Why it matters.
A buyer who sees your name in an AI answer often does not click. They search your name later, or type your address. That shows up as branded search and direct traffic, not as an AI referral.
Google added a branded queries filter to Search Console on 20 November 2025 and opened it to all eligible sites on 11 March 2026. It sorts queries with an AI-assisted system, so some may be misclassified; it works only on top-level properties, and only where there is enough query volume.
The 10-minute self-check.
In Search Console, open Performance, then Search results:
- Add a query filter: “Branded” if you have it, or a custom regex such as
yourbrand|your brand|common misspelling. - Compare the last three months with the previous three: impressions and clicks.
- In GA4, check direct sessions to your homepage for the same periods.
Steps.
- Check the property first: it must match the address your site actually serves on.
- Build a brand regex that includes misspellings and product names.
- Record monthly: branded impressions, branded clicks, direct sessions and AI Assistant sessions.
- Mark the dates your AI visibility changed, such as the first month an engine named you for a panel question.
- Look for change that holds for two or three months, not a single week.
- Note other causes in the same period: campaigns, events, press.
Brand-demand reporting is part of our analytics and measurement work.
What we saw on prolinkage.com.
How to measure it.
- Branded impressions and clicks: monthly, against the baseline.
- Direct homepage sessions: monthly, in GA4.
- Context: the same months’ AI visibility runs (play 04), side by side, never added together.
Sources.
- Google Search Central, Introducing the branded queries filter in Search Console, 20 November 2025, updated 11 March 2026.
- Prolinkage Search Console, property https://prolinkage.com/, 8 August to 5 November 2026 (pulled 8 November 2026), 8 November 2026.