Study: AI answers develop lasting topic leaders, and most topics still lack one

What happened?

SEO strategist Kevin Indig analyzed data Semrush provided from its AI Visibility Toolkit, tracking 1,094 U.S. topic categories and more than 50,000 brands in ChatGPT answers from January through June 2026. Only 15.2 percent of categories had a single dominant brand as of June, but once a brand earned that clear lead, it kept it in 90.4 percent of month over month comparisons. Categories with the highest search demand were the least likely to have a settled leader; 89.3 percent of total demand sat in categories with no clear owner at all.

Why does it matter?

The upside is durability. A topic lead in AI answers tends to compound rather than fade, and once a category settles, unseating the leader is rare unless that lead was already narrow. For an organization with limited staff and no advertising budget, this argues for concentrating effort on the handful of topics closest to your mission rather than spreading content across everything you touch, since a real lead, once earned, is hard for anyone to take away later. The study also found that most topics, including the highest demand ones, still have no settled leader, which is a rare kind of open opportunity.

Should I do anything?

Pick the one or two topics your organization is most known for, and ask ChatGPT a handful of natural questions about that topic, the way a member or resident might phrase them. Note whether any single organization gets named consistently across those questions. If no one does, that is the open window the study describes. If a competitor already dominates every answer, treat that topic as a longer term project rather than one a single new page will win.

Learn more

• Primary source: Does topical authority matter in AI search?
• Our guide: build topic authority
• Also published on Search Engine Land