Which brands do AI answers recommend?
When buyers ask an AI engine for the best tool, the answer names a few brands and cites a few sites. Every week we ask the questions real buyers ask, and publish who gets named and which sources the answers trust.
Share of AI answers naming each brand, across the published engines. Arrows: change in points vs last week.
What the AI Citation Index measures
When someone asks an AI engine which tool, lender or cruise line to pick, the answer names a handful of brands and links a few sources. The index records which brands get named and which sites get cited, for the same buyer questions every week, so you can see where you stand and what the answers rely on.
- What we measure
- The share of AI answers that name each brand (mention rate, with a 95% range), share of voice, average list position, and which websites the answers cite.
- Which engines
- Gemini, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT, each reported on its own. Every chart says which engines it includes.
- How often
- Every week, 200 buyer questions per industry, asked in US English from the US. The question set stays fixed for a quarter.
- Which market
- Most industries are labeled US market: the questions and brands are those of US buyers. Industries labeled Global ask questions that are not specific to one country; their answers are still collected from the US.
- Which industries
- 25 industries, including help desk software, personal loans, project management and cruise lines.
- Who it is for
- Marketing teams that want to know if AI answers recommend them, SEO and GEO agencies that report on it for clients, and analysts who need the raw data.
- What you can do
- Check your brand free, order a $199 brand snapshot, send white-label reports to your clients, or license the raw weekly dataset. How we ask and count: methodology.
Built for the decisions, not the vanity number
Free AI visibility leaderboards rank whole industries once a month. We go narrower and deeper.
Buyer prompts, by sub-category
200 questions worded the way buyers ask, split by use case, team size and price.
"Best help desk for a Shopify store"Which sites AI trusts
Every cited source is counted, so you see which review sites, forums and media drive the answers, and where you are missing.
Variance shown, not hidden
AI answers change between runs. Every number carries its likely range, and paid snapshots ask each prompt 3 times.
Reports, not another dashboard
Written findings and fixes, done for you. Agencies get weekly white-label PDFs with their own logo.
What moved this week
Help desk software, Week 41. The largest changes in the share of answers naming a brand, engine by engine.
- Salesforce Service Cloud on ChatGPT +5 pts 8% to 13% of answers
- Zendesk on ChatGPT +4 pts 57% to 61% of answers
- Zendesk on Google AI Overviews +3 pts 51% to 54% of answers
Industries we track
One vertical at a time, done properly. Want a vertical we don't cover? Ask for it. Agencies can get one custom vertical in their plan.
B2B SaaS & services 7
- Business phone & VoIP US Cloud phone systems, VoIP lines and unified communications for US businesses.
- CRM Global Customer relationship management software for sales teams, small firms and industries.
- Ecommerce platforms Global Platforms that run online stores, from small shops and creators to B2B and enterprise.
- Email marketing Global Newsletter and automation tools for creators, stores and small teams.
- Help desk software Global Ticketing help desks and the new AI support agents, asked the way buyers ask.
- Project management Global Work and project management tools for teams, agencies, developers and enterprises.
- Web hosting Global Shared, managed WordPress, VPS and cloud hosting for websites, blogs and online stores.
Finance & insurance 6
- Auto insurance US Car insurance companies and quote marketplaces for US drivers.
- Credit cards US Consumer credit cards in the US, from travel and cash back to credit builder cards.
- Personal loans US National lenders and loan marketplaces, by credit score, purpose and speed.
- Pet insurance US Pet health insurance for dogs, cats and exotic pets, plus wellness plans.
- Small business banking US Business checking, business credit cards, spend management and small business loans.
- Small business insurance US Liability, BOP, workers comp, commercial auto and cyber insurance for US small businesses.
Legal, education, travel, home & auto 5
- Cruise lines US Ocean cruise lines, by trip type, budget and who is travelling.
- Home security US Alarm systems, monitoring, security cameras and video doorbells for US homes.
- Online degrees US Online bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs from US colleges and universities.
- Online learning Global Online course platforms, coding bootcamps, career certificates and language learning apps.
