Google AI more negative than ChatGPT for brand reputation

BrightEdge has published research comparing how Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT express negative sentiment about brands, highlighting different reputational risks for marketing leaders across the customer journey.

The data suggests Google AI Overviews are more likely to criticise brands overall, while ChatGPT concentrates a larger share of negative responses closer to purchase decisions. BrightEdge framed this as a shift in how consumers encounter brand perceptions, as AI-generated answers increasingly act as an editorial layer over search and product research.

More than three billion people interact each month with Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT combined, according to BrightEdge-roughly one-third of the world's population. It argued that consumer use is expanding from fact-finding to evaluating brands and products.

Overall sentiment

Negative sentiment is relatively uncommon in both products. Google AI Overviews surfaced negative sentiment in about 2.3% of brand mentions in BrightEdge's analysis, compared with about 1.6% for ChatGPT.

BrightEdge noted that even low percentages can translate into millions of negative brand exposures each month at the scale of modern search. It also said AI-generated answers can repeat the same negative framing for many users who ask similar questions-unlike a traditional search results page, where critical reviews may sit deeper in the rankings.

Different triggers

The research suggests Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT turn negative for different reasons. Google AI Overviews skewed towards controversy-driven topics such as lawsuits, boycotts, data breaches, regulatory action, and product recalls. ChatGPT skewed towards product-evaluation themes such as compatibility limits, feature gaps, and value-for-money questions.

BrightEdge also said the systems draw on different source ecosystems. It characterised Google AI Overviews as leaning more heavily on news-driven sourcing and controversy indexing, while ChatGPT more often reflects product reviews, forums, and social discussions such as Reddit.

As a result, the same brand can face different negative narratives depending on where a consumer asks. BrightEdge cited examples including a retailer that draws negative sentiment in Google AI Overviews after a lawsuit makes the news, while ChatGPT returns criticism tied to product limitations or payment policies.

Purchase proximity

A key result in the analysis concerns where negative sentiment appears in the customer journey. BrightEdge reported that 85% of Google's negative sentiment appeared during informational queries, which typically align with research and discovery, when consumers form opinions and build shortlists.

ChatGPT showed a different pattern. BrightEdge said 68.5% of ChatGPT's negative sentiment appeared at the informational stage, but 19.4% surfaced during the consideration-to-purchase phase. It contrasted that with Google's 1.5% in the same phase, describing ChatGPT as 13 times more likely than Google to turn negative near the point of purchase.

BrightEdge argued this difference should change how risk is assessed, with Google shaping early perceptions while ChatGPT can influence conversion decisions.

Engine disagreement

The research also found the systems often disagree about which brand to criticise when responding to the same prompt. BrightEdge said that in overlapping prompts where both systems surfaced negative brand sentiment, Google and ChatGPT flagged different brands 73% of the time.

That divergence supports BrightEdge's argument that monitoring a single AI platform provides only a partial view of risk, given the systems' different sources and how each frames brand narratives.

Industry variation

BrightEdge reported that the prevalence and type of negative sentiment varies by sector. In electronics, it said both engines show elevated negativity, with Google leading due to product recalls and technology controversies. In education, it said Google was nearly twice as negative as ChatGPT, which it attributed to institutional and political scrutiny.

In apparel, BrightEdge reported the pattern reversed, with ChatGPT three times more negative than Google. It linked this to fewer controversy triggers and a greater share of product-evaluation queries.

Older signals resurface

BrightEdge said AI answers can surface older material that previously would have required deeper navigation in traditional search. It cited examples of historical content appearing directly in AI-generated responses, including a nearly decade-old product safety recall returning in response to a query about the best phone for battery life.

It also described cases where a prompt about a major brand's partnership with a celebrity pulled from a years-old Reddit thread, presenting community sentiment as established fact. Another example involved insurance provider comparisons in California, where ChatGPT mentioned brands criticised for not renewing homeowner policies in the state a year earlier.

BrightEdge argued this shifts how brands should think about managing their digital footprint, because AI can compress dispersed material into a single answer that users may treat as authoritative.

Jim Yu, Founder and CEO of BrightEdge, positioned the findings as a new challenge for senior marketers managing reputation across emerging AI surfaces.

"For better or worse, AI is your brand's new editorialist. Each engine characterizes your brand differently, and CMOs must treat them as distinct, dynamic environments."

Yu also linked AI sentiment monitoring to commercial outcomes.

"Sentiment monitoring across all AI engines is no longer optional," he said. "It's a revenue imperative. The brands that get ahead of this first will hold the competitive advantage."