We Make Future 2026: Will AI recommend your brand?

From search rankings to AI recommendations

Ten years ago, brands fought to be first on Google. Today, users do not search anymore. They ask questions, and AI gives one answer.

For more than a decade, digital marketing strategies were built around a clear objective: rank high on Google, capture clicks, and convert traffic. That model is now being disrupted. OMMAX's analysis shows traditional search engines and GenAI chatbots converging toward an even split of search share by 2026, with AI assistants continuing to gain ground through 2027. The question this raises is direct: are today's consumer brands, and their acquisition strategies, ready for a future where LLMs capture half or more of all search volume?

The stakes are high. LLM traffic converts up to 9 times better than traditional search, and AI is already collapsing the traditional commercial funnel. Conversational intent now starts directly inside the chat, AI-curated recommendations replace browsing, and AI agents are beginning to complete transactions end-to-end rather than simply pointing to a website.

The difference between SEO and LLM visibility is fundamental. SEO was designed to win clicks; LLM optimization is designed to win recommendations. SEO authority comes from website content and backlinks; LLM authority comes from the broader ecosystem, reviews, creators, and third-party sources, synthesized into a single answer.

What the data shows: three industries, three realities

OMMAX analyzed LLM visibility across three consumer categories, luxury sports cars, high-end winterwear, and skincare, testing between 1,000 and 1,500 prompts per category.

1. Luxury sports cars: ecosystem authority wins. Ferrari leads with 84% presence across the prompt set, followed by Porsche at 75% and Lamborghini at 69%. The driver is editorial authority and enthusiast ecosystems: AI rewards brands constantly reinforced by media, reviews, video content, and dedicated communities. Ferrari's profile shows what this looks like at its strongest, with 84% presence and 97% positive sentiment, built on decades of cultural reference and a presence across every content format from articles to forums.
2. High-end winterwear: category ownership matters. Moncler leads with 61% presence, well ahead of Canada Goose at 45%. The driver here is product comparisons and category ownership: AI favors the brand most strongly associated with the category and with recommendation content. Moncler's strength is not just presence; the brand also achieves a 90% positive sentiment score, evidence that owning a category in AI's eyes translates directly into being recommended with confidence.
3. Skincare: trust and evidence are critical. Average presence across the top players falls to just 4%. In the Italian market specifically, Paula's Choice leads with 10% presence, well ahead of the next brands at 5%. AI is cautious in this category, requiring evidence from expert content, reviews, and credible third parties before recommending a brand. A closer look at one Italian skincare brand illustrates why: despite just 1% average presence, sentiment reached 94% positive whenever the brand did appear, driven by its dermatologically tested formulas. The gap between low presence and high sentiment is the clearest signal in this category: trust, once established, is strong, but visibility itself remains the bottleneck.

The conclusion across all three categories is the same: AI does not reward brands equally. It rewards the signals that each category generates, and those signals differ by industry.