How Bet365 became the most visible iGaming brand in Britain
Toucan International published an AI Search Visibility study on how UK-focused iGaming brands are represented in AI search answers. The analysts checked which companies language models mention and recommend for popular queries about betting and online casinos. The main takeaway of the study comes down to two observations: Bet365 turned out to be the most visible brand, and the bulk of mentions is concentrated among large operators with a long-established reputation.
The ranking covered 78 brands, five AI platforms, and 50 high-frequency queries across two topics: casinos and sports betting. The geography of the study was highlighted separately: it considered brands operating for a UK audience and queries phrased in a UK context.
So that the comparison would not depend on isolated lucky answers, Toucan International introduced the AI Visibility Score metric, a visibility metric on a 0–100 scale. Points were awarded for several indicators at the same time:
- whether the brand is mentioned or directly recommended in the answer
- the presence of a direct link to the brand’s website
- placement within the answer structure, including appearing in the top lines
- sentiment of the wording: positive, neutral, or negative
Top five leaders and their metrics
Well-known operators in the UK market dominate the top of the list. At the same time, the gap between first place and the closest competitors is expressed not only in points, but also in how regularly they appear in answers.
Toucan International’s Top 5 looks like this:
- 1st place, Bet365, 94 points, 30 mentions, in the Top 3 in 86.7% of cases, Note: the brand was the top answer to queries about the best bookmaker site in the UK and the best online casino in the UK on some AI systems
- 2nd place, Paddy Power, 87.03 points, 29 mentions, 89.7% positive sentiment, 3 links, Note: the highest number of direct links among all brands
- 3rd place, SkyBet, 85.34 points, 28 mentions, 78.6% positive sentiment, Note: stable appearances in answers with more restrained sentiment
- 4th place, Betfair, 85.3 points, no additional metrics are provided in the report, Note: the result is almost equal to third place in the total score
- 5th place, William Hill, 82.92 points, no additional metrics are provided in the report, Note: being in the top five underscores the strength of large operators in AI recommendations
There is no second page and the debate over what should be considered success
Toucan International’s SEO Director George Webb linked the results to changes in search mechanics. According to him, “In traditional SEO, you can end up on the second or third page. In AI search, there is no second page.” He also noted that visibility quickly becomes concentrated among brands with a history, and for mid-tier companies the answer space narrows.
In practical terms, this means tougher competition for the mere fact of being present in the answer, rather than for a position in a long list of links. Webb also cited a shortage of click-throughs as an additional constraint: with links accounting for under 2%, LLM mentions, in their current form, more often function as a brand awareness channel rather than a direct source of traffic.
Former iGaming super affiliate Fintan Costello emphasized how models assemble a recommendation from many signals. “When an AI tool synthesizes an answer, it looks for consensus. If the brand and its reputation are not reflected on key platforms and in the datasets the models take into account, the recommendation won’t materialize.” In this logic, digital PR and traditional SEO practices become a way to maintain a stable presence in news, communities, and reference sources.
How live games affect success with players
Players’ subjective perception is one of the fundamental factors of success for any operator. If visitors perceive the brand positively, their number will grow. Along with this, revenues will also grow.
Among online casino guests, one of the latest trends is live games—Wheel of Fortune, various card games, and roulette. As the authors of the website xxxtremeroulette.com, dedicated to the live roulette game XXXtreme Roulette, emphasize, modern players prefer simple and dynamic entertainment, but with a social component. That is, live-dealer games are a natural choice for a successful gambling entertainment operator.
What changes in the promotion strategy
The authors of the study describe AI search as a separate performance channel, where not only advertising matters, but also the consistency of the brand’s digital presence. Visibility is influenced by consistent product descriptions, how often it is cited, review contexts, and how consistently the brand is represented across different sources, from media to directories and specialist reviews.
In the UK iGaming segment, Toucan International’s ranking captures an early stage of attention redistribution in favor of large players, who more often become part of the “default answer.” In such a landscape, communications planning is increasingly viewed through the lens of how the brand will be reproduced and interpreted by generative systems, and not only through the classic search results page.