The AI Visibility Index ™
Research Insights from Digable AI Visibility Audits
The AI Visibility Index™
The AI Visibility Index™ explores how clearly different types of organisations communicate expertise in ways that AI systems can interpret.
As more people use AI tools to ask questions instead of browsing search results, a new form of digital visibility is emerging. The Index tracks early patterns in how websites demonstrate authority, structure knowledge, and signal expertise online.
By analysing real websites across multiple sectors, the Index begins to show which industries appear better positioned for AI-driven discovery — and where common weaknesses still exist.
What is the AI Visibility Index?
The AI Visibility Index™ is an ongoing research project based on AI Visibility assessments carried out across a range of websites and industries.
Each audited site contributes an AI Visibility Score™, helping us compare how clearly different organisations communicate expertise online.
The aim is not simply to rank websites. It is to identify broader patterns in how businesses, publishers, institutions and organisations present knowledge in ways that AI systems may be more or less able to interpret.
Why the Index matters
Traditional search visibility has long been about rankings.
AI-driven discovery changes the picture.
When someone asks an AI system a question, the system decides which sources, businesses and experts to reference. That means visibility increasingly depends on whether expertise is clearly structured, well-signalled and easy for machines to interpret.
The AI Visibility Index™ helps make those patterns more visible.
It provides an early view of how different sectors are adapting to this shift — and where opportunities may exist for businesses that want to strengthen their position.
Early Findings from the First AI Visibility Audits
The first set of audits already suggests that some industries naturally present stronger AI visibility signals than others. Websites built around structured explanations, documentation and educational content appear to perform particularly well, while service-led and transactional sites often show weaker signals unless they also provide clear knowledge-based resources.
The table below presents the average AI Visibility Score™ across several industry categories based on the first group of audited websites. These findings should be treated as early directional insights rather than fixed benchmarks. As the dataset grows, the Index will become more useful for comparing patterns across sectors and identifying common strengths and weaknesses
First 100 AI Visibility Audit Results - The AIV Index
| Industry Category | Average AIV Score |
|---|---|
| SEO / Content Intelligence Platforms | 79.3 |
| SaaS / Digital Platforms | 71.2 |
| Digital Agencies | 63.7 |
| Media / Publishing | 60.1 |
| Consulting / Advisory | 59.9 |
| Education / Learning Platforms | 51.2 |
| Finance / Fintech | 48.3 |
| Non-Profit / Advocacy | 47.5 |
| Ecommerce / DTC Brands | 39.4 |
| Healthcare / Medical | 37.4 |
What these results suggest
Although the dataset is still relatively small, several early patterns appear to be emerging.
Websites that explain topics clearly, publish structured resources, or maintain strong documentation often appear easier for AI systems to interpret.
By contrast, websites focused mainly on service promotion, brand messaging or transactions may struggle if they provide fewer signals of subject knowledge, attribution and structured expertise.
This does not mean one sector is inherently “better” than another. It suggests that some website types are currently more likely to communicate expertise in ways that AI systems can readily use.
AI Visibility varies by industry
Understanding how expertise signals appear in different industries is an important part of the AI Visibility Index research. Different industries tend to communicate expertise in different ways.
Professional service sectors often depend heavily on:
- Credentials
- Named experts
- Specialist advisory knowledge
Other industries rely more on:
- Product information
- Documentation
- Structured explanations
- Educational content
These differences matter because AI systems appear to respond not only to authority, but also to how clearly knowledge is organised and signalled.
That is why the Index compares patterns by industry rather than treating all websites as if they communicate expertise in the same way.
An evolving research project
The AI Visibility Index™ is still in its early stages.
As more websites are audited, the Index will continue to develop and reveal deeper patterns, including:
- Industry benchmarks
- Recurring signal strengths
- Common visibility weaknesses
- Differences between website types and sectors
Over time, this should make it easier to understand why some organisations are more easily surfaced by AI systems than others.
Industry Analysis Pages
We are building out sector-specific pages to explore emerging patterns in more detail.
These pages highlight:
- Why AI visibility matters in that industry
- Common weaknesses in expertise signals
- Practical ways organisations can improve clarity for AI systems
The different sectors available for AI Visibility reports so far include:
- Consultants
- SaaS / Digital platforms
- Ecommerce brands
- Media & Publishing Companies
- Education / learning institutions
- Local / Small Businesses
- Digital Marketing agencies
- Non-Profit & Advocacy organisations
- Healthcare / Medical organisations
- Finance / Financial Technology platforms
See where your website stands
The Index shows the bigger picture.
The audit shows how your own website fits into it.
Run the AI Visibility Audit™ to see how clearly your site communicates expertise to AI systems, where your strongest signals sit, and where visibility may be limited.