Answer in brief
AI brand visibility was highly concentrated in the rolling 30 days ending August 5, 2026. The top 10% of roughly 15,000 resolved entities captured about 75% of 7.6 million observed mentions; the top 1% captured about 30%.
AI visibility is highly concentrated
Among roughly 15,000 entities observed in the rolling 30-day window, the top 150 accounted for about 2.3 million mentions. That is about 30% of all measured entity mentions flowing to roughly one percent of the field.
Widening the cohort to the top ten percent captures about 75% of mentions. The remaining 90% of entities divide the final quarter of observed attention.
Visibility compounds across surfaces
Answer engines synthesize repeated, corroborated evidence. Brands with consistent product facts, third-party references, reviews, comparisons, and category language provide more retrievable paths to the same entity.
The concentration pattern is therefore best treated as a measurement problem before it becomes a content problem: identify the prompts where a brand should appear, examine the sources already shaping those answers, and close the highest-value evidence gaps first.
Mentions are not outcomes
A mention can be positive, neutral, or negative. It may appear in a recommendation, a comparison, or a passing reference. Mention volume alone cannot establish brand preference or commercial impact.
A complete visibility program should pair mention frequency with recommendation rate, citation coverage, sentiment, position, and attributed traffic or pipeline.
Data behind the finding
| Measure | Result | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Top 1% of entities | About 30% | About 150 entities; 2.3 million mentions |
| Top 10% of entities | About 75% | About 1,500 entities |
| Remaining 90% | About 25% | About 13,000 entities |
| Median entity | About 60 mentions | Rolling 30-day observation window |
| Total corpus | About 7.6 million mentions | Across about 12 million eligible answers |
A live recheck of about 12 million eligible answer rows covering the rolling 30 days ending August 5, 2026. The analysis identified roughly 15,000 entities and 7.6 million total entity mentions.
How to cite this article
A canonical source for this finding
Plum, Jenna. “The top 10% of brands receive 75% of AI mentions.” The Answer Signal, August 13, 2026.
https://theanswersignal.com/research/ai-mention-economy-concentrationSources and related research
- What Is AI Share of Voice?AthenaHQ. Definition, formula, and measurement considerations for AI share of voice