Brand Search.

Search queries fall roughly into two groups. Generic searches describe a need: 'web design Winterthur', 'replace heating cost', 'fiduciary for startups'. Brand searches contain a name: the company name, a product name, sometimes the owner's name or a common misspelling. Someone who types 'Muster AG phone number' has already decided whom they want to talk to. They are no longer looking for a provider but for the way to one particular provider.

This separation is central to any analysis. Clicks from brand searches are almost always strong, because a company's own website usually ranks high for its own name. Mixed with generic searches, they make organic visibility look better than it is. An honest look at Google Search Console therefore filters queries by the brand name and its spelling variants and looks at both groups separately: how are brand searches developing, and how is visibility for searches without the name developing?

Brand searches are also where indirect effects become visible. People who see a poster, hear a podcast mention or find a company recommended in a ChatGPT answer rarely click straight away. Many remember the name and search for it later. With AI answers this is the usual path: the mention happens in the answer, the visit comes through a later brand search or a direct visit. Rising brand searches while little else has changed suggest growing awareness, but they do not prove a particular cause.

Paid advertising has to handle brand searches cleanly as well. In Google Ads you can bid on your own name, which can stop competitor ads appearing above your result, but it costs clicks that would often have come organically anyway. If brand and generic campaigns are not separated, the overall report shows a return that consists mainly of people who already knew the company. A sensible setup is a dedicated brand campaign with its own budget and goals, while generic campaigns exclude the brand name using negative keywords.