Physical retail brands with strong health or lifestyle authority are pulling ahead, with Boots surging +87.6% driven by health content that AI references heavily. Pure-play online and fashion retailers are struggling, as product discovery queries are increasingly resolved by AI without sending users on to retailer sites. Brand authority and omnichannel presence offer real protection. Fashion-first and discount retailers without them are most exposed.

Product-led brands with deep technical documentation — Pipedrive, Sage, Xero — are surging, while marketing tools built on educational blog content have collapsed. HubSpot lost 70% of its traffic and Hootsuite 77%: both scaled on how-to content that AI now answers directly. Product depth and documentation protect you. How-to content libraries are a liability, not an asset, in the AI era.

Private healthcare is the standout winner in this entire study, with seven of eight brands growing and four surging past +50%. AI search is directing patients toward established, recognisable providers — Nuffield, Bupa, Spire, and Ramsay are all benefiting from being the brands AI recommends. Established brand trust is acting as an AI visibility amplifier. Healthcare is winning in AI search and the gap with smaller brands is widening.

Specialist and claimant-focused law firms are thriving, with Slater Gordon, Leigh Day, and Gateley all more than doubling their organic traffic. The clearer a firm’s specialism, the better it performs — full-service commercial firms with broader positioning are losing ground. Specialism wins in AI search. Generalist legal brands are losing ground to firms with a clear niche and a strong public reputation.