Market research firms: AI search visibility ranking (2026)
How AI search engines rank market research firms 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. Market research firms that provide consumer insights, survey research, segmentation, competitive intelligence, and category analysis for enterprise decision-making. 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
Ipsos, Kantar, and Gartner each hold a 25.0% visibility score, placing them five times above the category average of 5.0%. YouGov and Mintel sit at 12.5%, exactly half the top tier. Every brand below rank five records 0.0% visibility, meaning the bottom 15 of 20 tracked brands are entirely absent from Google AI Mode responses. This two-tier structure is stark: three brands dominate equally at the top, and the majority of the category does not appear at all.
Every brand in the dataset carries a citation rate of 0.0%, including the three leaders at 25.0% visibility. This means Ipsos, Kantar, and Gartner are named in AI responses but their domains are not being cited as sources. The sources Google AI Mode does cite, including gwi.com, pollfish.com, and askattest.com, are not among the ranked brands. Named presence and trusted source status are therefore entirely decoupled in this category.
The top cited sources in this category are all smaller or specialist platforms: gwi.com, pollfish.com, sogolytics.com, quantilope.com, and diginsights.com. None of these appear in the ranked brand list. Google AI Mode is anchoring its sourcing on content from these sites rather than on the established firms it names in responses. All recorded visibility and citations originate from Google AI Mode exclusively, with no other engine contributing data across the 20 tracked brands.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Ipsos 0% → 25% · rank #0 → #1+25pp
-
Kantar 0% → 25% · rank #0 → #2+25pp
-
Gartner 0% → 25% · rank #0 → #3+25pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
ipsos.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Ipsos ties with Kantar and Gartner at 25.0% visibility, five times the 5.0% category average, but holds a 0.0% citation rate like every other tracked brand. |
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| 2 |
kantar.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Kantar matches Ipsos and Gartner at 25.0% visibility and a composite score of 17.5, yet records 0.0% citations, mirroring the named-but-not-cited pattern across the top tier. |
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| 3 |
gartner.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Gartner shares the top composite score of 17.5 with Ipsos and Kantar despite being a broader analyst firm, suggesting AI Mode treats it as an equivalent market research brand. |
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| 4 |
yougov.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
YouGov scores 12.5% visibility and a composite of 8.8, exactly half of the top three, placing it in a distinct second tier with Mintel and zero citation presence. |
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| 5 |
mintel.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Mintel ties YouGov at 12.5% visibility and 8.8 composite score, but both sit well above the 15 brands at 0.0%, highlighting a clear three-level hierarchy in this category. |
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| 6 |
niq.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
forrester.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
gfk.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
circana.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
euromonitor.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
idc.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
frost.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
numerator.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
dynata.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
westat.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
escalent.co
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
beroeinc.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
hanoverresearch.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
marketsandmarkets.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
statista.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on market research firms, 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 market research firms 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 market research firms AI visibility
Who leads AI visibility in the market research firms category?
Ipsos, Kantar, and Gartner share the top position, each with 25.0% visibility and a composite score of 17.5 on Google AI Mode.
What is the typical citation rate for market research firms in Google AI Mode?
The average citation rate across all 20 tracked brands is 0.0%, including the three leaders, meaning no ranked brand is being cited as a source.
What sources does Google AI Mode actually cite for market research queries?
The top cited sources include gwi.com, pollfish.com, sogolytics.com, quantilope.com, and diginsights.com, none of which appear in the 20 ranked brands.
How many market research brands have any AI visibility at all?
Only five of the 20 tracked brands record any visibility: Ipsos, Kantar, and Gartner at 25.0%, and YouGov and Mintel at 12.5%.
Is there a meaningful gap between the top brands and the rest of the category?
Yes, the top three brands each score 25.0% visibility against a category average of 5.0%, and the bottom 15 brands all record 0.0%.
Which engine drives AI visibility for market research firms?
All visibility and citation data in this audit originates exclusively from Google AI Mode, with no other engine contributing scores across the 20 tracked brands.