Ovisy · EMD study 2026
DO EXACT MATCH DOMAINS STILL WORK?
Do exact match domains help you rank on Google or get recommended by AI? Explore six key findings from our 2026 study.
A preview of the research. Download the full study as a PDF.
Download the full study (PDF) →EMDs are a local services thing
EMDs appear in the top 20 for 40% of home-services SERPs, compared with 22% for health and clinics, 19% for legal, 10% for tools and calculators, 7% for travel and 5% for affiliate reviews.
Google gives an EMD about one position. At best.
Among weaker domains (DR 0–20), the study found a 0.9-position advantage against brand domains with similar DR and links on the same SERP. Results for younger domains were not reliable: their plausible ranges included zero.
New EMDs don’t reach the top 10 more often
4.7% of new EMDs ranked in the top 10 for anything, compared with 5.7% of other new domains in the same niches. The sample covered 3,048 domains first seen from May 2024 to June 2025 and checked in October 2026.
LLMs love a URL that matches the question
In a controlled test with five equally good texts, EMDs were recommended 59% of the time. A keyword in the URL path reached 48%, compared with 21% when URLs were hidden and 10% for an EMD targeting the wrong keyword. The test covered 200 scenarios using GPT-4.1 mini, Gemini Flash and Claude Haiku.
In real AI answers, EMDs get no extra love
With EMDs’ share in Google’s top 10 indexed to 100, their share among AI-cited sources was 102 for AI Overviews, 93 for Claude, 72 for Gemini and 28 for GPT. These are index values, not recommendation percentages.
So, should you buy an EMD?
Yes, if it’s a good name for your business. The data does not support paying a premium for rankings. A relevant keyword in the URL path captures much of the controlled-test effect. Build the site and earn links.
