Try this experiment. Open an AI tool — ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity — and ask: "Which companies do you recommend for [what your company does]?" Then notice where the answer comes from. It rarely comes from your website.

It comes from public discussions, reviews, articles, and communities — from places where many companies do not even exist. And that is increasingly where a prospective client's first impression of a company is decided.

This isn't just an impression — it's a fact. According to Semrush, in an analysis of 150,000 citations by AI models (June 2025), Reddit — the community discussion platform — was the most cited source by models, accounting for 40.1% of references, ahead of Wikipedia (26.3%) and YouTube (23.5%). The share varies from month to month and from model to model — Reddit citations on ChatGPT dropped sharply in August 2026 —, but discussion communities remain among the most cited sources by generative AI.

What has changed

For twenty years, digital visibility had a single address: Google. You optimised the website, bought rankings, measured traffic. That game isn't over — but it is no longer the only one.

A growing share of purchasing queries — "which supplier should I choose?", "is this product worth it?", "who can solve this problem?" — is now asked to an AI model. And the answer is based on public evidence: what people say, write, and share about companies. A company's reputation is being written in conversations it does not control.

The temptation — and the mistake

Brands have already caught on — and most are doing it wrong. They join communities to sell, create accounts to talk about themselves, get caught by moderators, and get banned. The lesson from those that failed comes down to three words: build, don't sell. Communities punish promotional behaviour and reward what is useful; anyone who merely extracts value is kicked out.

Three implications for your SME

1. AI visibility cannot be bought — it must be built. There is no button (yet) to "appear in answers". What does exist is public evidence: happy clients talking, real case studies, verifiable content, genuine presence where your sector holds discussions.
   
   

2. The right question has changed. From "how do I appear on Google?" to "what does AI say when people ask about me — and why?". Most managers have never asked this question. Whoever asks it first gains a months-long advantage.
   
   

3. Authenticity is the new currency. What models value — real discussions, verified experiences, opinions with context — is precisely what traditional advertising cannot manufacture.

The remaining question

When a prospective client asks an AI "who do you recommend for...?", what does the answer say about your company?

If you don't know, that's your first task for the quarter: ask, listen to the answer, and understand where it comes from. Digital reputation is no longer a website — it is a conversation. And conversations can be managed.

If this topic is a priority for your company, book a call with Tiago Trigo, founder of Naveg.AI Consulting.