The Global AI Search Index™ reveals a critical imperative for businesses to prioritize Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) across emerging AI platforms. Our analysis of 152 sites between December 2025 and January 2026, leveraging the proprietary 4-Pillar AI Readiness Framework™, shows a significant opportunity for early adopters. While the Overall Average AI Readiness Score stands at 76.06/100, a striking 44.74% of sites achieve an 'Excellent' rating (80+), highlighting a performance gap. Key Statistic: 0.00% of sites score 'Poor' (<40), indicating a baseline level of awareness, but significant room for improvement. The rise of AI-powered search, with platforms like Google AI Overview appearing in 30%+ of search results and ChatGPT boasting 200M+ weekly active users, necessitates a strategic shift from traditional SEO to AEO.
The data underscores the urgency of optimizing for AI answer engines. Our AEO metrics reveal that only 42.8% of sites (65 out of 152) are fully AEO Ready, leaving 87 sites partially optimized. Key Statistic: The Citation Potential Score averages 81.33/100, suggesting a strong foundation for many sites to leverage authoritative content. Furthermore, Entity Recognition metrics show an impressive average entity score of 91.2, with a 100% entity recognition rate across the 50 sites analyzed. This report provides actionable recommendations, prioritized by impact, to help C-Suite executives, CMOs, and SEO Directors capitalize on the AI search revolution and secure a competitive advantage.
While analyzed sites demonstrate strong readiness for individual AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude, translating this readiness into comprehensive Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) remains a challenge.
100% of analyzed sites show readiness for individual AI platforms, but only 42.8% are fully AEO Ready.The difference between traditional SEO strategies and the requirements of AI-powered search creates an 'AEO Gap' that smart businesses can exploit.
The Citation Potential Score is 81.33/100, indicating a strong foundation for improvement, yet Answer Slot Readiness is only 70.90/100.Strong entity recognition capabilities provide a solid base for optimizing content for AI understanding and relevance.
Sites analyzed achieved an average entity score of 91.2, with a 100% entity recognition rate.Businesses that proactively embrace AEO will gain a significant competitive edge as AI-powered search becomes increasingly prevalent.
Sites scoring 'Excellent' (80+) in AI Readiness represent 44.74% of the total, demonstrating the potential for high performance.As AI platforms like Google AI Overview and ChatGPT gain traction, traffic is shifting from traditional search results to AI-generated answers.
Google AI Overview appears in 30%+ of search results, and ChatGPT has 200M+ weekly active users.Focus on creating concise, informative content that directly answers common user questions. Optimize for featured snippets and knowledge graph inclusion.
Identify and optimize content around key entities relevant to your industry. Use structured data markup to provide clear signals to AI search engines.
Develop a strategy for acquiring high-quality citations from reputable sources. Focus on building a strong online reputation and establishing thought leadership.
Track your website's performance across different AI platforms. Identify areas for improvement and adapt your AEO strategy accordingly.
This report analyzes performance across 24 distinct metrics organized into four key sections. Click any metric below to learn how it's calculated, view benchmark ranges, and discover strategies to improve your score.
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