- Test prep US Prep courses, tutors and practice tools for the SAT, ACT, LSAT, MCAT, GRE, GMAT and bar.
Consumer tech & retail 4
- Cell phone plans US Wireless carriers, prepaid brands and MVNOs that sell US cell phone plans.
- Coffee & espresso machines US Home espresso machines, drip and pod coffee makers, manual brewers and coffee grinders.
- Running shoes Global Running shoes for road, trail and racing, plus training, walking and court shoes.
- VPNs Global Consumer VPN services for privacy, streaming, travel and public Wi-Fi, free and paid.
Health, wellness & consumer health 2
Food, retail & other 1
No industry matches that yet. Ask us to add it.
Go beyond the public index
The public index shows the top of each category. For your own brand, start free.
$0
10 buyer questions per engine, your brand next to one competitor, emailed to you.
Check your brand$199one-off
An 8-12 page PDF: you vs 5 competitors, 50 prompts asked 3 times, the gaps, the sources and 5 fixes. In 48 hours.
See the snapshot$500-900/ month
Weekly white-label reports for up to 5 client brands, with your logo, plus CSV.
Agency planBuilding a GEO tool or doing research? Get the raw weekly dataset. How we collect and count: methodology.
Learn how AI answers pick brands
Guides from the team that runs the index, written from our own data.
- What Is AI Visibility? GEO, AEO and How to Measure Your Brand in AI AnswersAI visibility is how often AI answer engines name your brand and cite your site when buyers ask for a recommendation. Here is what GEO and AEO mean, the five metrics that matter, and a repeatable way to measure them in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
- Data charts from the open webOriginal datasets we collect with the Ujeebu API, free to embed and cite under CC BY 4.0.
AI visibility questions, answered
Short answers to what marketers and agencies ask us most.
What is AI visibility?
AI visibility is how often AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews name your brand, and link to your site, when people ask them for a recommendation in your category. It is the AI-search version of ranking on page one: if the answer names three competitors and not you, the buyer may never see you.
What is GEO (generative engine optimization), and how is it different from SEO?
GEO, also called AEO (answer engine optimization), is the work of getting your brand named and cited in AI-generated answers. SEO targets a ranked list of links; GEO targets the few brands and sources an answer chooses to mention. The two overlap, because AI answers lean on the pages and review sites that already rank, but GEO is measured differently: by mention rate and citations, not by position.
How do I know if ChatGPT recommends my brand?
Ask it the questions your buyers ask, logged out, several times, and note whether your brand is named and which sites are cited. One answer is not enough, because answers change between runs. Our free check does this for you: 10 buyer questions per engine, your brand next to one competitor, emailed to you.
Which AI engines does the index track?
The index publishes Gemini, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT. Every chart and table says which engines it includes.
How often is the index updated, and how many questions do you ask?
Once a week. For each industry we ask 200 buyer questions, written the way people phrase them: recommendations, problems, comparisons and price questions. The question set is frozen for a quarter, so week-to-week changes come from the engines, not from us.
Why do different AI engines recommend different brands?
They search different parts of the web and trust different sources. In our September probe the engines agreed on most of the top brands in every industry we tested, but they cited very different sites: ChatGPT mostly cited the brands' own websites, while Google AI Overviews leaned on YouTube, Reddit and review sites. That is why the index reports each engine separately.
Which industries does the index cover?
25 industries, including help desk and AI customer service software, personal loans, project management software and cruise lines. Agencies on the monthly plan can add one custom industry.
Can I use the data, or get it for my clients?
Yes. The public charts are licensed CC BY 4.0: embed or cite them with a link. For your own brand, start with the free check or a $199 brand snapshot; agencies get weekly white-label reports for client brands; GEO tools and analysts can license the raw weekly dataset.
Does AI recommend your brand?
Free check: how often ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews name your brand next to your top competitor, and whether AI crawlers can read your site. Instant for brands in the Index.
Track AI answers yourself
Build your own AI visibility tracking
The SERP API returns Google results with the Google AI Overviews block and Google AI Mode answers as JSON. 5,000 free credits for 7 days, no card.