Research: How AI Is Changing Brand Discovery in 2025

Nobody searches for “Nike running shoes” anymore.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. But our analysis of over 1,000 domains across four years reveals a big shift in search patterns and how AI is changing brand discovery: the way people discover products and services is becoming less brand-dependent.

The data tells a fascinating story. Two years ago, 74.7% of organic traffic came from branded queries. As LLMs like ChatGPT have grown in popularity and conversational search patterns emerged, we saw a 6.7 point drop in brand dependency, a notable shift in just two years.

A few percentage points swing doesn’t mean branded search is dead, but it’s enough of a trend to signal a massive opportunity for challengers.

Consider how search behavior has evolved. A few years ago, someone shopping for running shoes might search for “best Nike running shoes for flat feet.” Today? They’re asking ChatGPT or even Google, “I’m a new runner training for my first 10K, running 30 miles a week with really wide feet and need to run in bad weather. What are some good options?”

It’s a much longer query and, frankly, a fundamentally different discovery mechanism that didn’t exist prior to 2022.

But here’s where it gets interesting: not every industry is experiencing this disruption equally.

The impact of industry on branded search dependency

While branded search volume has decreased overall, the patterns vary when you drill down into specific industries. Think about how you go through product or service discovery now. There are some topics that you may be more brand-dependent with naturally, despite AI’s advances.

Changes in brand dependency hit different industries in surprisingly different ways.

The hardest hit:

• Media and entertainment: -5.0 points
• Fintech: -4.9 points
• EdTech: -4.7 points
• Real estate: -4.5 points

The resilient:

• Health and wellness: +3.6 points
• Travel and hospitality: +4.3 points
• MarTech: +1.4 points

The pattern reveals something crucial: AI didn’t equally disrupt all branded discovery. It specifically ate into industries where “good enough” answers suffice.

Need a quick explanation of mortgage rates? AI can handle that. Looking for study materials? AI’s got you covered. Want movie recommendations? AI aggregates reviews instantly.

But need cancer treatment options? Planning your honeymoon? Choosing enterprise software that could make or break your career? Suddenly, brand trust matters more than ever. Let’s dive into a few specific examples.

If you’re looking for, say, a book recommendation, providing a long conversational query is most likely going to net you a better result. So you’d search something like, “Give me a good book recommendation for my dad. He really enjoys the history of how things are built and engineered and also enjoys reading long biographies with multiple volumes. This is a gift for Christmas.”

Traditionally, somebody may have searched for “NY Times bestsellers in history” or “Barnes & Noble book recommendations.”

On the other hand, if you are searching for something that is more sensitive, like a health query, searchers are more likely to include a brand name, even in the age of AI-powered answers. So you might have a preference for a particular source in your conversational query by asking something like, “What does the Mayo Clinic say are common symptoms and cures for a tension headache?”

The new brand discovery landscape

With AI usage and conversational search on the rise, there are more opportunities than ever for non-market-leading brands to thrive. While two channels (search and social) dominated brand discovery for the last decade-plus, consumers are increasingly diversifying how they discover brands, both in terms of the channels they use and in the way they engage in those existing powerhouse channels.

Where brand discovery actually happens now:

1. Direct LLM queries: ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity are becoming primary research tools.
2. Social search: TikTok and Instagram search are replacing Google for product discovery.
3. Reddit threads: Unfiltered user opinions increasingly shape brand perceptions.
4. AI-powered features: Google’s AI Overviews, Bing Chat, and SGE are eating traditional SERP real estate.
5. Community platforms: Discord, Slack communities, and niche forums are driving recommendations.

Take the running shoe example. When someone searches “Nike running shoes,” Nike wins by default. They’ve spent decades and millions ensuring that outcome. But when that same person searches: “I’m a new runner training for my first 10K, running 30 miles a week with really wide feet and need to run in bad weather” — suddenly, the playing field levels.

AI cares about answering the specific question. And if you’re a smaller brand like Topo Athletic or Altra that specializes in wide-fit, weather-resistant running shoes? You just got invited to a conversation Nike used to own. This dynamic is playing out across every industry where ‘good enough’ used to mean the market leader.

Instead of fighting for branded search dominance, smart brands are building what I call “Discovery Networks” that have multiple touchpoints across channels that guide users from problem recognition to solution selection, regardless of where that journey starts.

The winners won’t be those with the most branded searches. They’ll be those who show up with the right answer, in the right channel, at the right moment.

Key strategies to maximize your brand’s visibility in the AI era

These changes are something every marketer should be putting a gameplan together for. Start by auditing where your audience actually discovers solutions. If you’re in one of the harder-hit industries like EdTech or real estate, your prospects are likely asking conversational questions across multiple platforms before they ever type your brand name. Map those discovery paths and ensure you have presence at each touchpoint.

Focus on answering specific, long-tail questions with genuinely useful content. AI systems prioritize content that directly addresses user intent, which means the hyper-specific page about “running shoes for wide feet in wet conditions” outperforms the generic “best running shoes” roundup. This is where challenger brands gain ground…you don’t need Nike’s budget to be the definitive answer to a niche query.

Build your discovery visibility by treating each channel as a piece of a larger ecosystem rather than isolated tactics. Your Reddit presence should reinforce what prospects find in AI Overviews, which should align with what appears when they search TikTok. Consistency across these touchpoints builds the kind of brand recognition that survives the fragmentation of discovery. And for industries where trust remains paramount – healthcare, enterprise software, travel – double down on authoritative content and credentialed expertise that AI systems recognize as reliable sources.

The bottom line on modern brand discovery

Our analysis of 1,061 domains confirms what many marketers suspect but few want to admit: the age of branded search dominance is ending. But rather than spelling doom for brands, it’s redistributing opportunity in ways that favor expertise over budget, specificity over generalization, and authentic utility over SEO manipulation.

For established brands, this means defending trust while expanding discovery mechanisms. For challengers, it means the gates that once protected market leaders are finally opening.