For a long time, SEO experts have assumed that the best way to evaluate if something was working was by looking at its keyword ranks. It's still crucial to rank for keywords that get a lot of traffic, but the digital world is evolving.
Google's algorithms are changing to give greater weight to brand recognition and authority as AI and the Search Generative Experience (SGE) become more popular. This is where Share of Search comes into play. This significant figure does more than simply tell you how high your brand ranks; it also tells you how valuable and visible it is in the market. It's not enough to just know about Share of Search anymore; you need to optimise for it if you want to do well in SEO over the long run.

This tutorial will explain what Share of Search is, why it's an important number to look at in 2025 and beyond, and how to measure and improve it. We'll talk about how it fits into Google's AI-driven changes and give you some terrific tips on how to get from being ranked to being known. By the end, you'll know exactly what to do to attract your brand more attention and stay ahead of your competition in search results for a long time.

What does "Share of Search" represent, and why is it significant for brands?

Share of Search is a marketing indicator that shows how easily consumers can find your brand in search engines compared to other businesses. In brief, it informs you what proportion of all searches for brands in your category or industry are for your brand. It lets you discover how much customers enjoy and know about your brand.

If 1,000 people search for brand names in your field every month and 400 of those searches are for your agency's name, your Share of Search is 40%. This measure is becoming more relevant because it demonstrates brand equity and market penetration better than older ones like share of voice or keyword rankings. Share of Search shows that people like you, whereas ranking for a search shows that you are there.
People that search for a given brand are more likely to be serious about it and trust it, and Google understands this. This is why these branded searches are a significant indicator of authority. Google uses these signals to determine the best companies in each industry as it changes. This has a direct effect on how visible they are in all search results, even those that are made by AI.

How Google's 2025 Update uses Share of Search to rank brands.

Starting in 2025, Google's algorithm changes will put more and more weight on finding and rewarding brands that are trustworthy and have a lot of power. You can assess how reliable this brand is by checking its Share of Search. For a long time, SEO experts have assumed that the best way to evaluate if something was working was by looking at its keyword ranks. It's still crucial to rank for keywords that get a lot of traffic, but the digital world is evolving.
Google's algorithms are changing to give greater weight to brand recognition and authority as AI and the Search Generative Experience (SGE) become more popular. This is where Share of Search comes into play. This significant figure does more than simply tell you how high your brand ranks; it also tells you how valuable and visible it is in the market. It's not enough to just know about Share of Search anymore; you need to optimise for it if you want to do well in SEO over the long run.

This tutorial will explain what Share of Search is, why it's an important number to look at in 2025 and beyond, and how to measure and improve it. We'll talk about how it fits into Google's AI-driven changes and give you some terrific tips on how to get from being ranked to being known. By the end, you'll know exactly what to do to attract your brand more attention and stay ahead of your competition in search results for a long time.

This is how it works:

Searching for institutions: Google refers to brands as "institutions". These are real things or thoughts that are not equal and are connected to each other in their own way. Google adds your brand to your knowledge graph and makes it more important using a lot of branded questions.
The brand mentions: If people discuss it without connecting it without discussing your brand on other websites, social media sites and forums, it is a good indicator. Google's algorithm can tell how important these references are and how people feel about seeing the reference.
Getting users to participate: It is really important to know how customers connect with your brand in search results. People rely on your brand and recognize that if your branded search results get lots of clicks, people live on your site for a long time, and people make navigational discovery (where they are important to go directly to your site in your brand name).
These indications are now very relevant that there are AI-managed search tools such as SGE. The SGE wants to distribute direct reactions and summary, and it naturally prioritize businesses that know that they are already famous leaders. When SGE answers a question, it often mentions brands that achieve a lot of branded discoveries because it thinks that it suggests that consumers trust them.

How to Find Out How Many People Are Looking for Your Brand

It's easy to find out your Share of Search, and it can tell you a lot about how well your brand is doing in the market. If you follow these steps, you'll have a clear idea of how visible you are, with evidence to back it up.

Find the most important keywords and rivals in your field.

The first step is to figure out who your target market is. Write down the names of your primary rivals, including those who are direct and those who are indirect. Next, find the most significant non-branded words that describe your field. For instance, "running shoes," "CRM software," or "vegan protein powder." To get the complete image of the search, this background is really necessary.

Find out how many people are interested in your brand.

You can find out how many times people search for your brand name each month with SEO tools. This is how many people are looking for your brand. You may also include frequent mistakes and alternate ways to word items.

Look at the volumes that your competitors have for their brands.

You should do the same thing for all of your competitors. Find out how many people search for your brand each month for all the big companies in your field.

Find out how much of the search you own.

It's time to do the math now. Follow these simple steps:

◉ To figure out the Share of Search %, divide the number of searches for your brand by the total number of searches for all brands in the same category. Next, multiply by 100.

◉ The "Total Branded Search Volume" is the total number of searches for your brand and the brands of all your competitors that you have specified.

Keep an eye on how much it grows every month.

You can't just glance at Share of Search once. Once a month, check it out to see how things are changing, how your marketing campaigns are going, and how you compare to your competition over time. You can uncover chances and move fast when the market shifts if you keep an eye on things.

Tools to Help You Get Your Fair Share of Search

Google Trends is a free and useful tool that lets you see how the search interest in your brand changes over time compared to that of your competitors.
Google Search Console: It tells you just how well your own branded searches are doing, like how many times they were seen and clicked on.
Both Semrush and Ahrefs are full-featured SEO tools that can tell you exactly how many searches your brand and your competitors get.
Brand24 and Mention are two apps that let you see how often people talk about your brand online. This is a better way to find out what people think of your brand than just looking at search queries.

