Half of under-45s now use AI as much as Google when searching online.
That’s not a future trend. It’s December 2025 data from Bain & Co.
Conversions from AI recommendations can be far more valuable than paid media traffic. And when we measured 50 iGaming operators to see who appears in these recommendations, we found something stark: only six brands consistently win.
The other 44 are largely invisible.
ChatGPT queries in the UK increased nearly fivefold in 2025 (Ofcom). Your target audience has already shifted to using AI for search.
Yet many marketing teams haven’t.
This shift to AI is both a challenge and an opportunity.
How Marketing Came Full Circle
To understand why AI visibility matters, consider how marketing has evolved.
Pre-digital (1950s-1990s)
Brand marketing ruled. TV, radio, print. Build awareness, create desire, and trust that the customer finds you.
Massive budgets. Impossible to measure precisely.
Digital era (2000s-2020)
Performance marketing takes over. [PPC ->], affiliate, SEO. Track every click. Measure every conversion.
Boards love performance – they get a clear ROI and accountable spend.
Brand marketing became harder to defend. Boards demanded performance metrics. CMOs delivered.
It’s not quite true that brand marketing became the thing you did when you had budget left over. But it had certainly lost its lustre.
AI era (2025 onwards)
We’ve come full circle.
Performance marketing still gets you traffic, but AI doesn’t click on your PPC ads. It recommends brands it trusts.
And AI recommendations convert at 3-4x the rate of Google traffic. So reality is, you need both performance and brand. You always did.
AI has just made brand marketing critical again.
From Keywords to Fitness Signals
Writing in Search Engine Land, Andrew Holland argues that while SEO optimised for Google’s algorithm, [GEO ->] – Generative Engine Optimisation, optimises for AI-powered search.
“You’re no longer optimizing for human users who type short queries into Google,” he writes. “You’re optimizing for a probabilistic model that interprets human intent across millions of contexts.”
For iGaming brands, marketing has changed.
- Keywords still matter: “best sports betting site,” “highest lottery jackpot.”
- But AI thinks in fitness signals: reputation, compliance record, player protection, payout speed.
What Our Data Shows:
In our latest research analysing 50 iGaming operators across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude, SBK scores 92% for AI visibility. William Hill? 68%.
Despite William Hill’s heritage, brand recognition, and market share, SBK is showing up in AI recommendations far more consistently.
The difference? Fitness signals.
It’s not about who’s biggest — it’s about who’s best optimised for how AI tools are making decisions.
👉 See how your brand compares — view the full research
The Five Fitness Signals AI Uses
Here are the five attributes AI systems scan for in iGaming:
Market presence
How are you coming across in the market as a whole? Think media mentions and PR coverage, industry awards and recognition, or expert commentary and thought leadership.
Third-party validation builds this authority.
Operational performance
What about your operational performance? Is your payout speed efficient and reliable? Consider customer service response times, platform stability and uptime.
User evidence
Reviews and ratings across platforms are also key. Player testimonials, social proof at scale – the lived experiences AI can reference and trust.
Regulatory credibility
Your site is reliable and credible, but can AI see that? Clearly mention licensing bodies, consider your compliance track record and third-party certifications such as GamCARE partnerships.
Player protection signals
Think visible responsible gambling tools. Self-exclusion systems. Problem gambling support partnerships. These aren’t box-ticking exercises – if they ever were – they’re brand signals.
We’re now reliant on the same things that made TV advertising effective. Credibility. Trust. Social proof. Distinctiveness.
AI just made them essential again.
How You Can Put This Into Practice?
Example A: Heritage Brand (Low AI Availability)
Established name. Eighty-year history. 15% market share.
Website copy: “The UK’s most trusted betting site.”
Performance attributes: Unstated. Assumed.
Third-party mentions: Minimal recent coverage.
AI result: Rarely recommended.
Example B: New Operator (High AI Availability)
Two years old. 2% market share.
Website copy: “Average payout: 14 minutes. Bet Builder on 47 sports. 24/7 UK-based support.”
Performance attributes: Explicit. Measurable. Distinctive.
Third-party mentions: Regular industry coverage. Player reviews highlighting fast payouts.
AI result: Appears in 4 out of 5 AI recommendation sets.
The Difference:
Example A assumes people know they’re good. Example B proves it.
