GEO Benchmark Report: Cross-Industry AI Visibility Data
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is an emerging discipline, and until now, practitioners have lacked objective benchmarks to gauge their performance. This report fills that gap. Drawing on aggregated data from over 2,400 brands monitored on the Presenc AI platform across 18 industry verticals, we present the first comprehensive GEO benchmark dataset — giving marketers a clear picture of what "good" looks like for AI visibility.
The benchmarks in this report are designed to help you answer critical questions: How does your brand's AI visibility compare to your industry? Which visibility factors matter most in your vertical? Where should you focus your GEO efforts for maximum impact?
Overall GEO Visibility Scores by Industry
Presenc AI calculates a composite GEO Visibility Score (0-100) based on six weighted factors. The table below shows median scores across major industry verticals, revealing significant variation in AI visibility maturity.
| Industry | Median GEO Score | Top Quartile | Bottom Quartile | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SaaS / Technology | 62 | 78 | 41 | 37 |
| Financial Services | 55 | 72 | 34 | 38 |
| Healthcare / Pharma | 48 | 65 | 29 | 36 |
| E-commerce / Retail | 51 | 69 | 33 | 36 |
| Travel / Hospitality | 46 | 63 | 28 | 35 |
| Education / EdTech | 53 | 70 | 35 | 35 |
| Professional Services | 44 | 61 | 26 | 35 |
| Manufacturing / Industrial | 37 | 52 | 21 | 31 |
| Media / Publishing | 58 | 74 | 38 | 36 |
| Cybersecurity | 59 | 76 | 39 | 37 |
SaaS and technology companies lead with a median score of 62, reflecting the sector's early and aggressive content marketing culture. Cybersecurity and media/publishing also score highly, driven by strong thought leadership traditions. Manufacturing and professional services lag, presenting a significant opportunity for early movers in those verticals to differentiate through AI visibility.
Visibility Factor Breakdown
Presenc AI evaluates six core visibility factors. Understanding their relative importance by industry helps focus GEO strategy on the highest-impact areas.
| Visibility Factor | SaaS | Finance | Healthcare | E-commerce | All Industries Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge Presence | 68 | 61 | 52 | 57 | 54 |
| Semantic Authority | 59 | 53 | 46 | 48 | 49 |
| Citation Frequency | 55 | 48 | 41 | 52 | 47 |
| Contextual Integrity | 64 | 58 | 50 | 49 | 51 |
| Share of Voice | 61 | 54 | 44 | 50 | 48 |
| Recommendation Rate | 58 | 49 | 42 | 53 | 46 |
Knowledge Presence is the highest-scoring factor across all industries, averaging 54. This suggests that most established brands have some baseline recognition in AI models. The gap between Knowledge Presence and other factors — particularly Citation Frequency (47 average) and Recommendation Rate (46 average) — reveals that being known by AI is far easier than being actively recommended. Closing this gap is the core challenge of GEO.
Key Findings
Our analysis of the benchmark data reveals several actionable insights:
- 1. The top-bottom quartile spread averages 35 points. Within every industry, there is a massive gap between leaders and laggards. This means that competitive advantage through GEO is very much available — even in mature sectors like SaaS, the bottom quartile scores below 42.
- 2. Contextual Integrity is the most underrated factor. Brands that score well on Contextual Integrity — meaning AI represents them accurately and in the right context — outperform peers on Recommendation Rate by an average of 14 points. Accuracy drives recommendations.
- 3. Citation Frequency correlates most strongly with content volume. Brands producing more than 50 pieces of quality content per quarter score 2.3x higher on Citation Frequency than those producing fewer than 10. Content quantity — when quality is maintained — directly drives citation performance.
- 4. Cross-platform consistency matters more than single-platform dominance. Brands that score within 15 points of their average across all tracked AI platforms achieve 22% higher composite GEO scores than brands with high variance. Consistency signals authority to AI systems.
- 5. B2B verticals have the most headroom. Manufacturing (37 median), Professional Services (44 median), and Healthcare (48 median) have the lowest industry benchmarks, meaning early GEO investment in these verticals yields outsized competitive advantage.
About This Report
This benchmark report is based on data from the Presenc AI platform as of Q1 2026. The dataset includes 2,400+ brands across 18 industry verticals, monitored continuously across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot. GEO Visibility Scores are calculated using Presenc AI's proprietary scoring methodology, which weights six core visibility factors based on their observed correlation with positive brand outcomes in AI-generated responses. Industry classifications follow standard SIC groupings, with sub-industry rollups applied where sample sizes required aggregation. Scores are normalized on a 0-100 scale using percentile ranking within the full dataset. Benchmarks are refreshed quarterly; this report reflects data through March 15, 2026.
How Presenc AI Helps
These benchmarks only matter if you know where your brand stands. Presenc AI provides your brand's GEO Visibility Score broken down by all six factors, with automatic benchmarking against your industry vertical and direct competitors. Track your progress over time, identify the specific factors dragging down your composite score, and receive prioritized recommendations for improvement. Run a free brand audit to get your baseline score and see how you compare to these industry benchmarks.