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Which vpns brands AI answers recommend

Every week we ask 200 buyer questions, the way people really ask them, and count which brands the answers name and which sites they cite.

Week 41, Oct 5-11, 2026 (latest) Updated 3 of 3 engines published Methodology

Named most often

NordVPN

in 54% of answers across the published engines

Site AI cites most

openai.com

12.6% of all citations, a site

Top 10 brands, all engines

Share of answers that name the brand, across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews. The small figure is the change in points vs the previous week.

  1. 1 NordVPN 54%
  2. 2 Proton VPN 47%
  3. 3 Surfshark 47%
  4. 4 ExpressVPN 34%
  5. 5 Private Internet Access 18%
  6. 6 Mullvad 15%
  7. 7 CyberGhost 11%
  8. 8 Windscribe 10%
  9. 9 IPVanish 6%
  10. 10 Norton VPN 5%
Embed 
<iframe src="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn/embed/overall" width="100%" height="520" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Top vpns brands in AI answers"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px">Chart: <a href="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=embed-attribution">Top vpns brands in AI answers, Ujeebu AI Citation Index</a> (CC BY 4.0). Powered by <a href="https://ujeebu.com/?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=powered-by">Ujeebu</a></p>

Top 10 by engine

Each engine answers differently. The bar is the share of that engine's answers naming the brand; the thin line is the likely range (95%): ask the same questions again and the number would probably land inside it.

Gemini

200 answers, 100% of prompts collected

  1. 1 NordVPN 58% Likely range 51% to 65%
  2. 2 Surfshark 53% Likely range 46% to 59%
  3. 3 Proton VPN 44% Likely range 37% to 50%
  4. 4 ExpressVPN 36% Likely range 30% to 43%
  5. 5 Private Internet Access 15% Likely range 10% to 20%
  6. 6 CyberGhost 11% Likely range 7% to 16%
  7. 7 Mullvad 9% Likely range 6% to 14%
  8. 8 Windscribe 8% Likely range 5% to 13%
  9. 9 IPVanish 7% Likely range 4% to 11%
  10. 10 Avast SecureLine VPN 6% Likely range 3% to 10%
Full table
Gemini, Week 41, Oct 5-11, 2026
BrandNamed inRangeAvg positionShare of voicevs last week
NordVPN 116 / 200 (58%) 51%-65% 1.5 20.3% n/a
Surfshark 105 / 200 (53%) 46%-59% 2.2 18.4% n/a
Proton VPN 87 / 200 (44%) 37%-50% 2.5 15.2% n/a
ExpressVPN 72 / 200 (36%) 30%-43% 2.7 12.6% n/a
Private Internet Access 29 / 200 (15%) 10%-20% 2.6 5.1% n/a
CyberGhost 21 / 200 (11%) 7%-16% 2.3 3.7% n/a
Mullvad 18 / 200 (9%) 6%-14% 2.5 3.2% n/a
Windscribe 16 / 200 (8%) 5%-13% 1.9 2.8% n/a
IPVanish 13 / 200 (7%) 4%-11% 3.0 2.3% n/a
Avast SecureLine VPN 12 / 200 (6%) 3%-10% 4.0 2.1% n/a
Embed 
<iframe src="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn/embed/gemini" width="100%" height="520" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Top vpns brands on Gemini"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px">Chart: <a href="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=embed-attribution">Top vpns brands on Gemini, Ujeebu AI Citation Index</a> (CC BY 4.0). Powered by <a href="https://ujeebu.com/?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=powered-by">Ujeebu</a></p>

Google AI Overviews

189 answers, 100% of prompts collected. Google AI Overviews appeared on 95% of searches

  1. 1 NordVPN 63% Likely range 56% to 70%
  2. 2 Surfshark 53% Likely range 46% to 60%
  3. 3 Proton VPN 51% Likely range 44% to 58%
  4. 4 ExpressVPN 37% Likely range 30% to 44%
  5. 5 Private Internet Access 21% Likely range 15% to 27%
  6. 6 CyberGhost 15% Likely range 10% to 21%
  7. 7 Mullvad 13% Likely range 9% to 18%
  8. 8 Windscribe 10% Likely range 7% to 15%
  9. 9 IPVanish 7% Likely range 4% to 11%
  10. 10 Norton VPN 5% Likely range 3% to 9%
Full table
Google AI Overviews, Week 41, Oct 5-11, 2026
BrandNamed inRangeAvg positionShare of voicevs last week
NordVPN 119 / 189 (63%) 56%-70% 2.0 19.9% n/a
Surfshark 100 / 189 (53%) 46%-60% 2.4 16.7% n/a
Proton VPN 97 / 189 (51%) 44%-58% 3.0 16.2% n/a
ExpressVPN 70 / 189 (37%) 30%-44% 2.6 11.7% n/a
Private Internet Access 39 / 189 (21%) 15%-27% 2.4 6.5% n/a
CyberGhost 28 / 189 (15%) 10%-21% 2.8 4.7% n/a
Mullvad 24 / 189 (13%) 9%-18% 3.5 4.0% n/a
Windscribe 19 / 189 (10%) 7%-15% 3.3 3.2% n/a
IPVanish 13 / 189 (7%) 4%-11% 3.4 2.2% n/a
Norton VPN 10 / 189 (5%) 3%-9% 2.1 1.7% n/a
Embed 
<iframe src="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn/embed/google_aio" width="100%" height="520" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Top vpns brands on Google AI Overviews"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px">Chart: <a href="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=embed-attribution">Top vpns brands on Google AI Overviews, Ujeebu AI Citation Index</a> (CC BY 4.0). Powered by <a href="https://ujeebu.com/?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=powered-by">Ujeebu</a></p>

