This week's snapshot

This is our second weekly AI search roundup. Recovery patterns from the March core update are becoming clearer. Claude continues its upward trajectory. The UK remains 6 to 12 months behind the US on AI search adoption. Here is what happened and what it means.

seocompare.co.uk launched this week

Yes, this is a little meta. SEOCompare went live this week as the UK's independent comparison of AI search optimisation agencies and tools. The market needed a neutral resource not tied to any single agency. We help businesses find the right partner for ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overviews visibility. Expect content here to grow fast.

Google March 2026 core update - recovery patterns emerging

Two weeks after the March 2026 core update finished rolling out, clear recovery patterns are appearing. Sites that kept stable, well-structured content through the volatility are settling into improved positions. Sites that made reactive changes during the rollout are still unstable. The lesson stays the same: do not chase algorithm updates. Build solid foundations and let the dust settle. For full tracking data, see our algorithm changes tracker.

Claude's market share continues upward

Anthropic's Claude now holds roughly 2.91% of AI assistant market share. It has climbed steadily from under 2% at the start of the year. Still a fraction of ChatGPT's dominance, but Claude's users are concentrated among professionals and researchers. For B2B businesses, Claude's share of your target audience may be much higher than the headline number suggests.

New AI SEO tools launching weekly

The AI search tools market is maturing fast. New entrants launch every week. Each promises citation tracking, visibility scoring, or optimisation recommendations. Quality varies widely. We track established players and evaluate newcomers before adding them to our comparisons. The market is consolidating around a few serious contenders. Many early tools already fall behind on feature development.

UK adoption lagging US by 6 to 12 months

Our data consistently shows UK businesses are 6 to 12 months behind their US counterparts on AI search adoption. US agencies have offered dedicated AI SEO services since mid-2025. Many UK agencies still treat it as an add-on to traditional SEO. This gap is both a risk and an opportunity. UK businesses that move now face less competition for AI visibility than their US equivalents did at the same stage.

Perplexity Publishers' Programme seeing early traction

Perplexity's revenue-sharing programme with publishers continues to attract participants. Early reports suggest it generates meaningful, if modest, revenue for publishers whose content is frequently cited. The model creates a direct financial reason to produce citation-worthy content. It may influence how other AI platforms approach publisher compensation.

What to watch next week

Post-update ranking positions should be largely settled by mid-April
We are expecting Q1 performance reports from several AI search agencies
More data on the cross-platform citation gap as we expand our monitoring

Missed last week's edition? Read the 8 April roundup. This roundup runs every Tuesday. For the data behind these observations, explore our 2026 statistics hub.

This Week in AI Search - Mid-April 2026