HOW ABSOLUT VODKA IS REDEFINING WHAT CHATGPT SAYS ABOUT THE BRAND - ScreenVoice.cz

When Absolut Vodka wanted to understand how consumers were using ChatGPT to search for mixology recommendations, it found that nearly 70% of the answers it gave never mentioned a brand at all – a huge opportunity to own this space, craft brand narratives, and leverage sources like Reddit.

That’s according to Mathilde Guinaudeau, managing director of Ipsos, speaking at the ESOMAR Congress 2025, where she explained how generative search optimization is transforming brand positioning. “Search will never be the same again,” she predicted.

Evolution of search

• Google is still the most used search engine but ChatGPT is now the fifth-most-visited site in the world, surpassing X and Wikipedia, according to research presented by Ipsos.

ChatGPT will reach 1 billion users by the end of 2025, with 700 million unique users visiting weekly.

39% of French consumers – who were the focus of the research – already use GenAI, and this increases to 74% for 18-24-year-olds.

Searching is the #1 reason to use GenAI models, accounting for more than 50% of the usage.

Understanding Absolut’s positioning

Among the goals of the research was to understand how ChatGPT portrays Absolut versus its competitors; get a clearer indication of what kind of answers consumers are seeing when searching for information; and to identify the sources that could be used to boost the brand’s presence and visibility.

The research team used over 4,500 proxy questions, collected nearly 10,000 answers, and identified more than 3,000 sources. The latter revealed that Wikipedia and Reddit are among the top sources used by ChatGPT and that 42% of the questions were about how to mix cocktails.

As Guinaudeau said, the challenge was not only to understand how Absolut is portrayed by ChatGPT but “is there a gap between my independent positioning and the way ChatGPT described my brand?”

Gaps in brand attributes

The research identified several gaps in ChatGPT’s portrayal, specifically around having a strong brand heritage, progressiveness and inclusivity, and being connected to music culture. Other attributes, such as being creative, were barely mentioned except in the design of the bottle.

Elena Franceschini, global head of consumer insights for Pernod Ricard – which owns Absolut – admitted during the session that it’s “an issue” but one that has a solution. “The good news is that the sources where the GenAI models are picking the information from are sources that we can impact.”

Her conclusion? “We clearly need to be in control of the narrative. No brainer. We need to know what GenAI is saying about the brand.” Her advice was to “leverage and activate” GenAI’s sources and to do this surgically. The tools are available to go granular, but it’s up to brands to use them.