What happened?
BrandZ is a different type of brand ranking because it does not only measure financial performance or awareness. It combines financial valuation with consumer perception to estimate brand value and meaning - measuring brand strength based on how clients actually feel. Last week, Kantar published its annual report.

Why is this important?
The report tracks the rise of Google and other technology brands, and may be the clearest evidence yet that embedding AI into a client experience can build brand equity faster than any other lever today. It also reveals the increasing comfort that clients now have with AI, invisible or not.

ChatGPT’s rise tells the same story. This is now a brand of choice - one where clients are increasingly locked in. It holds identity resonance and behavioural loyalty. It is not a brand en route to another destination - it has become the destination itself. When clients are asked whether they would “miss it if it disappeared” many say yes. That is brand. It can take years for attachment like this to form between clients and companies. Lifetime value is often measured over three years or more. These AI brands are building it in much less time.

AI is usually discussed as a capability layer that improves efficiency and automates tasks. BrandZ suggests something deeper is happening with clients. They are no longer seeing AI purely as utility, they are integrating it into their behaviours, forming an emotional relationship.This has implications for the future of relevance.

What should brands do?
Brands should understand that AI cannot exist only as a feature, chatbot or campaign narrative, it should disappear into the improved experience itself. Instead of asking “How visible is our AI”, brands should ask “What does meaningful look like in our category, and are we delivering it?”.

Who was overtaken?
BrandZ works more as a mirror than as a medal ceremony. Some of the brands that declined appear to have done so because they have optimised for performance rather than relevance, chasing visibility and volume rather than personalisation or scarcity. Brands should treat this as a wake up call.

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Kantar is a global data, research and consulting company.

Image reference: Google
Sources: Kantar, Revealed: The world’s most valuable global brands in 2026, AdAge, The world’s most valuable brands - which AI tools made gains in 2026, The Drum: $13tn and a room full of proof.