AI inference platforms: AI search visibility ranking (2026)
How AI search engines rank ai inference platforms by visibility and citations. 20 brands measured monthly across Google AI Mode: which brands the AI names in answers, which domains it cites as sources, and how the leaders compare. AI inference platforms used to deploy, scale, and optimize model serving for low-latency production AI applications. Composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
Refreshed Jun 18, 2026Download this ranking as a PDF
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At a glance
What we observed in this categoryauto-generated
Baseten leads the AI inference platforms category with a visibility score of 25.0%, more than double the 12.5% held by each of its nearest rivals (Groq, Together AI, Fireworks AI, and Fal). That gap is significant because the category average sits at just 3.8%, meaning the top five brands alone are responsible for all measurable visibility. Brands ranked six through ten, including Modal, Replicate, Runpod, OctoAI, and Banana, record 0.0% visibility, showing a hard cliff in AI recognition below rank five.
Every brand in the dataset records a citation rate of 0.0%, which means no brand is being actively cited as a source by Google AI Mode despite some achieving meaningful visibility. This divergence shows that Google AI Mode is naming these platforms in responses but anchoring its sourced content elsewhere entirely. Being mentioned and being trusted as a reference are two separate outcomes in this category, and currently no brand has achieved the latter.
The top cited sources in this category are youtube.com, reddit.com, gmicloud.ai, digitalocean.com, bentoml.com, titancorpvn.com, helicone.ai, and siliconflow.com. None of these are the direct domains of the ranked brands. Google AI Mode is drawing on third-party commentary, community discussions, and adjacent technical platforms rather than the primary vendor sites, which explains why brand visibility and citation rates are completely decoupled across all 20 brands in this dataset.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Groq 0% → 12% · rank #6 → #2+12pp
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Fal 0% → 12% · rank #10 → #5+12pp
Biggest visibility fallers
-
Baseten 38% → 25% · rank #1 → #1-12pp
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Together AI 25% → 12% · rank #2 → #3-12pp
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Fireworks AI 25% → 12% · rank #3 → #4-12pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
baseten.co
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Baseten holds 25.0% visibility, roughly 6.6 times the 3.8% category average, but has fallen from 37.5% previously, signalling erosion despite retaining the top rank. |
||||
| 2 |
groq.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Groq jumped from rank 6 to rank 2 with a visibility delta of plus 12.5 percentage points, moving from 0.0% to 12.5%, the largest upward movement among rising brands. |
||||
| 3 |
together.ai
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Together AI dropped from 25.0% to 12.5% visibility, a loss of 12.5 percentage points, falling from rank 2 to rank 3 despite still matching rivals at 12.5%. |
||||
| 4 |
fireworks.ai
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Fireworks AI lost 12.5 percentage points of visibility and slipped one rank, now tied at 12.5% with Together AI, Groq, and Fal with no citation differentiation. |
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| 5 |
fal.ai
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Fal rose five rank positions from rank 10 to rank 5, gaining 12.5 percentage points of visibility from a base of 0.0%, matching three higher-ranked peers exactly. |
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| 6 |
modal.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
replicate.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
runpod.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
octo.ai
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
banana.dev
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
huggingface.co
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
aws.amazon.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
cloud.google.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
azure.microsoft.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
anyscale.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
sambanova.ai
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
lepton.ai
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
predibase.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
cerebrium.ai
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
deepinfra.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on ai inference platforms, these are the domains Google AI Mode cited most often. If you're not on this list — or if your competitors are — that's a concrete PR / linkbuilding target.
How to read this ranking
Four things worth knowing before you act on the numbers above. These are the same definitions across every industry page — for category-specific observations, see the What we observed section above (where available) and the per-brand insights inline in the ranking.
Visibility = being named
A brand's visibility % is the share of AI answers that mention it by name in the response prose. This is who AI engines actively recommend to the buyer.
Citation rate = being trusted
Citation rate is the share of AI answers that include the brand's domain as a clickable source link. This is what the AI treats as authoritative evidence — different from being named.
Top engine differs by brand
The "top engine" column shows which AI surface each brand performs best on. Big gaps between a brand's score across engines usually points to specific content or schema gaps.
Rankings move month to month
AI engines re-crawl and re-rank on shorter cycles than classical search. We re-audit every brand on this list at least every 30 days and refresh this page automatically.
Get your own ai inference platforms brand audited
The brands above were curated from public market-leader lists. Want the same measurement against your own brand — including the queries you appear on, which competitors get named instead, and a prioritised fix list? Run a free preview.
Frequently asked about ai inference platforms AI visibility
Who leads AI visibility in the AI inference platforms category?
Baseten leads with 25.0% visibility, more than double the 12.5% held by Groq, Together AI, Fireworks AI, and Fal. The category average is just 3.8%, so Baseten's lead is substantial relative to the full 20-brand field.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for AI inference platform research?
Google AI Mode anchors citations on youtube.com, reddit.com, gmicloud.ai, digitalocean.com, bentoml.com, titancorpvn.com, helicone.ai, and siliconflow.com. None of these are the primary domains of any ranked inference platform brand.
Which brands have zero AI visibility in this category?
Modal, Replicate, Runpod, OctoAI, and Banana all record 0.0% visibility and 0.0% citation rate, placing them outside any measurable AI Mode presence in the current audit period.
Which brands are rising fastest in AI inference platform visibility?
Groq gained 12.5 percentage points moving from 0.0% to 12.5% (rank 6 to rank 2), and Fal gained the same 12.5 points moving from rank 10 to rank 5, both entering visibility from zero in the previous period.
Does any AI inference platform brand get cited as a source by Google AI Mode?
No. Every brand in the dataset records a citation rate of 0.0%, meaning Google AI Mode mentions brands by name in responses but does not cite their own domains as reference sources.
How concentrated is AI visibility in the AI inference platforms category?
Visibility is heavily concentrated at the top five brands, which hold all measurable share against a 3.8% category average. The bottom 15 brands in the 20-brand dataset collectively record 0.0% visibility.