Sector Benchmarks for AI Visibility: CPG, Finance, and Travel
AIVO Journal — Governance Analysis | November 2025
Abstract
AI mediated visibility behaves differently across sectors. The assumption that brand strength or market share predicts AI assistant behavior does not hold. This article introduces the first reproducible sector benchmarks using AVII and PSOS for CPG, finance, and travel. The results demonstrate that surface visibility is not a proxy for persistence, that multi model divergence is intrinsic to current architectures, and that sector variance has direct governance implications for FY26 audit and disclosure.
1. Introduction: Sector Variance Is Now a Governance Variable
Most enterprises treat AI visibility as a general attribute. In practice, visibility is sector dependent and shaped by model routing, retrieval fragmentation, and reasoning-chain composition. The differences are material enough to affect demand formation, reputational exposure, and audit readiness.
Sector benchmarks resolve three recurring executive questions:
- What level of volatility is normal for this sector
- When does drift indicate a real governance problem rather than model noise
- How should PSOS and AVII be interpreted together across industries
The benchmarks below provide those baselines.
2. Methodology
Benchmarks reflect controlled multi model replay across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. Each sector range aggregates:
• PSOS: first-turn visibility, third-turn survival, fifth-turn persistence
• AVII: reproducibility, traceability, stability, verifiability
• Variance corridors: expected cross-model divergence
Ranges represent defensible norms. Values meaningfully outside these corridors indicate material deviation requiring remediation or escalation.
3. CPG Benchmark: High Surface Visibility, Structural Instability
3.1 PSOS Ranges
• First-turn: 0.58–0.74
• Third-turn: 0.21–0.38
• Fifth-turn: 0.07–0.16
Interpretation
CPG appears strong on surface visibility but collapses rapidly. This pattern is driven by broad entity sets, heterogeneous retrieval sources, and sensitivity to how assistants resolve ambiguity in low-specificity prompts. CPG volatility is structural, not incidental.
3.2 AVII Ranges
• Reproducibility: 0.49–0.63
• Traceability: 0.41–0.55
• Stability: 0.28–0.46
• Verifiability: 0.34–0.52
• Composite AVII: 0.38–0.53
AVII confirms that the sector’s volatility stems from inconsistent routing across assistants, not random noise. CPG is the sector where unverified dashboards are most likely to produce false positives.
3.3 Variance Corridor
±22 to ±37 percent
CPG has the widest assistant-to-assistant divergence in the dataset.
4. Finance Benchmark: Lower Surface Presence, Highest Evidential Integrity
4.1 PSOS Ranges
• First-turn: 0.41–0.56
• Third-turn: 0.28–0.45
• Fifth-turn: 0.19–0.33
Interpretation
Finance shows more modest surface presence but superior survival. Assistants converge more reliably on structured financial entities and regulated product categories.
4.2 AVII Ranges
• Reproducibility: 0.57–0.72
• Traceability: 0.54–0.68
• Stability: 0.47–0.64
• Verifiability: 0.59–0.71
• Composite AVII: 0.55–0.69
These are the strongest evidential scores across all sectors. Finance visibility is more likely to withstand audit because the underlying entity graphs are more stable.
4.3 Variance Corridor
±14 to ±23 percent
Finance is the most consistent sector across assistants.
5. Travel Benchmark: High Variance, Low Persistence
5.1 PSOS Ranges
• First-turn: 0.46–0.62
• Third-turn: 0.19–0.34
• Fifth-turn: 0.06–0.15
Interpretation
Travel exhibits strong initial visibility but steep collapse. Assistants diverge sharply in itinerary logic, safety interpretation, and contextual retrieval. Travel is structurally exposed to model and routing updates.
5.2 AVII Ranges
• Reproducibility: 0.38–0.52
• Traceability: 0.33–0.47
• Stability: 0.21–0.39
• Verifiability: 0.29–0.44
• Composite AVII: 0.30–0.45
These are the lowest stability and traceability scores of any sector. Travel visibility remains inherently fragile.
5.3 Variance Corridor
±25 to ±41 percent
Travel has the most unstable reasoning paths across the cohort.
6. Cross Sector Insights: What the Benchmarks Reveal
6.1 Surface Visibility Is a Misleading Indicator
CPG appears strongest on first-turn surfaces but performs worst on persistence. Finance, with lower initial recall, is more reliable by the fifth turn. Travel sits at the intersection: high surface exposure and high volatility.
6.2 Sector Exposure Is Endogenous to Model Architecture
Visibility is shaped by how assistants route entities, resolve ambiguity, and integrate retrieval signals.
• CPG → noise from broad product universes
• Finance → stability from structured entity sets
• Travel → fragmentation from multi-hop routing and contextual safety layers
6.3 PSOS Without AVII Produces Systematic Errors
Relying only on PSOS creates:
• Overestimation of CPG reliability
• Underestimation of Finance durability
• Misclassification of Travel volatility as random rather than structural
AVII is required to interpret PSOS correctly.
6.4 Governance Exposure Differs by Sector
• CPG: disclosure risk from volatility and false positives
• Finance: lower visibility risk, higher scrutiny on factual integrity
• Travel: high-risk sector requiring continuous monitoring, not periodic checks
These differences matter for FY26 audit and risk reporting.
7. Enterprise Application Framework
7.1 Risk Thresholds
Benchmarks serve as guardrails. Values substantially outside sector ranges signal meaningfully elevated exposure.
7.2 FY26 Audit Alignment
AVII ranges map directly to reproducibility and traceability requirements under emerging assurance expectations.
7.3 Operational Prioritisation
• CPG requires stability remediation
• Finance requires outcome-layer integrity checks
• Travel requires continuous monitoring
7.4 Forecasting and Capital Allocation
Visibility volatility should be treated as part of revenue at risk modelling. Sector differences directly influence projection confidence intervals.
8. Conclusion: Sector Evidence Must Replace General Visibility Claims
The evidence shows that visibility does not generalise across sectors. Without benchmarks, enterprises misjudge stability, misread volatility, and make incorrect assumptions about exposure.
Sector variance is now a governance variable.
PSOS measures presence.
AVII measures integrity.
Used together, they provide the evidential foundation required for FY26 oversight, reporting, and operational control.
Contact
To participate in the next sector benchmarking cohort or conduct an enterprise-specific audit, contact: journal@aivojournal.org