VIP case study · AI visibility
How Crufts established a clear AI visibility baseline for its next chapter
AI already recognises Crufts as the world’s biggest dog show. The gap sat one layer underneath: external records still used the pre-rebrand name, and useful pages weren’t staying visible outside show week.
“Working with Challenge was genuinely great from start to finish. The process was refreshingly straightforward, and the team made what could have felt like a complicated subject really accessible. Using VIP gave us a clear, honest baseline for how Crufts shows up in AI today, along with practical actions that are within our control. We came away with a much clearer picture of where we are now and a useful foundation we can revisit as the brand evolves.”
Laura Coyle, Senior Brand Manager, Crufts
Crufts is the world’s greatest dog show, and AI knows it. Across independent sources and several years, it is credited as the biggest show of its kind, so this wasn’t a brand with a visibility problem in the usual sense.
But the brand is changing. Its organiser relaunched as the Royal Kennel Club, and the team wants Crufts to mean more than one week a year. Challenge’s Visibility Intelligence Programme gave it a clear baseline for that next chapter and practical steps to support it.
The challenge
Crufts wasn’t tracking how AI described it. With a broader, year-round ambition, the question was whether AI’s picture of Crufts would keep pace with the brand, and where the next gains would come from.
What we uncovered
Presence was exceptional. Crufts was consistently recognised and widely described as the world’s biggest or greatest dog show.
The gaps sat one layer underneath. Crufts’ own properties used the Royal Kennel Club name correctly, but external records AI relies on still used the old name. A rebrand completed on a brand’s own estate doesn’t travel to third-party records on its own. The Investigation also showed Crufts was strong when people searched for it by name, with more room to grow on broader questions such as family days out.
From insight to action
The report gave the team a clear set of priorities: align external records with its own profiles, keep useful pages live year-round rather than only around the show, and decide deliberately how hard to compete on broader searches.
Some cited resource pages hadn’t been on the team’s radar as things to address proactively.
Why it mattered
The Investigation gave Crufts independent evidence of how AI was reading the brand, a useful foundation for internal conversations about sustained content and communications.
What happens next
Crufts asked for a baseline it can return to in 12months, once its brand evolution is set. Because every score is set against fixed anchors, that repeat Investigation will show exactly what has moved.
Updated 12 October 2026