August 2026 — AI & Ecommerce news.
What changed, as it happens.
Tracked daily from primary sources. The items below are what we're watching for clients right now.
Clarity now splits your AI citations into branded and non-branded queries
Microsoft Clarity added branded query segmentation to its AI Citations dashboard. Queries that mention the brand are now labeled as branded in the queries card, the Share of Authority card breaks its results out by query type, and new dashboard filters let you compare visibility across the two. Microsoft describes the purpose as separating brand-led demand from generic discovery, and says the Share of Authority split shows "where your authority is strongest: queries that mention your brand versus more general queries." The update was announced on August 3, 2026, with no phased rollout noted.Source: Search Engine Land →
Our take: Clarity is free, and this is the split that decides whether an AI-visibility number means anything. Being cited for your own brand name only proves the assistant can find you. The queries that matter are the ones a buyer asks before they know your name. Run the two apart and a healthy-looking total often resolves into branded citations propping up a non-branded number near zero.
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