The Popularity of .AI Domains: How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping Online Branding

When building a website, one of the first things you’ll have to think about is the domain. This is more than just an address on the web, of course. For the foreseeable future, this will be a crucial component of your online brand identity, working to set you apart from the competition and establish your presence in your chosen market.

Across the internet in 2025, there are numerous domain extensions in use, including the most popular like .com, .org, .net, and .edu – all of which are well-known and trusted by internet users worldwide. Choosing any one of these extensions will be a safe and reliable option, but as the internet continues to evolve, there are several alternative extensions that can help you further define your brand and stand out in a crowded industry. Often referred to as gTLDs – generic top-level domains – these offer a unique opportunity to make your website address far more relevant to your chosen market, with one of the most popular being the .ai domain.

According to a recent study, .ai is at an all-time high, with 2025 seeing a 46% year-over-year increase compared to 2024 – with the .ai domain search term growing by over 203%. Of course, whether you choose the .ai extension will depend entirely on your business and brand, but if you are building a company that revolves around artificial intelligence technology, this does present an interesting opportunity. Namely, to take advantage of the AI hype and leverage its growing popularity.

AI Reshaping Online Branding

In many ways, AI is reshaping online branding, to the point where people expect tech companies to be using it as an extension. As we mentioned before, a domain name is more than just an address - it’s a key element of a company’s identity, and an essential tool for building trust with consumers. For tech companies – especially those working in cutting-edge industries like artificial intelligence – using the .ai extension is not just a luxury, it’s an expectation that must be met if you want to reflect innovation and showcase yourself as the forward-thinking, tech-savvy brand that you are.

Bearing in mind those earlier figures, at this point in time, the .ai extension has become synonymous with the technology itself, as well as machine learning and other related technologies. When consumers see a .ai domain, they immediately associate it with expertise in the AI space, giving them an immediate idea of the company at hand and the part they’re playing in the current landscape. This then helps to build trust and credibility. In a crowded digital space, establishing trust is a crucial component of choosing a domain name, as most internet users will be quick to judge the legitimacy and professionalism of a business by their domain name alone.

If you’re an AI-based company with a typical TLD, such as .com or .org, immediate recognition will be impossible – the potential client will have to click on the site and engage with it fully to understand what it is you do. On the other hand, if you’re an AI-based company with the gTLD, .ai, you will instantly communicate what your company is involved in, giving potential clients a quick feeling of confidence and trust, before they even engage with the website first-hand.

Enhanced Marketing Efforts

Those are the benefits of a .ai domain extension from the customer’s point of view, but what about yours? One of the best things about utilising .ai is that it naturally attracts an audience interested in AI-related products and services, ensuring your website will be discovered by those specifically searching for AI-driven solutions.

With the cost of digital marketing in mind, this then increases your visibility organically in the tech community, helping you to generate quality leads that are far more likely to convert into long-term customers or partners. As we’ve just noted, first impressions on the internet are important. With traditional digital marketing methods, it’s your job to not only push your brand in front of people, but utilise a content strategy to explain what you do and the solutions you offer.

This doesn’t always work, however. No matter how good your content strategy is, the attention span of younger internet users, specifically, does not fall in your favour, with recent studies showing that the average attention span is around 8 seconds – shorter than that of a goldfish! In line with this, 75% of visitors will leave your website after 3 seconds, with the vast majority only glancing at paid ads, depending on how content-heavy they are. We’re not saying that digital marketing is useless. Far from it. But it cannot be underestimated how integral a domain name like .ai can be when it comes to grasping a user’s attention and giving them a reason to linger with your company – or company ad – just a little while longer.

Driving SEO Results

From an SEO perspective, too, the .ai domain has been a game-changer. It goes without saying that Google and other search engines are constantly evolving their algorithms to prioritise relevance and user intent, and with this in mind, the .ai extension can play a crucial role in helping search engines quickly understand the nature of your business and the kind of content you’re pushing on their website.

Keywords and authoritative information will always be the ultimate driver, but by having a domain that clearly indicates your focus on artificial intelligence, you’re essentially providing search engines with a clear signal about the purpose of your site, and placing yourself at the forefront of a worldwide technological trend. This then improves your chances of ranking higher in search results for AI-related queries, and as AI-focused content continues to grow in demand, this will play a huge role in building your company and making you grow popular along with it.

With that being said, it’s important to note the dangers of tapping into a trend like this. There are plenty of companies, for instance, that will utilise the .ai extension simply because they know it will drive SEO results, urging more customers to click on their links and explore their website, even if the content or service provided doesn’t live up to the expectations the domain suggests.

Many companies in 2025, of course, have hopped onto the AI trend, claiming it as a vital cog in the mechanics of their business despite the fact it is used in a minimal way – perhaps to gather data, or to automate certain processes. If you’re using a .ai domain, you need to make sure that the technology itself is a core component of your company, meaning you offer genuine AI-driven products or services, and don’t just use it as a trend-fulfilling key buzzword.

Conclusion

Over the next few years, there’s no doubt that more and more .ai extensions will be observable across the internet, demonstrating the effect it’s had on online branding.

As AI itself continues to revolutionise industries and shape the future of technology, the companies that embrace the .ai domain will be positioning themselves as forward-thinking, innovative leaders in their respective fields, conveying a message of expertise and trust that cannot be underestimated in the online world. With this in mind, if you’re starting a company that revolves around AI tech, it’s a great idea to get involved and join the party, capitalising on the AI trend, while also future-proofing your company for years to come.