Digital asset delivery networks: AI search visibility ranking (2026)
How AI search engines rank digital asset delivery networks 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. CDN and edge delivery platforms used to accelerate websites, apps, media, and static assets globally. Composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
Refreshed Jun 13, 2026Download this ranking as a PDF
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At a glance
What we observed in this categoryauto-generated
Cloudflare and Bunny.net share the outright lead in this category, each posting a composite score of 12.5 against a category average visibility of just 1.9 percent. Both brands rose from zero visibility in the prior period, Cloudflare jumping from rank 4 and Bunny.net from rank 9, making them the only two brands to register meaningful AI presence. The remaining 18 brands, including household names like Akamai, Amazon CloudFront, and Azure CDN, score zero composite, which makes the gap between the leaders and the field unusually stark.
Cloudinary sits at rank 3 with 12.5 percent visibility but zero citation, meaning Google AI Mode describes it without linking to or referencing its domain. Fastly presents the inverse pattern: zero visibility but a 25.0 percent citation rate, the highest citation figure in the dataset. This split reveals a clear divergence between being named in AI-generated answers and being trusted enough to serve as a source, and Fastly's citation lead without narrative presence is a structural anomaly worth monitoring.
Google AI Mode is the dominant engine across all 20 brands in this dataset, listed as the top engine for every entry. The cited sources anchoring AI answers include gartner.com, g2.com, and youtube.com alongside fastly.com and developers.cloudflare.com, suggesting the AI draws on analyst review platforms and vendor developer documentation rather than homepage or marketing content. The presence of bynder.com and aprimo.com in the source list also indicates some blurring with adjacent digital asset management categories.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Cloudflare 0% → 12% · rank #4 → #1+12pp
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Bunny.net 0% → 12% · rank #9 → #2+12pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
cloudflare.com
|
12% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
Cloudflare matches the category high with 12.5 percent visibility and 12.5 percent citation, rising from rank 4 and from zero visibility in the prior period, the largest absolute gain in the dataset. |
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| 2 |
bunny.net
|
12% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
Bunny.net equals Cloudflare at 12.5 percent visibility and 12.5 percent citation while climbing seven rank positions, making it the biggest rank mover and a joint leader despite lower market profile. |
||||
| 3 |
cloudinary.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Cloudinary achieves 12.5 percent visibility, matching the leaders, but records zero citation, producing a composite of 8.8 and flagging a named-but-not-cited dynamic unique among the top brands. |
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| 4 |
fastly.com
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Fastly holds the highest citation rate in the dataset at 25.0 percent yet registers zero visibility, a direct inversion of Cloudinary's pattern and the clearest citation-without-description case in the data. |
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| 5 |
aws.amazon.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Amazon CloudFront scores zero across all metrics despite its market scale, sitting level with Akamai, Google Cloud CDN, and Azure CDN, none of which register any AI presence in this audit. |
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| 6 |
akamai.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
cloud.google.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
azure.microsoft.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
edg.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
gcore.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
keycdn.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
imperva.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
cdn77.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
leaseweb.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
cachefly.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
medianova.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
alibabacloud.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
vercel.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
netlify.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
imagekit.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on digital asset delivery networks, 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 digital asset delivery networks 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 digital asset delivery networks AI visibility
Who leads AI visibility in digital asset delivery networks?
Cloudflare and Bunny.net share the top position, each with 12.5 percent visibility and 12.5 percent citation, well above the category average visibility of 1.9 percent.
Which brand has the highest citation rate in this category even though it has no visibility?
Fastly holds a 25.0 percent citation rate, the highest in the dataset, but registers zero visibility, meaning AI answers reference Fastly as a source without describing it as a recommended brand.
What sources does Google AI Mode anchor on when answering digital asset delivery network queries?
The top cited sources are gartner.com, g2.com, youtube.com, fastly.com, developers.cloudflare.com, contentcloud.ai, aprimo.com, and bynder.com, combining analyst platforms with vendor developer documentation.
How many brands in this category have any measurable AI presence?
Only three of the 20 audited brands register a non-zero composite score: Cloudflare, Bunny.net, and Cloudinary, leaving the remaining 17 brands at zero across all metrics.
Which brands saw the biggest visibility gains in the most recent period?
Cloudflare and Bunny.net both moved from zero visibility to 12.5 percent, with Bunny.net also climbing seven rank positions, making both the only brands classified as biggest visibility risers.
Why do major enterprise CDN providers like Akamai and Amazon CloudFront score zero in this audit?
The data shows both brands at zero visibility and zero citation in Google AI Mode for this category, suggesting they are not being surfaced or sourced in AI-generated answers despite their market scale.