CTV ads drive significant uplift in brand AI searches, BrightEdge data shows
For years, branded search has been one of the lower-funnel proxies for proving ROI on CTV advertising. It is now seeping into AI chatbot answers, as ChatGPT, Google’s own Gemini and AI Overviews and others gain ground on traditional search.
Now data on branded AI queries is emerging, and it shows that CTV ads can drive significant uplift for branded terms in AI chatbot search queries — just as the industry heads into the upfronts to discuss commitments worth likely north of $13 billion.
“Our data suggests that CTV spend can definitely support AI search outcomes,” said Jim Yu, CEO of BrightEdge, which analyzes search queries and AI-generated responses across platforms.
“Branded query volume rises in the weeks after a campaign airs, and the sentiment those brands carry in AI responses skews overwhelmingly positive. We can’t call it causation yet, but the correlation is showing up in the right places at the right time.”
The data
The clearest example of immediate post-campaign uptick comes from Budweiser’s Super Bowl ad.
“Budweiser commercial 2026” and “Budweiser eagle commercial” jumped from near zero to peak index in March, the first full month after the game, Yu said. “Budweiser Clydesdales” rose 42% February to March; “who owns Budweiser” also spiked. Most queries were informational, suggesting consumers used AI to learn about the brand rather than explore the brand’s website or products directly.
Another Super Bowl advertiser, T-Mobile, also saw growth in AI queries: “T-Mobile near me” rose 22% in March; “T-Mobile authorized retailer” rose 47%; “metro by T-Mobile” rose 22%. “Experience store” and “unlimited data plan” were also up. Intent skewed mid-funnel, with information-seeking and consideration queries, suggesting AI is playing an active role in evaluation, not just lookup. One caveat is that T-Mobile advertises year-round, so this is also about sustained CTV investment registering in AI behavior over time, not just a Super Bowl spike, Yu said.
But brands don’t necessarily have to invest in a big splashy CTV ad to see results in AI searches.
For Toyota, which also ran a Super Bowl ad, model-specific terms like Highlander, Tacoma and Crown ticked up February to March. Although, Yu said, spring car-buying season makes the effect harder to isolate. Prompts like “where is Toyota made” and “American made cars” tracked with Toyota’s ongoing brand narrative around U.S. manufacturing and production, showing how CTV narratives carry into AI responses.
Michelob Ultra’s branded queries were flat or declining in March, even after its big game ad, Yu said. Instead, the Michelob Ultra surge peaked from November through January, suggesting broader marketing momentum built ahead of the Super Bowl.
The clearest pattern across campaigns is that different creative leaves different AI “fingerprints,” Yu said.
“What we can say qualitatively is that creative themes show up in AI prompt patterns,” he added. For example, Toyota’s manufacturing messaging surfaced in AI as “where is Toyota made.” Budweiser’s named creative surfaced as “eagle commercial” and “Clydesdales.”
That means brands should plan for those follow-up questions and ensure their content is structured to be easily surfaced and cited by AI. “In practice, this includes clear, well-organized content like FAQs and product pages that position the brand as a trusted source,” Yu said.
The differences between AI Overviews and ChatGPT
Yu added that marketers should evaluate AI search results from AI Overviews and others like ChatGPT under different criteria.
Google AI Overviews skew toward top-of-funnel, informational discovery, Yu said. ChatGPT, instead, plays a stronger role mid- to lower-funnel, with more evaluation-driven and action-oriented queries (such as comparisons or “is it worth it” questions).
According to Yu, this comes down to environment: AI Overviews are embedded in Search, supporting broad discovery and high-volume query behavior, while ChatGPT operates more like a decision assistant, guiding users through consideration and action.
The implication for brands is that they should optimize once to rank everywhere, Yu said, to ensure clear, consistent signals. AI models don’t operate in silos but pull from the same underlying narrative: One AI platform introduces the brand and frames perception while another pressure-tests it at the decision stage.
How to measure CTV’s impact on AI searches
To make CTV a measurable AI search driver, Yu said marketing leaders should focus on:
1. Measuring AI surface query volume, not just last-click conversions. The metric refers to the number of brand-related queries occurring within AI platforms rather than traditional search. “You’re generating user interest, and ideally a good campaign would influence how AI talks about your brand to the consumer,” Yu said.
2. Aligning creative narrative to the themes AI is already surfacing about the brand. “Brands can think of AI prompts as a large-scale, real-time focus group, similar to how they’ve historically used search data for insights. That can inform creative and messaging during campaign planning. The goal is to identify and reinforce the themes that are already resonating with consumers,” Yu said.
3. Measuring channels like AI Overviews and ChatGPT as distinct surfaces with different behavior rather than one AI bucket. “The volume split and the intent mix differ meaningfully between them,” Yu said.