Digital experience platforms: AI search visibility ranking (2026)
How AI search engines rank digital experience 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. Platforms used to build, orchestrate, personalize, and optimize digital experiences across websites, apps, commerce, and customer journeys. 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 evaluating Digital experience platforms, AI engines predominantly highlight Sitecore as the leader, with Contentful and Liferay also receiving frequent mentions. Sitecore holds a visibility percentage of 12.5, indicating a solid presence in responses, while half of those responses specifically cite Sitecore.
The rankings are influenced heavily by sources like gartner.com, linkedin.com, and cmswire.com, which provide trusted industry analyses and reviews. Aggregator sites like these dominate citations because they compile reviews and expert opinions, offering a comprehensive view of the digital experience platform landscape.
For buyers assessing this list, consider platforms with strong third-party validation and recent reviews, as these elements are prioritized by AI engines. This means focusing on brands that demonstrate topical authority, verified through consistent, up-to-date feedback from industry experts and users alike.
At a glance
What we observed in this category
Sitecore leads the Digital experience platforms category with a composite score of 23.8, well ahead of second-placed Contentful at 16.2. That 7.6-point gap matters because it is driven almost entirely by citation rate: Sitecore is cited in 50% of responses versus Contentful's 25%, even though both share the same 12.5% visibility score. Both brands sit five times above the category average visibility of 2.5%, signalling a concentrated top tier while the remaining 18 brands cluster at or near zero.
A clear divergence exists between brands that appear in AI responses and brands that get cited as sources. Liferay and Contentstack each hold 0% visibility yet both carry a 37.5% citation rate, ranking them third and fourth overall. Bloomreach and Acquia show the opposite pattern: 12.5% visibility each but 0% citations. This means AI Mode names Bloomreach and Acquia in answers but does not link to them as trusted references, while Liferay and Contentstack are treated as credible sources without being surfaced by name in generated text.
Google AI Mode is the top engine for every brand in this dataset, confirming the audit is anchored entirely on that single surface. Among external sources, gartner.com appears first in the cited sources list, followed by linkedin.com and cmswire.com. Notably, sitecore.com and contentstack.com appear as cited sources themselves, meaning both brands have achieved direct domain citation alongside third-party analyst and trade publications. Adobe Experience Manager fell from rank 1 to rank 7 despite gaining citation delta of 12.5, illustrating that citation recovery alone does not offset a 37.5-point visibility loss.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Contentful 0% → 12% · rank #9 → #2+12pp
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Acquia 0% → 12% · rank #12 → #6+12pp
Biggest visibility fallers
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Adobe Experience Manager 38% → 0% · rank #1 → #7-38pp
-
Sitecore 25% → 12% · rank #2 → #1-12pp
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Liferay 12% → 0% · rank #6 → #3-12pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
sitecore.com
|
12% | 50% | Google AI Mode |
Sitecore leads with a 50% citation rate, five times the category average, and its domain appears directly in the top cited sources list alongside third-party publishers. |
||||
| 2 |
contentful.com
|
12% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Contentful jumped from rank 9 to rank 2 this period, gaining 12.5 visibility points and 12.5 citation points, making it the category's biggest composite riser. |
||||
| 3 |
liferay.com
|
0% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
Liferay holds a 37.5% citation rate despite 0% visibility, ranking it as the most-cited zero-visibility brand in the category against a 10% citation average. |
||||
| 4 |
contentstack.com
|
0% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
Contentstack mirrors Liferay with 0% visibility and 37.5% citations, and its domain also appears directly in the category's top cited sources list. |
||||
| 5 |
bloomreach.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Bloomreach achieves 12.5% visibility, five times the 2.5% category average, but records 0% citations, meaning AI Mode names it without linking to it as a source. |
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| 6 |
acquia.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
adobe.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
optimizely.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
sanity.io
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
webflow.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
kentico.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
progress.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
storyblok.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
magnolia-cms.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
umbraco.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
builder.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
crownpeak.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
prismic.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
hygraph.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
uniform.dev
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on digital experience 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. 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 →
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. How AI search ranking works →
Get your own digital experience 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 digital experience platforms AI visibility
Who leads AI visibility in Digital experience platforms?
Sitecore leads with a composite score of 23.8, a 12.5% visibility rate, and a 50% citation rate. Its nearest competitor, Contentful, scores 16.2 composite with a 25% citation rate.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for Digital experience platforms research?
Gartner.com ranks first among cited sources, followed by linkedin.com and cmswire.com. Brand-owned domains sitecore.com and contentstack.com also appear directly in the cited sources list.
Which brands are cited frequently but not named in AI-generated answers?
Liferay and Contentstack both carry 37.5% citation rates but 0% visibility, meaning AI Mode references their domains as sources without surfacing their brand names in the generated text.
Which brand has seen the biggest AI visibility decline in this category?
Adobe Experience Manager fell from rank 1 to rank 7, losing 37.5 visibility points. Despite gaining 12.5 citation points in the same period, its current visibility sits at 0%.
Are there brands with high AI visibility but no citation link back to their domain?
Yes. Bloomreach and Acquia both have 12.5% visibility but 0% citation rate, indicating AI Mode includes them in answers but does not link to their domains as supporting sources.
How concentrated is AI visibility across the 20 brands in this category?
The category average visibility is just 2.5%, and only four brands (Sitecore, Contentful, Bloomreach, Acquia) exceed 0% visibility, confirming that AI presence is concentrated in a very small group.