AEO for AI search engines: AI search visibility ranking
How AI search engines rank AI search engines by visibility and citations. 20 brands measured quarterly across Google AI Mode: which brands the AI names in answers, which domains it cites as sources, and how the leaders compare. AI search engines and answer-first search products used to find, synthesize, and cite information across the web, documents, and knowledge sources. Composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
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When buyers inquire about AI search engines, Perplexity leads the pack with a visibility rate of 62.5%, often appearing as the top choice in AI engine answers. Notable mentions also include Google and Brave Search, highlighting their strong presence in AI-driven queries.
The rankings are shaped significantly by citations from popular domains. Sources like youtube.com, zapier.com, and commercepundit.com are heavily referenced by AI engines. Many of these are aggregator or review sites, emphasizing the influence of broad-based endorsements and user feedback on visibility.
For buyers evaluating which AI search engine to choose, understanding the importance of recent reviews and third-party validation is crucial. AI engines value topical authority and rely on trusted sources. Considering how a brand is discussed and verified in current, well-regarded platforms can guide your decision effectively.
At a glance
What we observed in this category
Perplexity leads the AI search engines category with a visibility score of 62.5%, giving it a composite score of 43.8 against a category average visibility of just 9.4%. That gap is significant: the second-ranked brand, Google, sits at 50% visibility and a composite of 35.0, while every brand from rank four downward scores 12.5% visibility or below. The distance between the top three and the rest of the field means the majority of the 20 tracked brands are functionally invisible in Google AI Mode responses for this category.
A notable divergence appears between named visibility and citation. All top-five brands carry a 0.0% citation rate, meaning Google AI Mode names these products in answers but does not link back to their own domains as sources. Glean is the only brand in the dataset with any citation presence at all, at 12.5%, despite having zero visibility, making it the clearest example of a brand being referenced as a source without being named as a product recommendation. This named-versus-trusted split is a defining structural pattern for AEO performance in this category.
The sources Google AI Mode anchors on for AI search engine queries are almost entirely third-party review and productivity sites, with youtube.com, pcmag.com, and zapier.com appearing among the top cited domains. None of the brand domains themselves appear in the top cited sources list. This tells us the AI is building its answers from editorial and tutorial content rather than from the product sites directly, which shapes where answer engine optimisation efforts need to be concentrated for brands competing in this space.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Google 12% → 50% · rank #4 → #2+38pp
-
Brave Search 0% → 38% · rank #8 → #3+38pp
-
Perplexity 50% → 62% · rank #1 → #1+12pp
Biggest visibility fallers
-
Microsoft Copilot 25% → 12% · rank #2 → #5-12pp
-
You.com 12% → 0% · rank #3 → #8-12pp
The AEO ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
perplexity.ai
|
62% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Perplexity leads the category at 62.5% visibility, more than six times the 9.4% category average, and has grown from 50% in the prior period, though its citation rate remains zero. |
||||
| 2 |
google.com
|
50% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Google rose from 12.5% to 50% visibility between periods, the largest absolute gain among risers, yet still trails Perplexity by 12.5 percentage points with no citation presence. |
||||
| 3 |
brave.com
|
38% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Brave Search jumped from 0% to 37.5% visibility, climbing five rank positions, making it the most dramatic mover in the dataset despite carrying a 0.0% citation rate. |
||||
| 4 |
exa.ai
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Exa sits at 12.5% visibility, matching the category median for ranked brands outside the top three, with a composite score of 8.8 and no citation activity recorded. |
||||
| 5 |
microsoft.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Microsoft Copilot fell from rank two to rank five, losing 12.5 percentage points of visibility to reach 12.5%, the sharpest rank drop among the top-five brands. |
||||
| 6 |
consensus.app
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
glean.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
you.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
andisearch.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
openai.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
phind.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
kagi.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
x.ai
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
iask.ai
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
komo.ai
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
bagoodex.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
writesonic.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
neeva.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
elicit.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
aol.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on AI search engines, 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 AEO 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. More on visibility →
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. More on citation rate →
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. How AI engines pick sources →
AEO 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 90 days and refresh this page automatically. How AI search ranking works →
Run an AEO audit on your own AI search engines brand
The brands above were curated from public market-leader lists. Want the same answer engine optimisation 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 AEO for AI search engines
Who leads AEO in the AI search engines category?
Perplexity leads with 62.5% visibility and a composite score of 43.8, well ahead of second-placed Google at 50% visibility and a composite of 35.0.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for AI search engine queries?
The top cited sources are third-party sites including youtube.com, pcmag.com, and zapier.com. No brand's own domain appears in the top cited sources list.
Why do leading brands have zero citation rates despite high visibility?
Google AI Mode names brands like Perplexity and Google in answers but does not link back to their domains, indicating the AI draws on third-party editorial content rather than product sites to construct its responses.
Which brands have improved their AEO standing most recently?
Brave Search grew from 0% to 37.5% visibility and rose five rank positions, while Google added 37.5 percentage points of visibility, both representing the largest gains in the dataset.
Are any brands cited as sources without being named as products?
Glean has a 12.5% citation rate but 0.0% visibility, meaning it appears as a referenced source in answers without being surfaced as a recommended AI search engine product.
How concentrated is AEO performance in this category?
The top three brands hold composite scores between 26.2 and 43.8, while 14 of the 20 tracked brands have a composite score of 8.8 or below, showing a heavily skewed distribution of answer engine visibility.