Why insurance brands missing from 70% of search answers

Somantra studied 34,278 consumer conversations across 20 Australian insurers.

Seventy per cent of detailed, specific insurance queries on artificial intelligence (AI) search engines in Australia fail to mention any corporate brand, leaving a significant gap in the market.

The May 2026 AI Search Visibility Report, released by brand monitoring platform Somantra, analysed 34,278 consumer conversations regarding 20 Australian insurance brands across Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT.

The study found that when consumers asked specific, high-intent questions—such as how to claim pet insurance whilst overseas or what discounts apply to new cars—seven out of ten AI responses named no insurance provider at all.

Arun Prasad, founder of Somantra, stated that these unbranded responses represent a market opportunity for companies to adjust their digital content to ensure they are included in AI-generated answers. 

He warned that the window for action is closing as competing brands begin to claim these spaces.

The research also highlighted a heavy concentration of visibility amongst a small group of market leaders when brands are mentioned. 

On ChatGPT, just three brands accounted for 50% of all insurance mentions, whilst nine brands captured 90% of the total visibility. 

Google AI Overviews showed slightly more variation, with four brands taking half of all mentions and eleven accounting for 90%.

Additionally, the two major AI platforms frequently disagree on recommendations. Across 4,380 queries where both engines named a specific brand, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT recommended the same top company only 27.9% of the time. 

Whilst this is an increase from 23.7% in March, the two platforms still recommend entirely different brands in roughly seven out of ten identical queries.