AI is Not One Channel

Optimising for 'AI' without specifying which platform is like optimising for 'social media' without distinguishing between LinkedIn and TikTok.

ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews and emerging agentic platforms are distinct environments with different retrieval mechanisms, trust dynamics, user demographics, business models, and structural access rules.

We need to plan and deliver activity accordingly.

Models add a further layer…

Different models have different training data, knowledge cutoffs, reasoning behaviours, and citation tendencies.

A brand that featured prominently in pre-2024 training data will be represented very differently from one that emerged after a model’s knowledge cutoff, regardless of how well-optimised their current content is.

This is a really important nuance.

… And platform politics directly affect visibility, too.

  • Amazon blocks all OpenAI crawlers, making a significant portion of US e-commerce invisible to ChatGPT Search.
  • Anthropic has positioned Claude as ad-free and walked away from its Pentagon contract, seeing a surge in users as a result.
  • OpenAI began rolling out advertising in early 2026, with evidence its algorithm had been adjusted before the announcement.

These decisions affect which brands appear where, and how users perceive each platform.

Visibility in one AI environment gives you no guarantee of visibility in another… because where you’re cited matters, as much as whether you’re cited.

If you want to get a better understanding of each of the six current leaders when it comes to consumer adoption of AI, take a look at our AI search platform comparison tool, below. You can learn about their retrieval methods, their latest models, their crawlers and any access issues, their business model, how they feature and structure citations, their audience and reach and any pertinent platform politics.

AI Search Platform Comparison | Propellernet

AI search platform comparison

Compare the six major AI search platforms side by side. Use the buttons below to select which platforms to compare and which dimensions to explore. Select three or fewer platforms to see strategic implications for each.

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Data reflects the landscape as of March 2026. AI platforms evolve rapidly, so crawl policies, business models, and citation behaviours are subject to change. This tool is part of Propellernet’s AI Search: Core Beliefs framework.

Recommended Reading

SparkToro/Datos: "Google Search Grew 20%+ in 2024"

Research quantifying the gap between Google and ChatGPT at 373x, with a breakdown of how AI tool usage varies across platforms.

OpenAI's Official Crawler Documentation

Details of OpenAI’s three separate crawlers, each serving a different purpose, illustrating that even one company’s AI isn’t a single system.

Ahrefs Analysis of AI Citation Overlap

Finding that only 13.7% of citations overlap between Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, two products from the same company.

Belief Navigation