SearchScore
The State of AI Search Visibility
336,000+ websites audited. Most are invisible to the AI engines replacing traditional search.
The majority of the world's websites are invisible to the AI engines that are rapidly replacing traditional search. This is the first comprehensive measurement of that gap.
- The average AI visibility score across 336,000+ websites is 41.1/100 - below the threshold for meaningful AI search presence.
- 60.1% of all websites audited score below 51 (Invisible or Weak tier) to AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.
- Not a single pharmaceutical company in our dataset has achieved AI-Ready status - despite the industry's reliance on public trust and information reach.
What is AI search visibility? When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI a question, the engine picks one answer from sources it trusts. AI visibility measures how likely your website is to be one of those sources. It is driven by different signals than traditional SEO - and most websites have never checked it.
The AI Visibility Gap
The AI search visibility gap is stark. The vast majority of websites score below 50 - effectively invisible to AI engines synthesising answers.
AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity synthesise one answer from sources they trust. A website in the Weak or Invisible tier is effectively absent from AI-generated responses - regardless of how well it ranks on Google.
Three Critical Signals Missing
Across 336,000+ audits, three signals are missing from the majority of websites - and each is relatively straightforward to fix.
No llms.txt file
llms.txt is a simple text file (like robots.txt, but for AI) that tells AI crawlers exactly what your site is about and where to find your best content. Under one in four websites has one - yet it takes around 20 minutes to create and is one of the highest-impact quick fixes available.
No structured data
Schema markup is a short piece of code (JSON-LD) that tells AI engines who you are, what you do, and how to categorise your business - think of it as a structured ID card for your website. 63.2% of audited sites have none at all, leaving AI engines to guess.
Blocking AI crawlers
More than 1 in 3 websites have robots.txt rules that prevent GPTBot (ChatGPT), ClaudeBot, or PerplexityBot from reading their content - often unintentionally, as a legacy of blocking all automated bots. If AI crawlers cannot access your site, it cannot cite you.
Industry Benchmarks
Tech-native industries lead - but even the highest-scoring sectors average well below 70/100. No industry has cracked AI search visibility at scale.
| Industry | Avg Score | Distribution | Sites Audited | Top Performer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud / Tech | 73.5 | 538 | 5nine.com | |
| MarTech | 62.4 | 748 | seo.com | |
| Data Analytics | 64.8 | 301 | billo.app | |
| Media | 65.9 | 2,237 | sphinn.com | |
| Legal | 50.5 | 6,656 | rue.ee | |
| SaaS | 45.0 | 14,724 | searchscore.io | |
| Healthcare | 45.1 | 3,786 | 1up.health | |
| Finance | 43.7 | 2,912 | trueaccord.com | |
| Dental | 47.4 | 3,797 | torringtondental.co.uk | |
| Crypto / Web3 | 40.0 | 1,704 | helius.xyz | |
| Estate Agent | 39.8 | 2,048 | homesgofast.com |
Global brands are not immune
The following globally recognised brands were included in our dataset. Their scores illustrate that AI search invisibility is not a small-business problem - it affects organisations of every size and budget.
| Brand | Score | Tier | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reuters | 7 | Invisible | Media |
| Zara | 7 | Invisible | Fashion |
| Nestle | 12 | Invisible | Food & Beverage |
| Meta | 14 | Invisible | Tech |
| Vanguard | 16 | Invisible | Wealth Management |
| ASOS | 19 | Invisible | Fashion |
| Mercedes-Benz | 19 | Invisible | Automotive |
| NHS | 26 | Invisible | Healthcare |
| Amazon | 31 | Low Visibility | Ecommerce |
| Toyota | 34 | Low Visibility | Automotive |
| Nike | 35 | Low Visibility | Fashion |
| JPMorgan | 38 | Low Visibility | Finance |
| Goldman Sachs | 39 | Low Visibility | Finance |
| BBC | 41 | Low Visibility | Media |
| GSK | 48 | Developing | Pharma |
Scores reflect the state of each website's AI visibility signals at time of audit. Scores may change as organisations update their web presence.
What the Data Tells Us
Three conclusions that stand out from 336,000+ audits.
SEO rank does not equal AI visibility
Websites that rank #1 on Google are frequently invisible to AI search engines. The signals that earn Google rankings - backlinks, keyword density, PageRank - are largely irrelevant to how AI engines select sources to cite.
Tech industries lead, traditional industries lag
Cloud tech (73.5 avg) and Data Analytics (64.8 avg) score nearly double the Estate Agent (39.8) and Crypto (40.3) sectors. Tech-native companies have adopted structured data and modern web standards that happen to align with AI visibility requirements.
The window of opportunity is narrow
Only 0.09% of sites are genuinely AI-Ready. The brands that invest in AI visibility signals now - before their competitors - will own the citations when the rest of their industry realises what is happening.
The average site in every industry has a score below 70. That means the ceiling for competitive advantage is still wide open. There is no industry where AI search visibility is saturated.
About This Report
Methodology, dataset scope, and citation information.
The SAVI Report (State of AI Visibility Index) is published by SearchScore. This inaugural edition analyses data from 336,000+ websites audited between January and March 2026 using the SearchScore platform. Sites were audited organically as users of the free SearchScore tool submitted their domains - the dataset reflects a broad cross-section of the real web, not a curated sample.
Scoring methodology: each website is evaluated across 56 signals in 7 categories. Full methodology at searchscore.io/methodology/
How the data was collected
All data in this report comes from SearchScore audits conducted between January and March 2026. Websites were audited by users of the free SearchScore tool at searchscore.io - the dataset reflects real-world websites across industries, not a curated or hand-selected sample.
Each website is scored across 56 signals in 7 categories: AI Citability (25%), Brand Authority (20%), E-E-A-T Content (20%), Technical Foundation (15%), Structured Data (10%), Platform Optimisation (10%), and Topical Authority (5%). The score reflects how well a website meets the criteria AI engines use when deciding which sources to trust and cite - not traditional SEO factors like backlinks or keyword rankings.
For full methodology details, see searchscore.io/methodology.
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