AI can’t assume. It needs evidence.
Building AI Availability
Most igaming operators start by measuring their AI visibility.
That’s helpful.
But you also need strategy.
Step 1: Define Your Points of Difference
Before you audit anything, answer these:
- What do you want to be famous for?
- What should distinguish you from competitors?
- What matters most to your target players?
- What can you prove that others can’t?
This isn’t marketing fluff. It’s strategic positioning. You need it clear before you measure anything.
Step 2: Look Inside – What You Say About Yourself
Audit your website brutally.
- Do you explicitly state your performance attributes?
- Can AI extract specific, measurable claims?
- Is your compliance and licensing visible and detailed?
- Do you provide evidence for your claims?
- Are your points of difference crystal clear?
Common Problems
“Award-winning” → Which award? When? For what?
“Fast payouts” → How fast? Compared to who?
“Best odds” → On which markets? Verified by whom?
What Works
“Average payout time: 14 minutes (verified by AskGamblers, November 2024)”
“UKGC licensed since 2019, zero enforcement actions”
“9.2/10 average rating across 4,300 Trustpilot reviews”
The difference? Specificity. Evidence. Third-party validation. This is already [SEO ->] good practice (EEAT), of course.
Step 3: Look Outside – What Others Say About You
This is where AI learns about you.
- Trade publications: SBC News. iGaming Business. EGR. Do they cover you? What context? What angle?
- National press: Guardian. Telegraph. BBC. Are you visible in responsible gambling discussions? Do you comment on industry issues?
- Reddit and forums: What are players saying? Not your marketing claims. Their lived experience.
- Review and affiliate platforms: Trustpilot. AskGamblers. Oddschecker. Volume matters. Recency matters. Response rate matters.
- Industry awards and certifications: Not for your trophy cabinet. For third-party validation that AI can reference.
Step 4: The Gap Analysis
Where do your claimed points of difference appear in outside sources?
Example
Client claims: “Industry-leading responsible gambling tools”
Reddit says: “Decent site but the self-exclusion process is confusing”
Trade press says: Nothing. No mentions.
AI concludes: Generic claim, no validation.
If others aren’t saying what you want to be famous for, you’re not famous for it yet.
The Winner-Takes-All Problem
Our research shows only six brands consistently appear across AI recommendations.
This isn’t like Google, where bottom of page 1 still gets some clicks.
Traditional SEO:
Position 1: 26% click-through rate (or thereabouts)
Position 2: 10% click-through rate
Position 10: Still 1% click-through rate
Being on Page 1 mattered. Being on Page 2 didn’t. But you still had a chance.
AI Recommendations:
Mentioned: Near 100% chance of conversion opportunity
Not mentioned: Near 0% chance of conversion opportunity
There is no Page 2. You’re visible or invisible.
Why it’s Urgent:
Your competitors aren’t building fitness signals yet. Most still think this is an SEO problem they can solve with better keywords.
The ones who understand brand availability will build unassailable positions.
The Window
We have about 12 months before this approach becomes standard practice. After that, the gap between AI-visible and AI-invisible brands becomes permanent.
It’s Marketing, Not Technology
This isn’t a job for your SEO team alone. It’s a job for your CMO, your comms team, your brand strategy. It’s how you’ll see incomparable growth in 2026.
What This Means For Your Board
Performance marketing still drives short-term revenue. Brand marketing now drives AI availability. AI availability drives qualified traffic at 3-4x conversion rates.
Both are essential. Both need investment.
Your Competitive Advantage:
Most iGaming operators still treat performance and brand as separate budgets, separate teams, separate metrics.
The winners will integrate them around AI availability.
The Gap Is Already There
Half of under-45s use AI as much as Google to find products and services. ChatGPT queries in the UK increased nearly fivefold in 2025 (Ofcom). Gaming operators with strong fitness signals are building their AI visibility, and yet, many marketing directors are only just starting to measure it.
The question isn’t whether AI visibility matters.
The question is: how long will you wait before you measure yours?
Want to know how your brand ranks on AI search?
We’ve measured 50 iGaming operators across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude — and we can show you exactly where you stand, what your competitors are doing, and what it takes to get into the top six.
Contact Receptional to discuss your AI Opportunity Analysis
Or
Join one of our upcoming webinars here to see what the data’s revealing in real time.
