A study of 403,000 prompts run across 10 different AI models identified which factors correlate most strongly with being recommended by large language models. Researcher Ben Wills ran the prompts across 100 industries, including many local search categories, to isolate the signals behind AI visibility.
What the study measured
Wills looked at prompts targeting services like legal services for businesses and scored which inputs most often produced mentions inside LLM answers. The analysis tracked correlations between specific business attributes and the likelihood of being named in AI-generated responses.
Strongest signals for AI visibility
For the legal services for businesses category, the factors with the highest correlation to being recommended were:
- Appearing in Google’s search results
- Having a homepage highly relevant to the services offered
- Building strong backlinks and domain authority
- Maintaining a presence on Wikidata
- Being mentioned in relevant Reddit discussions
Of those, appearing in Google search results anywhere on page one had the strongest correlation with AI visibility. The takeaway is that traditional SEO output appears to feed directly into LLM recommendation patterns.
Practical steps drawn from the data
The study’s results translate into a short list of actions businesses can take to improve AI visibility:
- Show up in Google’s search results
- Clearly explain services and location on the homepage
- Earn links from trusted, relevant websites
- Build a consistent and recognizable business entity
- Get listed on Wikidata, which is easier to gain entry on than Wikipedia
- Participate in the Reddit communities where customers are active
Why this matters for local businesses
The inclusion of local search industries in the prompt set means service area businesses, multi-location brands, and single-location operators all fall within scope. Homepage relevance, entity consistency, and Reddit participation are factors that any business can act on without enterprise-level resources. Wikidata listing and link earning take longer but reinforce the same underlying signal: a clear, corroborated identity online.
Open questions
The study identifies correlations, not causation. A page-one Google ranking may correlate with AI visibility because both draw on the same underlying authority signals, or because LLMs trained on web snapshots lean heavily on ranking positions. Either reading points in the same practical direction: traditional SEO remains a leading indicator of AI visibility.
FAQ
What study identified the ranking factors for AI visibility?
A study by Ben Wills analyzed 403,000 prompts across 10 different AI models and 100 industries, including local search categories, to find which signals correlate with being recommended by LLMs.
What was the strongest signal for being recommended by AI?
Appearing in Google’s search results, anywhere on page one, had the strongest correlation with AI visibility in the study’s analysis of the legal services for businesses category.
How can a business improve its AI visibility based on this research?
The data points to six actions: show up in Google’s search results, explain services and location clearly on the homepage, earn links from trusted sites, build a consistent business entity, list the business on Wikidata, and participate in relevant Reddit communities.
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This article summarizes reporting from .beehiiv.com. See our editorial disclaimer for how our articles are produced.
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