Clarity unveils Surfacd to track B2B brands in AI search

Clarity Global has launched Surfacd, a monitoring product designed to show how B2B brands appear in answers generated by AI search and assistant tools, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot.

The agency positioned the product as a response to changes in B2B research behaviour, as more buyers use AI systems to compare suppliers. Surfacd tracks brand presence across AI-generated responses and identifies the sources and narratives that influence those outputs.

Surfacd is Clarity's first proprietary product. It forms part of a wider investment in owned technology alongside the agency's marketing and communications services.

Buyer Behaviour

Clarity pointed to research suggesting AI tools are now central to B2B buying processes. Its work indicates that 65% of B2B buyers rely on AI answers when building vendor shortlists, and that 80% spend at least an hour a week using AI for decision-making.

Rachel Gilley, Chief Executive Officer at Clarity, said leadership teams are now asking how brands are presented across different AI platforms.

"2026 is an inflection point. AI is now fully embedded in how B2B buyers research and shortlist vendors, and leadership teams are increasingly trying to understand how their brands actually appear across platforms. Surfacd gives them a clear view of that visibility and brings AI search into the same measurement framework we already apply across SEO, PR and digital analytics," said Rachel Gilley, Chief Executive Officer, Clarity.

What It Measures

Surfacd uses category-specific prompts to analyse AI-generated responses on priority topics. It assesses brand visibility and consistency across those answers and benchmarks performance against named competitors in the same category.

It also maps the sources, signals and narratives that appear to shape how AI platforms interpret and recommend brands. This reflects a shift away from keyword-only measurement long used in traditional search optimisation.

Clarity described Surfacd as a measurement layer for what it calls Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). The term covers public relations, content and digital activity intended to influence how brands are referenced in AI-generated answers.

Target Users

Clarity said the tool is aimed at large brands and market leaders seeking to maintain visibility when AI tools describe a category. It is also positioned for growth-stage businesses that view AI as a way to compete with established rivals that dominate conventional SEO.

Marketing and communications leaders are another target group. Clarity said these teams often need consistent reporting on AI visibility when planning budgets and setting priorities.

Operationally, Surfacd is designed to support both communications and search teams. Clarity said it can identify the publications, analysts and commentators that influence AI answers in a given category, and highlight which content assets have the greatest impact on AI visibility.

White-Label Model

Clarity is making Surfacd available to its clients as well as partner organisations. It is offered as a white-label analytics product, allowing other agencies to provide the tool under their own branding.

The initial rollout will be controlled, with Clarity working with organisations seeking early access, pilot programmes or partnership arrangements.

Product Build

Chief Technology Officer Will Julian-Vicary led development of Surfacd. He described it as a response to what the agency has observed among B2B technology clients: growing reliance on AI-driven research and limited visibility into how brands are presented by those systems.

"Surfacd unlocks the black box of AI search, providing visibility across everything our clients already do in digital and communications activities," said Julian-Vicary.

"By monitoring the same interfaces users rely on, we show brands how they compare to competitors and which websites are influencing the AI systems when answering questions in their category. That clarity moves marketing and communications teams from educated guesswork to insight-led planning, so they can make more impactful decisions and clearly prove results," he added.

Clarity said Surfacd underpins its GEO service work, including projects focused on how brands are represented and recommended across AI-driven discovery at category level.