.avif)
Why you should be measuring brand search as an SEO
TLDR
- Search and discovery today happens beyond just Google
- Preference and choice are built through search content across a range of channels
- Users navigate to Google once they’ve made up their mind on what they want to buy, and they take a branded search
Today, we understand that search has moved from a platform (Google) to a behaviour that happens across multiple platforms and touchpoints. Social platforms, ChatGPT, they all form the early part of both the discovery and search journey.
Where, before, you might have searched on Google for ‘the best moisturiser for dry skin’ you’re now more likely to head to TikTok, search for the same query and watch it through a creator where you can experience the product through the video and you can see the final result. Or you might give ChatGPT a detailed prompt, tailored to you ‘I am a south asian woman in her late twenties, looking for a face moisturiser for dry skin’ - where you’ll have solutions tailored to you.
And if you’re an SEO that recognises this (and if you’re not, in 2026, we need to have words!) then you’ll be working on engineering presence for your brands across these platforms - whether it’s a social search strategy on TikTok, a community-led strategy on Reddit or an AEO/GEO WTFEO strategy covering AI - the point is, you’re engineering discovery on platforms that aren’t Google.
But what happens when that’s a success? You’ve put your brand in the right conversation, on the right platform - and they’re ready to convert. What do they do?
Well, they head to Google and make a [brand] search! (citation?)
Which means, if you’re not measuring this, you’re not accounting the work you’ve on done across different searchable platforms
So, this is why you should be measuring brand search as a key metric in 2026
Drawbacks of measuring brand search as an SEO
TLDR
- Wider brand activity and campaigns impacts brand search
- [Brand] search alone doesn’t tell you the ‘why’
You might be thinking - but Maaria, brand search isn’t impacted by the SEO team alone?
Maybe your business has a huge brand presence, maybe they have marketing campaigns that impact branded search, or maybe seasonality plays a huge part.
All of the above are totally valid points, but measuring brand search doesn’t mean only measuring the top-level brand term.
How to overcome the drawbacks of reporting on brand search as an SEO
- Measuring [brand] + [term] queries, or co-branded terms
- Measuring the journey from [brand] search to search led landing pages
- Measuring [brand] + [term] queries or co-branded terms.
Let’s imagine, you’re launching a new line of sports bras, so you’ve built a social search campaign that answers key questions around sports bras, boob health and exercise which has then been executed on social channels.
You’ll have created content around pillars or clusters within the sports bra space, conducting keyword and intent research. Whether it be top of funnel like ‘how to protect my boobs while running’ or commercial terms like ‘dual cup sports bra’ ‘high impact sports bra’ ‘sports bra for running’.
And you’ve executed on content that answers these queries across the search landscape, whether it be through social content, AI focussed campaigns or your website.
So if you then find an increase in queries such as: ‘[brand] + [dual cup sports bra]’, or ‘[brand] + [sports bra for running]’ have an increase, you can link it to the work you’ve done around these queries, questions and pain points.
But there’s more…
Connect the content to a designated destination
Ok so you’ve put out content on your sports bra questions, queries and pain points.
We know this will build preference across social channels and is likely to drive a brand search on Google.
Now they should be met with an experience from their [brand] + [term] search that meets their intent.
For example, a sports bra’s guide landing page, a sports bras for runners PLP etc
You can then map the brand search against the landing pages - and begin to understand how brand search has impacted conversion
Map the spikes in brand search to brand campaigns etc and consider this when analysing data
Ensure that as a search team you’re in the loop with any wider marketing campaigns, and exclude any spikes in traffic that align with these campaigns.
You should also be looking at brand search through the lens of the long game - how has it been impacted over months and years? Rather than looking at periods where there have been significant brand campaigns.
So, what does good look like in practice?
- Track [brand] + [modifier] queries (not just your top-level brand term) and map them to the content pillars you’ve activated off-Google
- Build designated landing pages for brand + term searches so you can connect discovery to conversion
- Layer in campaign and seasonality context when you report, so brand peaks don’t skew your read on organic performance
- Report on brand search trend over time – quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year – not just weekly snapshots
- The SEOs doing this well are building a brand search dashboard that sits alongside their non-brand performance data. It doesn’t need to be complicated – Google Search Console gives you branded query data for free. Layer that against your content calendar, your off-Google activations, and your wider marketing plan, and you’ve got a genuinely useful signal.
- And if you want to get more sophisticated? Track brand search velocity – the rate of growth month-on-month – rather than just absolute volume. A brand that’s gaining momentum in search is a brand that’s gaining momentum in culture. That’s a story worth telling in your next quarterly review.
The bottom line
The SEO discipline has always been about understanding how people search and making sure your brand shows up in those moments. In 2026, those moments are happening on TikTok, in ChatGPT, on Reddit, in AI Overviews. Then, when someone’s made up their mind, on Google.
If you’re not measuring brand search, you’re measuring the last mile and calling it the whole journey. And that’s leaving a lot of your best work uncredited.
Start measuring it. Own it. And make sure the wider business understands why it matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should SEOs care about brand search if it's influenced by the whole marketing team?
Brand search isn't solely owned by SEOs, but that doesn't mean SEOs shouldn't measure it. The key is to go beyond top-level brand terms and instead track brand + modifier queries (e.g., "brand name + dual cup sports bra") that tie directly to the content pillars and topics your SEO and search activity has activated. This gives you a measurable signal that's clearly connected to your work.
How has search behaviour changed, and why does it make brand search more relevant for SEOs?
Search is no longer just a Google behaviour — it happens across TikTok, Reddit, ChatGPT, and other platforms. SEOs are increasingly building presence across these channels, and when that work succeeds, users typically head to Google and make a branded search before converting. If you're not measuring that branded search, you're not accounting for the impact of your off-Google activity.
How do I connect brand search data to actual business outcomes like conversions?
Map your brand + modifier queries to designated landing pages built specifically for those search intents — a sports bra guide page, a category page for runners, and so on. By tracking which branded queries lead to which pages, and then monitoring conversions from those pages, you can start drawing a direct line between your discovery-led content and revenue.
How do I stop wider brand campaigns from skewing my brand search data?
Stay looped in with your wider marketing team so you know when campaigns are live. When you see spikes in brand search volume that align with those campaigns, exclude or annotate them in your reporting. Focus on the longer-term trend — quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year — rather than short-term snapshots that may be distorted by campaign activity or seasonality.
.avif)