ChatGPT’s October Entity Update: Protect Your Brand Visibility

In mid-October 2025, ChatGPT rolled out a major update that changed how brands appear in its answers. According to Profound’s analysis of millions of prompts across ChatGPT and other answer engines, brands are now mentioned less frequently, and the competition for visibility has tightened. Here’s what marketers need to know and what actionable steps to take.

Inside ChatGPT’s Entity Update: Fewer Mentions, Tighter Competition

• On 18 October, ChatGPT began consistently tagging brands with a structured entity field (Entity["brand", …]), creating a sharp spike in brand-entity recognition.
• The average number of brand mentions per answer dropped from about 6–7 to 3–4, with fewer available “slots” per response.
• Average brand visibility fell by ≈ 31 % across tracked brands, with more than 85 % seeing declines. 13 % dropped more than 10 percentage points; 58 % declined 2–10 points.
• The visibility gap between rank #1 and #10 narrowed ≈ 23 %, pulling top and mid-tier brands closer together.
• Initial data showed citations concentrating around Wikipedia and Reddit as dominant sources.

What’s Really Happening With Brand Mentions? Different Datasets, Same Direction

Several research teams have analyzed ChatGPT’s October changes, and their numbers may appear conflicting, but they actually describe the same evolution viewed through different timeframes.

Profound’s Answer Engine Insights (snapshot around Oct 18) confirmed the structural shift: ChatGPT started tagging brands as entities, cutting mentions per response from ≈ 6–7 to 3–4. Brand visibility dropped ≈ 31 %, and the gap between #1 and #10 narrowed ≈ 23 %. Reddit and Wikipedia dominated early citations. You can also read Josh Blyskal’s LinkedIn post summarizing these findings and interpretations.

Semrush’s AI Visibility Index (August – October data) observed that ChatGPT’s brand mentions rose 12 % in September, then normalized in October, suggesting experimentation, while the number of sources used jumped ≈ 80 %. Google’s AI Mode, by contrast, was steadier (brand mentions – 4 %, sources + 13 %).

Reddit’s role flipped between the two systems. In ChatGPT, Reddit citations fell ≈ 82 % from earlier peaks but still appeared in about one-quarter of answers (top-4 source). In Google AI Mode, Reddit rose ≈ 75 %, becoming the second most used source behind Amazon. These insights were also highlighted in Search Engine Land’s summary of Semrush’s report.

In short, ChatGPT is tagging fewer brands but pulling from more diverse sources, while Google AI Mode is tighter and more stable. These shifts confirm that AI-answer visibility is no longer a single playing field; each model behaves differently, and marketers need to monitor both.

How Fewer Mentions Reshape SEO and PPC Strategy

AI Answers Are the New Brand Real Estate

When ChatGPT surfaces your brand as one of only 3–4 options for a user’s question, you gain trust, authority, and potentially high-intent leads. If you’re not there, a competitor likely is. Since most users rarely open further links when an AI answer feels authoritative, missing that slot means missing the conversation.

PPC Implications: When AI Answers Replace Traditional Searches

• AI-generated answers may reduce traditional search query volume, leaving fewer paid-ad opportunities.
• Appearing in those answers can spark branded search and direct visits, improving downstream organic + PPC results, an “earned recommendation” feeding your funnel.
• With fewer brands per answer, the premium on visibility has increased; exclusion now carries a higher opportunity cost.

How to Tell If ChatGPT Recognizes Your Brand as an Entity

• Your brand appears consistently in high-authority sources (Wikipedia, trusted forums, industry reference sites).
• Your site implements structured data, Brand, Product, Organization, FAQ, and clear Q&A-style content.
• Your brand is discussed authentically in community threads (Reddit, Quora, niche forums) with useful contextual mentions.

The Reddit Effect (By Model): ChatGPT vs Google AI Mode

Reddit remains one of the most influential community sources in AI answers, but its weight now varies by model. Semrush’s October data shows Reddit usage declined ≈ 82 % within ChatGPT after being over-represented earlier in the year, while its citations in Google AI Mode grew ≈ 75 %. Despite the correction, Reddit still appears in roughly 24 % of ChatGPT prompts and 20 % of Google AI Mode answers, a top-tier signal in both.

Why does this matter? Because AI systems increasingly treat forum content as authentic social proof. Genuine user commentary demonstrates problem-solving and real-world experience, factors that models value when deciding which brands to trust and mention.

Practical Strategies for Brands and Marketers (AIO Roadmap)

To ensure your brand remains visible in AI-based answers, apply these five core strategies as part of your AI Visibility Optimization (AIO) roadmap.

1. Create the Foundation: Structured Content and Schema

• Implement schema markup for your brand and relevant products or services (Brand, Product, FAQ, How-to).
• Publish concise, informative content that directly answers user questions in your niche, such as FAQ pages, comparison posts, or resource hubs.
• Ensure your content is crawlable, authoritative, and well linked internally to make it easier for AI models to “understand” and reference.

2. Earn Authoritative Mentions

• Target placements in trusted domains and publications (industry press, news sites, or Wikipedia where eligible). Because AI models now rely more heavily on fewer sources, each authoritative mention counts more.
• Develop thought-leadership pieces, guest posts, or case studies that reference your brand naturally in context, not merely as a logo or link.

3. Foster Genuine User-Generated Discussion

• Track where your brand is being discussed (Reddit, Quora, or specialized forums).
• Encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences publicly and authentically in relevant threads.
• Look for opportunities to answer real questions, contribute value instead of self-promotion to build credibility and recall.

The Reddit Effect: Genuine user commentary, especially on platforms like Reddit, influences AI systems by signaling authenticity and real-world relevance, elements that generative models increasingly favor.

4. Measure and Refine Your AI Visibility

• Regularly query ChatGPT or other answer engines (“What does ChatGPT say about [your product category]?”) and note whether your brand appears.
• Track shifts in your brand’s mention rate versus competitors. If visibility declines, analyze potential causes such as content gaps, weak PR coverage, or minimal forum presence.

5. Integrate AI Visibility into Your Performance Marketing Roadmap

• Treat inclusion in AI answers like a premium search placement, allocate resources to content, PR, and community efforts, not only paid ads.
• Align PPC insights with AI visibility: if users increasingly rely on AI answers (and ad clicks drop), adapt your messaging and budget accordingly.
• Watch for emerging AI ad surfaces or sponsorships in answer engines and be ready to expand your paid-search strategy to include “AI-answer marketing.”

Key Takeaways: Adapting to ChatGPT’s New Competitive Landscape

The October update was more than an algorithm tweak; it marked a shift in how brands are represented within AI-driven answers. With fewer brand slots and a narrowed visibility gap, competition has intensified for those coveted mentions.

At the same time, community platforms like Reddit have become a meaningful layer of visibility across both ChatGPT and Google AI Mode. Authentic discussions and user-driven feedback now act as soft “signals” of authority, shaping how AI systems interpret and surface your brand.

Try our free Reddit Trends Tool to see how your brand, or your competitors, are being discussed on Reddit. Discover trending keywords, analyze engagement, and uncover how community sentiment influences brand visibility in AI search results.

At PEMAVOR, we design custom, enterprise-grade solutions that help marketing organizations automate insights across PPC, SEO, and brand intelligence data. If your team needs a tailored solution to connect, analyze, or scale campaign performance, get in touch with us, we’d love to explore how we can help.