Does .ai domain rank well in SEO. Lets discuss on various overall factors affecting the .ai domain extension in SEO:
.ai domains are considered as gTLD (generic domain extension) and not ccTLD (country specific extensions like .in .co.uk etc). .ai domains can be registered for minimum of 2 years , 1 year registration is not possible so you need minimum of $145 for a 2 year registration of .ai domain.
Does .ai domain rank well in SEO
The short answer is No.
Reason behind my answer:
.ai domain name extensions are not popular for the masses yet. Not even 1 million names are registered yet (Even far names are live as websites). It is highly focussed in exposure to the dev/tech community. You cant see far often those sites rank in search engines, so for that reason visitors tend to click the .ai domain sites less often compared to .com/.net
It your brand is a short and popular name and really is AI focussed product/service it makes real sense to have a .ai extension.
The SEO benefits will come over time. It does have a slight disadvantage over established names like .com/.net but when taking multiple factors like branding , easy to remember, new offering product/service , the .ai domain extension can bring value to your company and it can stand out when compared to .com/.net names.
But when considering .co/.io names .ai is better and has an edge for sure, provided the product or service is AI centric. Because .ai is fast growing and even a normal non-tech user is aware that there is a fast going domain that is AI and lot of brands use the glitzy term in their promotions.
Click here to know if Is .ai Domain worth it?