Pineprompt AI Search Visibility Benchmark 2026
How seven AI search engines cite sources and name brands, from 200 non-branded buyer prompts and 18,792 responses over 14 days.
Key findings
100%
Perplexity cites a source in this share of its answers (Gemini: 90.7%).
6.2
The average answer names this many tracked brands.
12.9%
of brands are named by every engine; 46.2% by only one.
10.1
Perplexity averages this many citations per answer.
68.8%
Perplexity shows the highest day-to-day brand churn.
Cite this data
Copy the line below when you use these numbers. The data is licensed under CC BY 4.0, so you may share and adapt it with attribution.
Results by engine
| Engine | Answers with citations | Avg citations per answer | Avg brands named per answer | Day-to-day brand change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 99.5% | 9.3 | 5.5 | 36% |
| Claude (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) | 95.3% | 4.4 | 6.7 | 46.4% |
| Claude (claude-haiku-5-5) | 96.4% | 5 | 8.5 | 41.1% |
| Copilot | 98% | 4.8 | 7.6 | 51.3% |
| Gemini | 90.7% | 6.7 | 6 | 55.8% |
| Google AI Mode | 94.8% | 5.9 | 6.5 | 45.6% |
| Google AI Overview | 96.3% | 7.1 | 5.7 | 45.1% |
| Perplexity | 100% | 10.1 | 3.9 | 68.8% |
Top cited domain types by engine
| Engine | Most cited domain types, share of citations |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Vendor and brand sites (48.8%); Editorial and review sites (44.5%); Other (5.6%) |
| Claude (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) | Editorial and review sites (51.9%); Vendor and brand sites (47.6%); Other (0.3%) |
| Claude (claude-haiku-5-5) | Editorial and review sites (52.7%); Vendor and brand sites (46.9%); Other (0.3%) |
| Copilot | Editorial and review sites (56.6%); Vendor and brand sites (41.9%); Other (0.7%) |
| Gemini | Vendor and brand sites (59.8%); Editorial and review sites (38.4%); Forums and communities (1.2%) |
| Google AI Mode | Vendor and brand sites (34.5%); Editorial and review sites (27.5%); Video platforms (18.5%) |
| Google AI Overview | Vendor and brand sites (39.4%); Editorial and review sites (28.5%); Video platforms (18.5%) |
| Perplexity | Vendor and brand sites (46.3%); Editorial and review sites (43.9%); Other (5.4%) |
Brand overlap between engines
- 12.9% of the 8,269 brands seen are named by every engine.
- 46.2% are named by only one engine.
- Google AI Overview and ChatGPT share 45.6% of named brands (Jaccard similarity).
- Google AI Mode and ChatGPT share 45.2% of named brands (Jaccard similarity).
Results by category
| Category | Answers with citations | Avg citations per answer | Avg brands named per answer | Day-to-day brand change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting | 97.1% | 6.9 | 6.2 | 41.4% |
| CRM | 96.5% | 6.6 | 5.9 | 48.9% |
| Cybersecurity and VPN | 97.1% | 6.9 | 5.4 | 43.1% |
| Ecommerce platforms | 97.9% | 7.3 | 6.7 | 44.1% |
| Email marketing | 97.3% | 6.8 | 6.1 | 40.9% |
| HR and recruiting | 98% | 6.5 | 6.7 | 47% |
| Project management | 95.7% | 6.6 | 6.6 | 44.1% |
| Running and fitness | 91.2% | 6.5 | 5.1 | 46.8% |
| Travel insurance and travel | 94.1% | 6.8 | 5.9 | 43.9% |
| Web hosting | 97.7% | 6.8 | 6.9 | 47.4% |
Methodology
We wrote 200 non-branded buyer prompts across 10 categories and ran each against 7 engines: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overview, Google AI Mode, and Copilot. The 18,792 responses were collected from 2026-09-30 to 2026-10-13. Prompts were scheduled daily on each engine for 14 days (US, English); some runs returned no answer. Pineprompt analysed the responses to extract citations and named brands. Metric definitions are on the methodology page.
Limitations
The prompts are a fixed sample of buyer questions in US, English, so results may not hold for other markets, languages, or query styles. AI answers are non-deterministic, and engines change without notice, so the numbers describe a 14-day window rather than a lasting property of each engine.
- Brand stats cover brands seen with >=2 mentions that were assigned to category segments by 2026-10-13; new brands must be assigned to a segment to count.
- Claude split by model; previous Haiku until 2026-10-09 ~18:40 UTC, claude-haiku-5-5 after.
- Domain type uses the app's source classification; missing source types land in Other.
Benchmark FAQ
What people ask about the data and how to use it.
- What is the Pineprompt AI Search Visibility Benchmark?
- A study of how 7 AI search engines cite sources and name brands when answered 200 non-branded buyer prompts across 10 categories.
- Can I cite or reuse this data?
- Yes. The data is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Use the attribution line above and link to this page.
- Where can I get the raw numbers?
- Download the CSV. It holds the per-engine and per-category metrics shown on this page.
- How were the answers collected?
- Prompts were scheduled daily on each engine for 14 days, in US, English. 18,792 answers were collected, and some runs returned no answer. Pineprompt analysed each response. See the methodology for how metrics are computed.
- Why does the brand list change day to day?
- AI answers are non-deterministic. The day-to-day brand change column measures how much the named brands shift between consecutive days for the same prompt.
Measure your own brand.
See how each of these 7 engines cites and names your brand, tracked daily.