Paramount Closed Its $110bn Warner Deal. In September, AI Answers Saw Six Brands, Not One.

In September 2026, the month before Paramount closed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount+, HBO, Max, HBO Max, Pluto TV and Discovery+ together held 21.35% of brand mentions on ChatGPT and 21.11% on Google AI Overviews, measured across thirteen streaming brands. Second to Netflix on both. Three of those six are HBO-related brand names, and the two engines rank them differently: ChatGPT mentions HBO most often, Google AI Overviews mentions Max most often.

What this measures: BrightEdge AI Hyper Cube data with share of brand mentions inside AI answers, calculated as each brand's mentions divided by total mentions across the top thirteen streaming brands measured, in the United States, on ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. It does not measure clicks, traffic, subscribers or revenue. See Technical Methodology.

The AI visibility position Skydance inherited

Skydance has a potential brand problem through its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which closed on 6 October 2026. The deal brings together a streaming portfolio with some naming consistency issues.

Table 1. Share of brand mentions across thirteen streaming brands, September 2026, United States. The six are Paramount+, HBO, Max, HBO Max, Pluto TV and Discovery+. Source: BrightEdge AI Hyper Cube.

Netflix leads the six combined by 6.58 points on ChatGPT and 7.12 points on Google AI Overviews. Skydance, read as one portfolio, is a clear second. But read as the engines actually report it, it is six separate brand names, none of which reaches 7%.

Three HBO-related names, two engines that rank them differently

Three of the six are HBO-related brand names: HBO, Max and HBO Max. HBO is a channel and a programming brand as well as a streaming label, so the engines may be answering about different things under each name. What the data shows is which name each engine uses.

Table 2. Share of brand mentions for the three HBO-related names, September 2026, United States. Source: BrightEdge AI Hyper Cube.

ChatGPT mentions HBO most often, at 1.59 times the next of the three. Google AI Overviews mentions Max most often, at 1.07 times. Neither engine collapses the three into one, and the two do not agree on which name they reach for.

Older brand names can remain prominent well after a rebrand. HBO Max launched in 2020, was renamed Max in 2023 to signal a broader mix of programming, and went back to HBO Max in July 2025. For HBO Max, our September data shows that the former Max name continues to appear frequently in AI answers: more than a year after the name returned, Google AI Overviews still mentions Max more than HBO Max, and ChatGPT has the two at near parity.

Skydance should consider this learning as it looks at consolidating further. Tracking the same three names through a branding change is what would show how visibility moves. This research does not establish what any one name would be worth after such a change.

Much like TV ratings, live events dominate AI conversations

Table 3. Share of top-prompt volume by category, September 2026. Prompt-mix analysis by BrightEdge Professional Services on the top 60 to 100 prompts by estimated volume per engine, categorized by keyword rules. Read as indicative.

Among the top prompts analyzed by estimated volume, live events (prompts like "What channel is the F1 race on today?") lead on both engines, followed by where to watch (prompts like "Where to watch Euphoria"). Despite the big news surrounding the acquisition, ownership questions were rarely seen, accounting for under 1%. These shares describe that sample rather than every question put to either engine.

What We Analyzed

BrightEdge measured brand mentions across thirteen streaming brands in AI answers on ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, in the United States, for September 2026. No prompt filter was applied. The six Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery streaming brands were then compared against each other and against the rest of the field, and the three HBO-family labels were compared separately on each engine.

Data Collected

Key Finding

Measured. The six brands together held 21.35% of brand mentions on ChatGPT and 21.11% on Google AI Overviews, second to Netflix on both. Within the HBO family, ChatGPT ranked HBO first at 5.52%, HBO Max second at 3.47% and Max third at 3.11%. Google AI Overviews ranked Max first at 5.05%, HBO second at 4.70% and HBO Max third at 2.33%.

Inferred. Brands are complicated and persistent. A company answering to several brand names is treated as several brands by both engines, and an older name can stay prominent well after a rebrand. More than a year after HBO Max returned to its original name, Google AI Overviews still mentions Max more frequently. That shows why marketers need to track both current and former brand names. It is not a finding about HBO specifically, and we were unable to identify a clear reason why one would be captured vs. the other, nor how persistent these kinds of discussions are.

How that affects your measurement

Share of mentions is calculated per brand name. An engine that answers with "Max" records a mention for Max, and an engine that answers with "HBO" records one for HBO. Nothing joins them without coordinating brands and sub-brands.

That has two consequences for any company with more than one name.

