Type your brand name into Google. What you see isn't yours.

Those queries are your branded SERP: the Google storefront of your name. And it's the hottest traffic there is — people who already know you and are about to buy.

“Discount code” and “cheap” are compliments

Counterintuitive, but true: these searches are proof your brand is working.

Nobody types “[unknown brand] promo code”. These searches only exist because your brand awareness has created purchase intent — the customer has already chosen you; she's just after one last validation or a discount before paying.

Leaving those queries to coupon sites means handing the very last step of your conversion funnel to third parties. The coupon site built nothing: it collects an affiliate commission on a sale you had already won — and in the worst case, it redirects to a reseller. You pay for the awareness; it monetises the close.

Your branded SERP inventory in 10 minutes

Grab a sheet of paper, open a private browsing window, and search:

1. “[your brand]” alone — who occupies the first page besides you? Is your site showing in full (sitelinks, panel)?
2. “[your brand] reviews” — who hosts the answer? What does it say? Is it up to date?
3. “[your brand] discount code” / “cheap” — how many coupon sites? Do they offer real codes or empty promises (which frustrates your customers in your name)?
4. “[your brand] + your hero products” — you, or a reseller? (If you don't show up at all, the problem runs deeper →)
5. Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity what they think of your brand — tomorrow's branded SERP is also being decided in AI answers.

For each line, note: mine / a neutral third party / a third party costing me money. There's your map.

The 3 branded queries to reclaim first

Not all branded SERP leaks are equal. The typical reclaim order:

1. “[brand] + product” — the direct sale itself. The most profitable to take back, and the most legitimate: your product, your name.
2. “[brand] reviews” — the trust. As long as a third party hosts the answer, your reputation is being edited by someone else.
3. “[brand] discount code” — the margin. Taking this query back means no longer paying a commission on customers who were already sold.

How to reclaim each one — which page to create, what content, which signals — depends on your exact situation: that's the level of detail the Diagnostic produces, query by query. What's certain: each of these three queries has an answer, and the brand always starts as the favourite on its own name when it shows up to play.

Measure first, reclaim second

Your branded SERP is only one of the four traffic leaks of an established brand — the other three are here. For the overall order of magnitude: the lost organic revenue calculator, free, 60 seconds.

For the full inventory done by a senior eye — your real branded SERP, the queries actually being captured, your prioritised reclaim plan: the AfriRank Diagnostic, €290 (~$310), credited toward your first month if you continue.