TL;DR Summary of How to Calculate Share of Search and Use It in an AI-Powered Market
Optimixed’s Overview: Mastering Brand Visibility with Share of Search in an AI-Driven Landscape
Understanding Share of Search and Its Growing Significance
Share of search refers to the percentage of search queries for your brand compared to competitors within the same industry. Unlike search volume or market share, it directly reflects your brand’s prominence in search queries, providing actionable insights into your competitive position.
Key Differences Among Related Metrics
- Search Volume: Total searches for a keyword, branded or not.
- Share of Voice: Your brand’s portion of market conversation, including paid media.
- Brand Awareness: How familiar your target audience is with your brand.
- Share of Market: Sales percentage your brand holds versus competitors.
Why Track Share of Search?
Tracking share of search helps you:
- Gauge competitiveness when exact market shares are unavailable.
- Measure effectiveness of offline and multi-channel marketing efforts.
- Monitor shifts caused by AI-powered search tools and zero-click results.
Calculating Share of Search
The formula is straightforward:
Share of Search (%) = (Search Queries for Your Brand / Total Search Queries for All Brands) × 100
Tools like Semrush Keyword Overview or Google Trends enable easy data collection. For example, if your brand has 4,400 monthly searches and competitors total 6,610, your share of search is approximately 66.56%.
Measuring Share of Search on AI Platforms
Because AI search queries often use natural language and longer prompts, traditional share of search metrics are less applicable. Instead, share of voice in AI search is measured by how often your brand is cited in AI-generated results using tools like the Semrush AI Toolkit.
Currently, AI search traffic is growing but not expected to surpass traditional search until around 2028, so monitoring both is crucial.
Strategies to Improve Your Share of Search and AI Share of Voice
- Audit Competitors: Identify leaders in both traditional and AI search using SEO tools.
- Create Unique Content: Perform keyword gap analysis, cluster keywords by topic, and optimize content for both traditional and AI search intent.
- Run Digital PR Campaigns: Gain backlinks and brand mentions to boost visibility in AI results.
Looking Ahead: Leveraging Trend Data to Capture Market Share
Utilizing tools that analyze emerging topics and forecast popularity, such as Exploding Topics, allows brands to anticipate shifts in consumer interest. This informs content planning and marketing focus to maximize share of search and voice across evolving channels.