Each name is measured separately, so a dashboard filtered to one of them shows part of the position rather than all of it. The three HBO-related names individually range from 2.33% to 5.52%; together they are 12.10% on ChatGPT and 12.08% on Google AI Overviews.

The sum is a valid figure, and it answers a specific question. Because the metric counts mention instances, adding the shares gives the group's share of all mention instances across the thirteen brands. It is not the share of prompts in which at least one of those names appears.

What Marketers Need to Know

Use brand grouping to create a consistent definition of who your brand is. A short name, a legal name and a product name are three brands to an AI engine. Create a standard definition of a Grouped Brand to represent all your brand names.

Grouped Brands Settings in BrightEdge AI Catalyst. Brand matching groups any sub-brand that starts with the parent name, and additional sub-brands are selected per parent brand so that every name a company answers to is measured as one.

Compare the engines against each other. ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews ranked the same three names differently here. A reading taken from one engine is half the picture.

Record the baseline before any branding change. A rename, a merge or a retirement can only be assessed against a measured starting position. Put the current names on record first, then track the same set through the change.

Work on the questions that carry the volume. Among the top prompts analyzed by estimated volume, live events lead on both engines. An evergreen how-to-watch page answering time, channel and stream covers the largest category in that sample.

Technical Methodology

What Is Still Open

How Skydance handles the merger remains to be seen. The earlier Warner Bros.-Discovery merger left many brand names in place. With three major streaming platforms (HBO Max, Paramount+ and Discovery+) and new leadership, branding decisions, as we have shown, can have long-running implications for how you show up in AI.

• Whether the position moves after the close, which only post-merger data can show.
• Whether the engine disagreement holds. One month on two engines in one market is a snapshot. A second month would show whether ChatGPT's preference for HBO and Google AI Overviews' preference for Max are stable.
• Whether the conversation mix holds. The prompt-mix categories come from a single month's top prompts and have not been reproduced independently.

Key Takeaways

Frequently Asked Questions

Which streaming brands are the biggest in AI?

Across thirteen streaming brands in the United States, Netflix led on both engines, at 27.93% of brand mentions on ChatGPT and 28.23% on Google AI Overviews. The six Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery names together held 21.35% and 21.11%, ahead of Apple TV, Hulu and Disney+.

Do ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews treat HBO, Max and HBO Max as the same brand?

Neither does. Both engines record a mention against the specific name used, so the three are measured as three brands. The engines also reach for different ones: ChatGPT mentions HBO most often, at 1.59 times the next of the three, while Google AI Overviews mentions Max most often, at 1.07 times. HBO is also a channel and a programming brand, not only a streaming label, so the three are related names rather than interchangeable ones.

How often does Google AI Overviews mention Max versus HBO Max after the rebrand?

In September 2026, Google AI Overviews mentioned Max in 5.05% of brand mentions across thirteen streaming brands, against 2.33% for HBO Max. The service had returned to the HBO Max name in July 2025, more than a year earlier. ChatGPT had the two closer together, at 3.11% for Max and 3.47% for HBO Max. This research records that the older name is still in use on both engines. It does not establish why, and a single month cannot show how long a name change generally takes to register.

How should a merged company measure AI visibility through a brand name change?

Record the position of every name involved before the change, on each engine, then measure the same set afterwards. This research is an example of the first half: September 2026 positions for all six names, on ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, taken before the deal closed. It does not forecast what any name would be worth after a change, and no measurement taken before one can.

Does this research measure the effect of the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger?

No. Every figure is September 2026 and the deal closed on 6 October 2026, so this describes the position Skydance inherited. October data is not yet available. The first post-merger read is the one that can show movement.

What do people ask AI about streaming services, among the highest-volume prompts?

Among the top 60 to 100 prompts by estimated volume on each engine, live events lead at 65% on ChatGPT and 73% on Google AI Overviews. Where to watch a specific title follows at 15% and 22%. Questions about who owns which service account for under 1% on both. These shares describe that sample rather than every question put to either engine.

What does share of brand mentions measure, and what does it not?

It is a brand's mentions divided by total mentions across the brands measured, inside AI answers. It does not measure clicks, traffic, subscribers or revenue, it does not establish why a brand was mentioned, and it does not predict what a name would be worth after a branding change. It depends on the brand set chosen, so a different set gives different shares.

Source: BrightEdge AI Hyper Cube. Share of brand mentions across thirteen streaming brands, United States, September 2026, on ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. Deal facts from Axios, 6 October 2026. Brand name history from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.

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