ChatGPT (search)

200 answers, 100% of prompts collected

  1. 1 Proton VPN 48% Likely range 41% to 54%
  2. 2 NordVPN 43% Likely range 36% to 49%
  3. 3 Surfshark 35% Likely range 29% to 42%
  4. 4 ExpressVPN 29% Likely range 23% to 36%
  5. 5 Mullvad 24% Likely range 18% to 30%
  6. 6 Private Internet Access 20% Likely range 15% to 26%
  7. 7 Windscribe 13% Likely range 9% to 18%
  8. 8 CyberGhost 8% Likely range 5% to 12%
  9. 9 Tailscale 6% Likely range 3% to 10%
  10. 10 IPVanish 6% Likely range 3% to 10%
Full table
ChatGPT (search), Week 41, Oct 5-11, 2026
BrandNamed inRangeAvg positionShare of voicevs last week
Proton VPN 95 / 200 (48%) 41%-54% 2.4 17.7% n/a
NordVPN 85 / 200 (43%) 36%-49% 1.9 15.8% n/a
Surfshark 70 / 200 (35%) 29%-42% 2.5 13.0% n/a
ExpressVPN 58 / 200 (29%) 23%-36% 2.8 10.8% n/a
Mullvad 47 / 200 (24%) 18%-30% 2.6 8.8% n/a
Private Internet Access 40 / 200 (20%) 15%-26% 2.4 7.5% n/a
Windscribe 26 / 200 (13%) 9%-18% 3.1 4.8% n/a
CyberGhost 15 / 200 (8%) 5%-12% 3.0 2.8% n/a
Tailscale 12 / 200 (6%) 3%-10% 1.9 2.2% n/a
IPVanish 11 / 200 (6%) 3%-10% 3.0 2.1% n/a
Embed 
<iframe src="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn/embed/chatgpt" width="100%" height="520" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Top vpns brands on ChatGPT (search)"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px">Chart: <a href="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=embed-attribution">Top vpns brands on ChatGPT (search), Ujeebu AI Citation Index</a> (CC BY 4.0). Powered by <a href="https://ujeebu.com/?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=powered-by">Ujeebu</a></p>

Which sites AI trusts

The 10 domains cited most often as sources in these answers, as a share of all citations. Brands rarely win on their own site: the answers lean on review sites, forums and media.

  1. 1 openai.com Other 12.6%
  2. 2 google.com Other 10.5%
  3. 3 youtube.com Video and other 6.7%
  4. 4 googleusercontent.com Other 5.9%
  5. 5 reddit.com Forum 3.9%
  6. 6 cnet.com Media 3.7%
  7. 7 nordvpn.com Brand site 3.4%
  8. 8 protonvpn.com Brand site 3.2%
  9. 9 surfshark.com Brand site 2.9%
  10. 10 techradar.com Media 2.5%
By engine
DomainType ChatGPTGeminiGoogle AI Overviews
openai.comOther 37.9%n/an/a
google.comOther 30.6%0.3%0.5%
youtube.comVideo and other n/a0.4%19.7%
googleusercontent.comOther n/a17.8%n/a
reddit.comForum n/a3.1%8.7%
cnet.comMedia n/a4.9%6.3%
nordvpn.comBrand site 4.2%3.3%2.8%
protonvpn.comBrand site 5.3%2.0%2.3%
surfshark.comBrand site 4.1%1.8%2.9%
techradar.comMedia 0.1%5.3%2.1%
Embed 
<iframe src="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn/embed/domains" width="100%" height="520" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Sites AI cites for vpns"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px">Chart: <a href="https://ujeebu.com/ai-index/vpn?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=embed-attribution">Sites AI cites for vpns, Ujeebu AI Citation Index</a> (CC BY 4.0). Powered by <a href="https://ujeebu.com/?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ai-index&amp;utm_content=powered-by">Ujeebu</a></p>

Weekly movers

The largest changes vs the previous week, from last week's share (hollow dot) to this week's. One week can be noise: a move is clear only when this week's range and last week's do not overlap.

All weekly notes

First week: movers appear from the second published week.

About this week's data

Prompts
200: 80 recommendation, 50 problem-led, 40 comparison, 30 price
Runs
Once per engine per week, in US English
Collected
Oct 9, 2026 to Oct 9, 2026
Checked by hand
15 answers, 0 with errors

Brand names are reported as they appear in answers. How we collect and count: methodology. Spotted an error? Tell us. Data licensed CC BY 4.0.

We make every effort to find high-quality data sources, but this data comes from AI engine answers collected from the open web and we cannot guarantee its accuracy, completeness or reliability. Use it at your own risk.

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