UK businesses risk being overlooked in AI-generated search results, according to new research which found that 87% of companies are effectively invisible across major AI platforms.

The study, conducted by AI visibility agency LLM Listed, analysed 500 UK business websites across sectors including legal services, financial services, software, healthcare, professional services and ecommerce.

Researchers tested whether companies appeared in responses generated by ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity when users asked commercially relevant questions within their industry.

The findings suggest that, while many companies continue to rank in traditional search engines, they are failing to appear in the AI-generated answers that an increasing number of consumers and business buyers now rely upon when discovering products, services and information online.

According to the research, 87% of companies failed to appear in AI-generated recommendations for their primary commercial search terms, while only 8% appeared consistently across all major AI platforms.

The study also found that 76% of companies were outranked by competitors in AI-generated responses, 91% showed no evidence of an AI visibility strategy, and less than 15% had content specifically designed to support AI discovery and citation.

The findings come as businesses face significant changes in how people search for information online. Recent industry studies suggest AI-powered search experiences are reducing click-through rates to websites, with some analyses showing traffic declines of more than 50% when AI-generated answers appear above traditional search results.

Ben Harper, Founder of LLM Listed, said: “Most marketing teams are still measuring success using rankings, traffic and backlinks. The problem is that buyers are increasingly getting answers directly from AI platforms without ever visiting a website.”

“The question businesses should be asking is no longer ‘Do we rank on Google?’ The question is ‘Does AI know we exist, trust us, and recommend us?’”

According to Harper, many businesses are now facing a new type of visibility challenge as AI platforms become a more prominent part of the search journey.

“Companies spent the last twenty years optimising for search engines. They now need to optimise for answer engines. We are seeing businesses with strong SEO performance that are virtually absent from AI-generated recommendations.”

The study also identified significant differences between industries and business sizes. Large enterprise brands were substantially more likely to appear in AI-generated answers, while smaller and mid-sized businesses struggled to gain visibility despite often having stronger expertise within niche markets.

Researchers said this trend could create what they describe as an “AI Visibility Monopoly,” where a small number of brands dominate recommendations while competitors become increasingly difficult for buyers to discover.

LLM Listed plans to publish additional industry-specific reports throughout 2026 covering legal services, SaaS, financial services, healthcare and professional services.