Aurelian Watch.

Aurelian Watch is Aurelian Lab's Observatory on how organisations are represented inside artificial intelligence models. We follow the topics that matter internationally and in Italy and give our clients up-to-date, verified news. Alongside this information work, we run analyses and studies with the proprietary Aurelian Intelligence tools.

Aurelian Lab observes. So you don't have to.

2026 REPORT

Symphonic reputation.

Why acting only on what a company says about itself is no longer enough.

In Italy almost two online searches out of three (63.4%) end without opening any website (SparkToro and Similarweb, June 2026): a company's first impression increasingly takes shape in the answers, including those of AI assistants. To understand what they find today, the Aurelian Watch 2026 Observatory analysed 50 mid-sized Italian companies, with 2024 revenue between €10 and €100 million, across six sectors and twelve regions.

With AEO Boost we asked Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, with and without web search, six questions a client looking for a supplier would ask, without ever naming the company, plus one control question: 2,450 answers and 6,460 citations analysed. With StakeGraph we read the 50 websites the way machines read them; twelve of them we also read by hand.

Aurelian Watch 2026 Observatory

2026 Observatory findings.

46 of 50

companies are described correctly by all four AI assistants with web search when searched by name (“what is [the company]?”).

12 of 50

companies never appear in the answers to the six questions of a client looking for a supplier in their sector, without naming them.

2.2%

of citations go to the company's own website; directories get 10.2%.

49 of 50

websites do not structure products and services in a way AI can read.

Being known does not mean being chosen: reputation in AI is decided by the questions of people who do not yet know the company.

Source: Aurelian Watch 2026 Observatory · AEO Boost and StakeGraph. Aggregated, anonymous data. Zero-click searches: SparkToro and Similarweb, June 2026.

THE CONCEPT

Symphonic if you conduct it. Cacophonous if you leave it to someone else.

Reputation on AI is no longer a set of messages on different channels: it is a group of instruments playing together. Website, social media, online articles, press coverage, events and reviews are the company's voices, and an AI assistant listens to all of them and sums them up in a single answer.

When the voices are in tune

The website says what the press, directories, clients and structured data say. The summary is faithful: the company is described as it is.

When they are out of tune

A different name, a wrong address, an expired certificate, a promise without proof. The summary fractures: the assistant repeats the version that is easiest to find, not the truest one.

Write to us to receive the summary report, or join the 17 November webinar to get all the data and understand how to act for an AI Brand Reputation coordinated with the rest of your communication channels.

Get the summary report Register for the webinar

Webinar on 17 November.

Tuesday 17 November, 9 pm (CET), online: 20 minutes with all the Aurelian Watch 2026 Observatory data and 10 minutes of questions. Register and we will send you the joining link.

Data & transparency

We only collect name and email. No advertising tracking, no profiling, no third-party sharing: the data is used solely to organise this session and is deleted when the project closes. You can request immediate deletion at marialuisa@aurelianlab.com.

GLOSSARY

The topics we keep an eye on.

The definitions we constantly monitor in the Observatory to allow Clients to stay updated along with us.

Symphonic reputation: A company's reputation in the age of artificial intelligence. Website, press, events, reviews, directories and structured data play together like the instruments of an orchestra, because an AI assistant listens to all of them and sums them up in a single answer. When the voices are in tune, the summary is faithful; when they are out of tune, the assistant repeats the version that is easiest to find, not the truest one. Corporate communication takes the conductor's role: direct, adjust, restore.
AI Reputation: An organisation's reputation as an institution in the answers of generative AI systems: reliability, governance, sustainability and leadership, as read by investors, institutions, media and employees. It concerns how models describe and assess the organisation as a whole.
AI Brand Reputation: The brand's reputation on the market in LLM answers: whether it appears when a client asks for a product or a supplier, how it is compared with competitors, which sources support it and when it is recommended. The dimension measured by the Aurelian Watch 2026 Observatory with Aurelian AEO Boost.
AI Sustainability Reputation: How AI models represent an organisation's sustainability commitment and performance, and how consistently this aligns with primary sources and official statements. One of the dimensions measured by Aurelian ESG Monitor.
AI Visibility: Whether, and how often, an organisation appears in the answers generated by AI-based engines and assistants. It presupposes that the model recognises the organisation as a distinct, trustworthy entity. One of the dimensions measured by Aurelian AEO Boost.
AI Citability: The degree to which an organisation's content can be reused and attributed by a language model: clear definitions, structured data and consistent sources turn presence into citation. One of the dimensions measured by Aurelian AEO Boost.
Entity Map: The map of entities that define an organisation — who it is, what it does, who it serves — and of the verifiable links between them and with other sources. LLMs do not read pages: they retrieve entities and relations; a coherent entity mapping increases the likelihood of being named, and named correctly.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization: the practices for appearing in classic search results, based on indexes and link rankings. The historical reference for digital visibility, today to be integrated — not replaced — by the generative disciplines.
GEO: Generative Engine Optimization: the set of practices that make an organisation and its content correctly interpretable and citable by generative engines and language models.
AEO: Answer Engine Optimization: optimization for engines that answer instead of listing links, structuring information as a direct, complete and attributed answer.

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