Media buying platforms: AI search visibility ranking (2026)
How AI search engines rank media buying 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. Media buying platforms used to plan, buy, optimize, and measure digital advertising across display, video, CTV, mobile, and programmatic channels. Composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
Refreshed Jun 14, 2026Download this ranking as a PDF
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At a glance
What we observed in this categoryauto-generated
Basis and The Trade Desk share the top two positions with identical visibility scores of 12.5%, yet together they represent the only brands breaking above zero in a 20-brand category where the average visibility sits at just 1.2%. That gap is significant: 18 brands, including major players like Display and Video 360, Amazon DSP, and StackAdapt, register zero visibility and zero citations. Google AI Mode is effectively compressing this category into a two-brand conversation, leaving most market participants invisible.
The visibility and citation scores for Basis and The Trade Desk diverge sharply, revealing a distinction between being named and being trusted as a source. Basis carries a 37.5% citation rate against its 12.5% visibility, producing a composite score of 20.0. The Trade Desk matches Basis on visibility but holds a 0.0% citation rate, giving it a composite of just 8.8. This means Basis is being actively linked as a reference, while The Trade Desk is mentioned in passing without its domain being cited.
The top cited sources in this category include youtube.com, attekmi.com, basis.com, rightleftagency.com, epom.com, reddit.com, aidigital.com, and keends.com. Basis.com appearing in that source list directly explains its outsized citation rate. The presence of smaller or niche domains like attekmi.com, rightleftagency.com, and keends.com alongside reddit.com suggests Google AI Mode is drawing on third-party review and commentary content rather than anchoring primarily on brand-owned or major publisher domains.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Basis 0% → 12% · rank #0 → #1+12pp
-
The Trade Desk 0% → 12% · rank #0 → #2+12pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
basis.com
|
12% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
Basis leads all 20 brands with a composite score of 20.0, driven by a 37.5% citation rate that far exceeds the category average of 1.9%, making it the only actively cited brand domain. |
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| 2 |
thetradedesk.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
The Trade Desk matches Basis on visibility at 12.5% but holds a 0.0% citation rate, leaving its composite score at 8.8 and signalling it is named but not linked as a source. |
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| 3 |
marketingplatform.google.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Display and Video 360 scores zero across visibility, citation, and composite despite being a Google product, indicating no presence in Google AI Mode responses for this category. |
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| 4 |
advertising.amazon.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Amazon DSP registers zero visibility and zero citations, placing it level with 16 other brands and well below the 1.2% category average for visibility. |
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| 5 |
stackadapt.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
StackAdapt holds rank 5 by default ordering but scores zero on all metrics, sharing the same null AI visibility profile as the majority of brands in this audit. |
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| 6 |
yahooinc.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
adform.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
simpli.fi
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
viantinc.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
quantcast.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
xandr.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
mediamath.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
criteo.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
moloco.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
liftoff.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
jampp.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
amobee.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
skai.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
choozle.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
smartyads.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on media buying 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 media buying 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 media buying platforms AI visibility
Who leads AI visibility in media buying platforms?
Basis and The Trade Desk jointly lead with 12.5% visibility each, but Basis holds a clear advantage through a 37.5% citation rate that The Trade Desk does not match.
How concentrated is AI visibility in this category?
Extremely concentrated: only 2 of 20 brands score above zero visibility, while the category average sits at just 1.2%, meaning 18 brands are entirely absent from Google AI Mode responses.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for media buying platform research?
The top cited sources include youtube.com, attekmi.com, basis.com, rightleftagency.com, epom.com, reddit.com, aidigital.com, and keends.com, with a notable lean toward third-party and niche commentary sites.
Is there a difference between a brand being visible and being cited in this category?
Yes. The Trade Desk is visible at 12.5% but has a 0.0% citation rate, while Basis has the same visibility but a 37.5% citation rate, showing that mention and source-linking are separate outcomes.
Do major platforms like Amazon DSP or Display and Video 360 have strong AI visibility?
No. Both score zero across visibility, citation, and composite, despite their scale, suggesting brand size alone does not translate to presence in Google AI Mode for this category.
Which brands are new entrants to AI visibility in this category?
Both Basis and The Trade Desk are flagged as the biggest visibility risers, each moving from 0.0% to 12.5% visibility, with Basis also gaining 37.5 citation points in the same period.