Paid search agencies: AI search visibility ranking (2026)
How AI search engines rank paid search agencies 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. Paid search agencies that manage Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, shopping campaigns, landing page performance, and conversion-focused search media programs. 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
Disruptive Advertising leads the paid search agencies category with a composite score of 32.5, meaningfully ahead of KlientBoost and Power Digital, who both sit at 17.5. The gap matters because Disruptive Advertising is the only brand converting visibility into citations, recording a 50% citation rate while all other ranked brands score zero. With a category average visibility of just 4.4%, three brands each holding 25% visibility represent a highly concentrated top tier that the remaining 17 brands have not penetrated at all.
The sharpest divergence between visibility and citation in this dataset is between KlientBoost and Power Digital on one side and Disruptive Advertising on the other. All three share identical 25% visibility scores, yet only Disruptive Advertising earns citations, making it the sole brand AI treats as both nameable and trustworthy enough to reference directly. Tinuiti, Wpromote, NP Digital, and Brainlabs, all recognisable agency names in the market, register zero visibility and zero citations, suggesting AI is not drawing on brand reputation or market size alone.
Google AI Mode is the dominant engine across all 20 brands in this dataset, listed as the top engine for every brand regardless of score. The cited sources beyond brand domains include reddit.com, agencies.semrush.com, and several smaller review or directory sites such as onelittleweb.com and webtonic.io, indicating AI is anchoring category answers on third-party list and review content rather than brand-owned pages. Disruptiveadvertising.com appears directly in the top cited sources list, reinforcing its position as the only brand whose own domain functions as a trusted reference point.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Disruptive Advertising 0% → 25% · rank #2 → #1+25pp
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KlientBoost 0% → 25% · rank #13 → #2+25pp
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Power Digital 0% → 25% · rank #20 → #3+25pp
Biggest visibility fallers
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Black Propeller 12% → 0% · rank #1 → #7-12pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
disruptiveadvertising.com
|
25% | 50% | Google AI Mode |
Disruptive Advertising is the only brand combining top-tier 25% visibility with a 50% citation rate, giving it a composite score of 32.5 versus the 4.4% category visibility average. |
||||
| 2 |
klientboost.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
KlientBoost jumped 11 places to rank 2 with 25% visibility, but its 0% citation rate keeps its composite score at 17.5, half that of Disruptive Advertising. |
||||
| 3 |
powerdigital.com
|
25% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Power Digital made the largest rank jump in the dataset, rising 17 places to rank 3 with 25% visibility, yet like KlientBoost it earns zero citations and scores 17.5. |
||||
| 4 |
directiveconsulting.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Directive holds rank 4 with 12.5% visibility, half the rate of the top three brands, and records no citations, producing a composite score of just 8.8. |
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| 5 |
tinuiti.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Tinuiti sits at rank 5 with zero visibility and zero citations, matching 15 other brands in the 20-brand set and contributing nothing to its composite score. |
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| 6 |
wpromote.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
blackpropeller.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
npdigital.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
seerinteractive.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
brainlabsdigital.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
croud.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
jellyfish.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
jumpfly.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
logicalposition.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
hawksem.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
adventureppc.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
impressiondigital.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
iprospect.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
merkle.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
riseinteractive.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on paid search agencies, 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 paid search agencies 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 paid search agencies AI visibility
Who leads AI visibility in paid search agencies?
Disruptive Advertising leads with a composite score of 32.5, driven by 25% visibility and a 50% citation rate, the only brand in the category to record any citations at all.
What is the average AI visibility for paid search agencies?
The category average visibility is 4.4% and the average citation rate is 2.5%, reflecting how concentrated all meaningful AI presence is among just three brands.
Which brands saw the biggest AI visibility gains in this category?
KlientBoost rose 11 places and Power Digital rose 17 places in a single period, both moving from near-zero to 25% visibility, while Disruptive Advertising added 25 visibility points alongside a 25-point citation gain.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for paid search agency research?
The top cited sources include disruptiveadvertising.com, reddit.com, agencies.semrush.com, and smaller directory or review sites such as onelittleweb.com and webtonic.io, suggesting AI leans on third-party lists and community content.
Can a brand have high AI visibility but no citations in this category?
Yes. KlientBoost and Power Digital both hold 25% visibility with a 0% citation rate, showing AI mentions them in responses but does not link to or credit their domains as sources.
Which well-known paid search agencies are invisible in AI Mode?
Tinuiti, Wpromote, NP Digital, Seer Interactive, and Brainlabs all score zero visibility and zero citations despite being established agencies tracked within the 20-brand audit set.