Notes and studies on how AI assistants pick which businesses to name. Every claim carries an evidence grade and links to its primary source.https://pilcrow.consulting/en-ushttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/google-shipped-a-switch/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/google-shipped-a-switch/For two years there was no way to be in Google Search but out of its AI answers. Now there is — and it makes the old advice wrong twice over.Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/there-are-three-slots/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/there-are-three-slots/The leader in a national category takes 55 to 78 percent of AI visibility and the median company takes eight. The same shape, measured one city at a time, is a completely different proposition — and it is the only version of this fight a normal business can win.Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/an-agent-can-shop-your-site/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/an-agent-can-shop-your-site/A US federal appeals court, 4 August 2026: "the Assistant is a tool, not a person."Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/the-strongest-signal-is-youtube/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/the-strongest-signal-is-youtube/Across 75,000 brands, the thing most closely associated with appearing in AI answers was how often a brand is mentioned in video. Backlinks barely registered. Here is what that does and does not mean.Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/still-recommending-who-left/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/still-recommending-who-left/Every stale answer in your category is a slot held by someone who isn't defending it. That's the opening, and there is a measurable way to find yours.Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/launched-after-2023/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/launched-after-2023/Five of the ten systems people ask for recommendations answer from memory alone. Their memory was written before you existed. Here is the sixty-second test, and the half of the market you can actually buy.Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/mentioned-is-not-recommended/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/mentioned-is-not-recommended/Two companies, two very different numbers, and a published claim that doesn't survive being checked. The distinction underneath it is the most useful thing you can learn about measuring this.Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/chatgpt-ads-hit-a-billion/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/chatgpt-ads-hit-a-billion/About one in four ChatGPT answers now contains an ad. The organic answer is getting narrower.Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/the-file-nobody-fetches/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/the-file-nobody-fetches/137,210 domains. 97% of their `llms.txt` files received zero requests in a month. Here is the hour better spent.Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/how-to-read-a-study/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/how-to-read-a-study/Five questions that separate a measurement from a marketing asset. Use them on us too.Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/half-the-traffic-isnt-human/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/half-the-traffic-isnt-human/And AI training is now 52% of all crawler requests, up from 22% a year ago.Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/what-moved-wasnt-the-markup/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/what-moved-wasnt-the-markup/Citations barely shifted — except on the pages whose markup contained real prices and real specifications.Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/put-your-prices-on-the-page/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/put-your-prices-on-the-page/In the best-controlled study of what gets cited, stating a price was a gatekeeper. Formatting was in the weakest tier.Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/a-paragraph-not-a-page/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/a-paragraph-not-a-page/Nearly half of Google's AI citations link to a specific sentence. Here is what those sentences have in common.Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/what-we-cant-promise/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/what-we-cant-promise/Nobody controls what these systems say. Anyone guaranteeing you a place in an AI answer is either lying or doesn't understand how they work.Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/written-by-somebody-else/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/written-by-somebody-else/Your own website is roughly a quarter of it. Here is where the rest comes from.Wed, 13 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/nobody-can-sell-you-a-ranking/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/nobody-can-sell-you-a-ranking/Ask the same model the same question twice and you get a different list of companies. Here is what can be measured instead.Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/not-the-question-they-asked/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/not-the-question-they-asked/The model rewrites it into several questions you never see, then answers those. Here is what it adds.Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/blocking-the-wrong-robot/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/blocking-the-wrong-robot/There is no single "AI crawler". Blocking the wrong one removes you from ChatGPT entirely — and the one everyone recommends never did the job it was recommended for.Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://pilcrow.consulting/research/the-four-gates/https://pilcrow.consulting/research/the-four-gates/Every AI answer about your business passes four checkpoints. Miss one and the others stop mattering.Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT