Intelligence Brief
No. 01Published · April 2026
Reconnaissance
The fundamental shift from Search to AI — and why online reputation is becoming the critical infrastructure for AI visibility.
900 million people use ChatGPT weekly. AI Overviews reduce organic CTR for position 1 in Germany by 59% — 265 million lost clicks per month. Only 7% of brands achieve dominant status in AI responses, 72% remain permanently invisible. 90% of brand citations in LLMs come from earned media, not owned websites.
01900M weekly ChatGPT users worldwide
02−59% organic CTR for position 1 due to AI Overviews in DE
03265M lost clicks per month in Germany
047% of brands dominant — 72% permanently invisible
0590% of brand citations from earned media
065–10% of AI sources from owned websites
0794% of B2B buyers use LLMs in procurement
0895% of deals go to the vendor on the day-one shortlist
Online reputation is the critical infrastructure for AI visibility. What others say about a brand determines its presence in AI systems — not its own website. Recon Rise has been building exactly this infrastructure for nearly two decades.