How to Get More Search Traffic in 2025:

If you want more search results, you need to take a whole-person strategy to building brand authority and awareness. It's about making people so familiar with and trust your brand that they look for you by name.

Improve your campaigns for brand recognition and content.

Make content that puts your brand front and centre. This might mean:

Content with a signature: Make a flagship content series, like a podcast, video series, or one-of-a-kind research report, that people will always think of when they think of your company.

Outreach to the media and public relations: Get articles and mentions in popular industry magazines and websites. Digital PR campaigns help you get backlinks from sites with a lot of authority and get your brand name in front of new people.

Campaigns on Social Media: Run exciting initiatives that get people talking about your brand and bring them together.

Use E-E-A-T signs to prove that you know what you're talking about.

Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness are all vital for SEO . Write long, accurate, and informative articles about issues that are essential to your area to prove that you know what you're talking about.To gain people's trust, engage skilled authors, use trustworthy sources, and display customer evaluations and case studies.

Check to see if your site is ready for searches that include both a brand and a keyword.

A lot of the time, individuals search for a brand combined with a product, service, or question. For instance, "HubSpot CRM pricing" or "Nike Run Club: How to Use It". Create individual pages or pieces of material that answer these queries explicitly. This not only attracts those who are really interested, but it also strengthens the connection between your brand and significant industry words.

Make your digital PR and social signals better

If you are active and intriguing on social media, more people will see your brand. Social signals might not directly impact your ranking, but they do start conversations and mentions that Google's algorithms pay attention to. Digital PR work on a regular basis makes sure that people talk about your brand a lot online. This is good for your business.

Pay attention to how often people talk about your brand on the internet.

Check that your brand's Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) are the same on all internet directories and sites. Search engines can learn everything they need to know about your brand from schema markup on your website. This includes what your brand is, what its logo looks like, where to find it on social media, and other important information. Google can better understand and trust your brand's identity with this structured data.

How AI and SGE Affect Share of Search:

AI and the Search Generative Experience (SGE) are making a major difference in how people use search results. Users are getting more and more direct, AI-generated replies and summaries instead of a list of blue links. Knowing your brand is more crucial than ever in this new way of doing things.

AI-generated summaries naturally prioritise well-known brand names that Google has certified as trustworthy. A larger Share of Search tells the AI that your brand is a well-known and trusted choice. This makes it more likely that people will discuss about or promote you in SGE answer boxes. You might think of it as a rating for how well you do online. You can use Share of Search to find out how well-known you are. AI is more likely to help you if you have a good reputation.

Use structured data (Schema markup) to make it clear to search engines what your brand is about, and make sure your entity data is correct. This helps the AI put things together and makes you an even better leader in your sector.

Finally, from ratings to praise: SEO is no longer just about checking keyword ranks; it's now about building trust and recognition for a business in a bigger sense. Share of Search is the greatest approach to see this development. It informs you what's actually important: whether or not the individuals you want to reach are paying attention to your brand.
It's a good idea to keep a watch on your Share of Search to assess how well your brand is performing and how much it could expand in the future. Every month, start measuring it. Find ways to make your brand more visible, and focus on developing a brand that people not only find but also look for.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What does "Share of Search" mean for SEO?

Share of Search shows you how many times people search for your brand name relative to how many times they search for all the brands in your industry that are comparable to yours. It's a technique to check out how well-known and popular your brand is on Google. To find it, divide the number of searches for your brand by the total number of searches for all brands in your category and then multiply by 100. A higher Share of Search suggests that more people are aware of and trust your brand.

Why is Share of Search essential in 2025?

Google's algorithms will give greater weight to brand recognition and entity authority than to mere keyword rankings in 2025. Brands having a greater Share of Search are more trustworthy. This means they show up more often in organic search results and AI-generated responses from the Search Generative Experience (SGE).

How does Google know how many searches it has?

Google employs a variety of different data signals to find out how many people are looking for a brand. Some of these are how many people are searching for your brand on Google Trends and Search Console, how often your brand is mentioned on social media and blogs, user engagement metrics like click-through rate, and how consistent your brand's information is across the web (like NAP data and Schema markup).

How can I find out how many people are looking for my brand?

You may easily find out your Share of Search by doing a few things. First, make a list of the names of your top rivals. Next, use tools like Ahrefs or Google Trends to find out how many people search for your brand and the brands of your competitors every month. Lastly, divide the number of searches for your brand by the total number of searches for the category and then multiply by 100 to get your percentage.

What tools can you utilise to figure out your Share of Search?

The greatest tool for comparing search interest is Google Trends. For getting precise search volume data, Ahrefs or Semrush are the best. Brand24 and Mention are the best tools for keeping track of brand mentions. You may use Google Search Console to see how well your own branded searches are doing.

How can I get more search results in 2025?

Make your brand easier to remember and trust if you want more people to look for it. Get expert-led material and good reviews to boost your E-E-A-T signals (Expertise, Experience, Authority, Trust). Also, improve your site for searches for "brand + keyword," perform public relations and social media campaigns, and generate high-quality branded content.

Does the number of people that look for a site effect its Google rank?

Share of Search doesn't directly change rankings, but it does have a large effect on them in an indirect way. Brands with a high Share of Search frequently have greater authority, stronger backlinks, and more evidence that users are interested. All of these things assist them get better search results. Your reputation is what sets you apart in Google's environment, which is always changing. Share of Search is a digital tool that lets you check your reputation.