranking of the brands with the greatest presence in artificial intelligence-generated responses:
- YouTube
- Amazon
- Apple
- eBay
- Walmart
- Etsy
These companies account for millions of mentions across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s artificial intelligence tools, becoming go-to references for answering questions related to shopping, technology, entertainment, education, and consumer needs.
The other 26 brands that complete the list
The Universal 36 group also includes companies from e-commerce, entertainment, automotive, technology, public agencies, and digital platforms. The list is completed by:
- Yelp
- TikTok
- Microsoft
- Netflix
- Disney
- Home Depot
- IMDb
- Ford
- Spotify
- Indeed
- Adobe
- FDA.gov
- Samsung
- Toyota
- NFL
- MLB
- Chevrolet
- Marvel
- Honda
- Prime Video
- NBA
- Best Buy
- USDA.gov
- Nintendo
Semrush highlights that these brands managed to remain visible across all the models analyzed, even though each platform uses different criteria to generate its responses.
What do these brands have in common?
The study identifies three characteristics shared by virtually all the companies included in the Universal 36.
The first is that they hold a dominant position within their respective categories or operate as platforms used daily by millions of people, such as YouTube, Google, Facebook, and Reddit.
The second is that they have decades of brand recognition, which strengthens the level of trust artificial intelligence models place in them when generating responses.
Finally, they all enable users to take a specific action: purchase products, consume content, search for jobs, book services, access official information, or interact with other people. In other words, AI favors brands that address specific needs rather than those that simply publish information.
The absence of traditional media
One of the report’s most striking findings is that no traditional media outlet appears among the Universal 36.
Instead, the list is dominated by technology platforms, social networks, e-commerce websites, and brands that are widely recognized by consumers.
According to Semrush, this reflects how artificial intelligence prioritizes organizations that offer services, products, or experiences with which users interact directly, rather than companies dedicated solely to producing informational content.
Brand authority outperforms traditional SEO
The report also concludes that belonging to this group does not depend exclusively on search engine rankings.
The brands dominating artificial intelligence have spent years building a combination of recognition, authority, a presence on specialized platforms, and a consistent narrative across both their own channels and third-party websites.
As a result, traditional strategies focused solely on keywords are no longer enough to gain visibility within ChatGPT or Google AI.
The new competition to appear in AI-generated answers
Semrush warns that the growth of artificial intelligence assistants is changing the way people discover brands and make purchasing decisions.
As tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews increasingly answer users’ questions directly, companies will compete more intensely to become part of the responses generated by these systems.
The study concludes that the future of digital visibility will depend not only on SEO, but also on brand authority, digital reputation, community presence, authoritative platforms, and the ability to maintain a consistent message across the entire digital ecosystem—factors that currently distinguish the 36 brands with the greatest visibility in artificial intelligence.
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