The Trolli Paradox: Why Brands Exist in AI But Aren't Found Locally

Case Study: How a global candy brand becomes invisible in Spain – despite millions in revenue and AI presence

Marcus A. Volz
International SEO & AI Market Intelligence Consultant
Learn more about AI Market Intelligence

Trolli sells millions of gummy candies in Spain. The brand is present in retail, consumers know the products, revenue is generated. But when a user in Madrid searches Google for "mejores gominolas" (best gummy candies) or asks ChatGPT for recommendations, Trolli doesn't exist.

At the same time, Trolli is reliably recognized and correctly categorized in global AI systems – as an international candy brand with a broad product portfolio.

The Guiding Question

The central question for international brands today is no longer:

"Are we known?"

but rather:

"Are we locally modeled as a market entity digitally – in a way that search engines and AI systems understand us?"

The Trolli case shows what happens when the answer is "No."

The Facts: Trolli in Spain

Google Visibility: The website trolli.es practically doesn't rank on Google Spain for central search terms like "gominolas" (gummy candies), "gominolas ácidas" (sour gummy candies), or related product categories. Competitors like Haribo, Fini, or Vidal dominate these terms with structured, content-rich pages.

Local AI Visibility: For Spanish-language queries to ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google SGE, the systems rarely draw on content from trolli.es. Instead, they cite Wikipedia, international e-commerce platforms, or competitors.

Global AI Visibility: For general questions about candy brands or gummy candies, Trolli is correctly recognized as an international brand – based on global sources like Wikipedia, LinkedIn, or the international corporate website.

Why This Is Critical

Purchase decisions rarely begin at the shelf today. Studies show that 70–85% of decisions are prepared online in advance, even for traditional FMCG products.

Users search for:

• "mejores gominolas" (best gummy candies)
• "gominolas para fiestas infantiles" (gummy candies for children's parties)
• "qué marca de gominolas es mejor" (which gummy candy brand is best)

Increasingly, these questions are asked not just via Google, but directly through AI systems like ChatGPT, Google SGE, or Perplexity. These systems don't provide link lists, but concrete recommendations.

The Causes: Classic SEO Deficits with AI Impact

The analysis shows no exotic technical problems, but classic local SEO deficits that today directly impact AI visibility:

1. Insufficient Content Depth

Product pages with around 150 words provide neither Google nor AI systems with sufficient context. Competitors work with 400–600 words and structured detail depth: ingredients, flavors, uses, origin.

AI Impact: Without context-rich sources, AI systems cannot qualify or categorize Trolli products.

2. Wrong Language Level

Using English product names ("Sour Brite Crawlers") without Spanish equivalents prevents connection to local search queries like "gominolas ácidas" (sour gummy candies).

AI Impact: AI systems match queries semantically – without the linguistic bridge, no connection is made.

3. Missing Structured Data

Without Schema.org markup for products, categories, and organization, machine-readable signals for search engines and AI models are missing.

AI Impact: Structured data is training material for AI systems – without it, the brand remains incomprehensible.

4. No Local Entity

There's no clearly modeled entity "Trolli España" with local market reference, distribution, production sites, or history.

AI Impact: AI systems understand entities, not websites. Without a local entity, there's nothing they can reference.

5. Flat Site Architecture

Missing categories, thematic clusters, and internal linking structures prevent building semantic depth.

AI Impact: AI systems also evaluate authority through semantic interconnection – flat structures signal low relevance.

The Concept: The Semantic Localization Gap

The Semantic Localization Gap describes the gap between a globally known brand that exists in AI systems, and a locally non-modeled market entity that isn't tangible to search engines and AI.

Within this gap, the following happens:

• Google cannot build local rankings
• AI systems fall back on third-party sources
• The brand loses control over its digital narrative
• Competitors with clean local structure systematically gain visibility

Why Offline Strength Alone No Longer Suffices

Trolli – like many established FMCG brands – has long successfully relied on physical presence: shelf placement, POS marketing, retail partners. This strategy continues to work, but reaches limits once the preliminary decision phase occurs digitally.

The shift is fundamental:

• Previously: Consumer enters store → sees product → decides
• Today: Consumer researches online → forms preference → validates at POS

Brands without digital and semantic anchoring systematically lose relevance in the first phase – regardless of their real market position.

Strategic Classification: Not an AI Problem, But a Structural Problem

The Trolli case clearly shows: Low AI visibility is almost always a consequential problem of poor local SEO structures.

This also means: The solution doesn't lie in "AI optimization," but in clean local modeling.

The Solution Process: Three Strategic Steps

Implementation details are documented on volzmarketing.com under AI Market Intelligence.

What Other FMCG Brands Can Learn

The Trolli case isn't isolated, but symptomatic of many international brands:

• Globally strong
• Locally digitally weak
• Dependent on third-party platforms
• Barely controllable in AI responses

Those who ignore this development risk long-term:

• Declining organic demand
• Increasing dependence on paid media
• Weaker negotiating position with retail partners
• Loss of brand sovereignty in digital space

How This Analysis Works in Practice

This article is an English summary of a comprehensive case study on marcus-a-volz.com.

→ Read the complete in-depth analysis here:
AI Visibility Without Google Rankings: The Trolli Paradox

On volzmarketing.com/en/services/ai-market-intelligence/ I document methodology, processes, and typical deliverables for companies looking to systematically build their AI visibility.

Conclusion

The Trolli case impressively shows how digital visibility has changed. Brands no longer automatically exist where they're physically present. They exist where search engines and AI systems understand them semantically.

The crucial question for international companies is no longer "Are we known?", but: "Are we locally modeled as a market entity digitally?"

Those who cannot clearly answer "Yes" to this question will become increasingly invisible in AI-powered search and recommendation systems – regardless of size, recognition, or offline strength.

AI Market Intelligence for FMCG Brands

The described analysis of the Semantic Localization Gap and strategic closing of these gaps is one of my core services at VolzMarketing.

Typical projects include:

• AI Perception Audits: How is your brand represented in various AI systems?
• Local Entity Gap Analysis: Where is semantic modeling missing?
• Competitor Entity Mapping: Who occupies the relevant semantic spaces?
• Structured gap-closing strategies prioritized by market relevance

More information about my services:
→ AI Market Intelligence