Ranking in Google doesn’t guarantee visibility in ChatGPT: Study

Dominating Google’s first page doesn’t mean you’ll be mentioned in ChatGPT. A new study conducted by Chatoptic of 15 brands across five categories found almost no correlation between SEO strength and visibility in AI answers.

Why we care. Many SEOs have argued that SEO success will carry over to generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and that SEO tactics are enough. This study suggests that GEO requires its own playbook. SEO alone isn’t enough to secure mentions in AI answers.

By the numbers. Brands ranking on Google’s first page were mentioned in ChatGPT just 62% of the time.

• 0.034 correlation: Even when brands appeared in both, their Google rank barely predicted their ChatGPT position.
• +1% boost: Turning on browsing in ChatGPT increased alignment with Google by just 1%.
• High overlap: Coursera (86–87%) and GoDaddy (83%).
• Low overlap: Hostinger (32–34%) and edX (47–48%).
• By category: Online courses aligned the most (65%); hotel booking the least (58%).
• Intent didn’t matter: Exploratory, feature-based, and brand-seeking queries all hovered at ~61%-63% overlap.

Bottom line. Search and AI aren’t completely interchangeable. Winning in Google doesn’t guarantee visibility in ChatGPT – and that gap is where GEO is taking shape.

The study. SEO ≠ GEO: Only 62% Overlap Between Google Ranking and ChatGPT Visibility (Study)