BrightEdge: AI Overviews still mention "Max" more than HBO Max, a year after the rename
What this answers
- Do ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews treat HBO, Max and HBO Max as the same brand?
- No. Per BrightEdge's September 2026 US data, neither engine merges the three names: ChatGPT mentions HBO most (5.52%) while Google AI Overviews mentions Max most (5.05%), more than a year after the service went back to the HBO Max name.
BrightEdge’s AI Hyper Cube, covering thirteen US streaming brands in September 2026, put Paramount+, HBO, Max, HBO Max, Pluto TV and Discovery+ together at 21.35% of brand mentions on ChatGPT and 21.11% on Google AI Overviews, second to Netflix (27.93% and 28.23%). Within the three HBO-related names, ChatGPT ranked HBO first (5.52%), HBO Max second (3.47%) and Max third (3.11%); Google AI Overviews ranked Max first (5.05%), HBO second (4.70%) and HBO Max third (2.33%). All shares are of mention instances across the thirteen-brand set, per BrightEdge, which does not publish mention or prompt counts and says it could not identify why one name is captured over another. A separate prompt-mix sample (top 60 to 100 prompts per engine) found live-event questions at 65% on ChatGPT and 73% on AI Overviews, and ownership questions under 1%.
Why it matters: Engines count each brand name separately, so a company with a short name, a legacy name and a product name has its AI visibility split across several lines unless its measurement groups them.
The record: BrightEdgeChatGPTGoogle AI Overviews
Glossary: AI Overviews
Posted to the wire October 30, 2026. Edited by Joe Balewski.