01Markets
SEO and AI visibility across markets: visibility does not travel
Searlixa operates as a remote SEO and AI search agency across seven markets. No offices in any of them, and we do not claim otherwise.
Quick answer
A June 2026 study ran identical prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode in four markets and measured how much the cited sources matched. ChatGPT, the most globally consistent engine, carried only about 21% of its citations across markets. Google AI Mode dropped to 14.6%.
The pair that diverged most was the United States and the United Kingdomsame language, overlapping culture, and the least transferable citation sets in the dataset. A strong AI presence in one country is not a strong AI presence anywhere else.
Key takeaways
- 79 to 85 percent of citations are country-specific. Publishing in your home market builds visibility in your home market and very little else.
- US and UK diverge most, which is the pair teams most often serve with one page.
- Google AI Mode is the most geo-localised engine measured, at a 14.6% consistency score.
- A separate study found no provider recommended consistently across three markets. The French answer named a local freelance consultant ahead of every funded platform in the category.
- Non-US brands start lower and can finish higher. Training data has been US-source heavy, but many non-US categories have no established leader yet.
- No offices, no LocalBusiness markup, no city pages. We work remotely and the site says so.
What the cross-market data actually shows
Two independent 2026 studies reached the same conclusion by different routes.
| Measure | Finding | What it means for a multi-market brand |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT citation carry-over between markets | ~21% | Roughly four fifths of your citation base does not transfer |
| Google AI Mode consistency score | 0.146 | The most geo-localised engine measured. Treat every market as new |
| Most divergent country pair | US and UK | A shared language is not a shared source ecosystem |
| Domains cited across US, Spain and France for one question | 16, 17 and 13, minimal overlap | Category leadership is won market by market, not globally |
| Providers recommended consistently in more than one market | None | There is no global default position to inherit |
| Most locally specific content stage | Awareness | Broad category content is the least portable thing you write |
Verified Third-party research, with one author’s competing interest disclosed on their own page and repeated in our sources.
Why the sources differ by country
Assistants ground answers in sources, and those sources are local: national publications, local review platforms, regional community discussion, market-specific regulators. A brand cited constantly in the United States can be absent in the UAE for the same query family, because the source pool the model draws on is entirely different.
That means a prompt set per market, in that market's language, sampled separately. It is not a translation exercise, and it is the largest cost driver in international engagements. See international SEO and pricing.
What we are not claiming. Searlixa is based in Jaipur, India, and has no offices in the markets it serves. There is no LocalBusiness markup on this site, no local address, and no "local team" claim. Every market page below describes market structure, not a presence we do not have.
The markets
Markets we serve without a page
We also work with clients in New Zealand and other high-income English-language markets. There is no page for them because we do not yet have anything market-specific to say, and a page that repeats general advice under a country name is a doorway page whatever the intention.
A market gets a page when we have run work there and learned something you could not get from the service pages. That is a slower way to grow this section and it is the only one that produces pages worth reading.
Why there are no city pages
The source page map for this project contained 76 city pages. Publishing a page for a city because a keyword exists, with no genuine local information behind it, is a doorway pattern. The project's own governance rules prohibit it in four separate places, and Google's spam policies name it directly.
City pages get added when a market hub proves demand and we have real local intelligence for that city. Not before.
What adding a market costs
More than most buyers expect, and we would rather state it than surprise you. Each market needs its own prompt set built in-market, sampled separately and coded separately. Language scope is the single largest driver in our published pricing, and it is not a translation line item.
The compensation is that the work compounds locally. Because so little carries between markets, a citation base built in one country is genuinely defensible there.
02Common questions
Questions about multi-market work
Does AI visibility in one country carry over to another?
Barely. A June 2026 study measured citation overlap between markets and found ChatGPT, the most globally consistent engine, carried only about 21% of its citations across markets. Google AI Mode dropped to 14.6%. The other 79 to 85 percent is country-specific.
Which country pair diverges most?
The United States and United Kingdom, which is the pair most teams assume is interchangeable. Same language, overlapping culture, and the most divergent citation sets of any pair in that study.
Why do the sources differ so much by country?
Because assistants ground answers in local sources: national publications, local review platforms, regional community discussion and market-specific regulators. Awareness-stage content is the most locally specific of all.
Can we just translate our English content?
No, and translation is the wrong frame entirely. A direct translation of an English prompt is often not how buyers in another market ask. The prompt set has to be built in-market, in the market's language, or you measure demand that does not exist.
Why do you publish no city pages?
Because we have no city-level intelligence yet. Publishing a page for a city because a keyword exists, with nothing local behind it, is a doorway pattern. Google's spam policies name it directly and this project's own rules prohibit it in four places.
Is there an advantage to being outside the US?
Potentially a large one. ChatGPT's training and retrieval have been US-source heavy, so non-US brands start from a lower baseline, but many non-US categories also have no established leader yet. The room at the top is still open in a way it is not in the US.
How much does adding a market cost?
It is the largest single driver in our pricing, because each market needs its own prompt set built in-market, sampled and coded separately. It is not a translation line item.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of the following. Where a claim is ours rather than a source’s, it carries an evidence label instead.
- Yotpo — cross-market citation study, June 2026. Identical consumer purchase prompts run simultaneously across ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode in the US, UK, Germany and Australia, measuring citation-set overlap between markets. Source for the ~21% ChatGPT carry-over, the 14.6% Google AI Mode consistency score, and the finding that the US and UK were the most divergent pair. Independent study
- EchoWi — three-market comparison, August 2026. The same question asked of Google AI Overviews in the US, Spain and France, twelve runs. The three markets cited 16, 17 and 13 domains with minimal overlap, and no single provider was recommended consistently in more than one market. Disclosure noted by the author: EchoWi competes in the category measured. Independent study
- Leaders in Digital — ChatGPT visibility analysis, June 2026. Source for the observation that ChatGPT’s training and retrieval layer has been US-source heavy, leaving non-US brands at a lower baseline. Industry analysis
- Rankability — State of AI Search, 2026. Source for cross-platform overlap and structural citation signals. Independent study
- Google Search Central — Optimizing your website for generative AI features (15 May 2026, updated 10 July 2026), and spam policies now covering generative responses. Primary
- Searlixa sampling across client engagements, labelled Observed with sample and date. Our own
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