AEO for self-storage facilities in Tampa: AI search visibility ranking
How AI search engines rank self-storage facilities in Tampa by visibility and citations. 16 providers measured quarterly across Google AI Mode: which providers the AI names in answers, which domains it cites as sources, and how the leaders compare. Self-storage operators serving Tampa households and businesses with climate-controlled units, boat and RV storage, and accessible rental options across the metro. Composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
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Extra Space Storage leads the self-storage facilities market in Tampa, being the most frequently mentioned brand by AI engines. CubeSmart and Devon Self Storage also appear prominently in AI-generated content. With Extra Space Storage holding a visibility percentage of 25.0, they're a significant player in the industry search landscape.
The rankings are largely influenced by information sourced from top domains like google.com, extraspace.com, sparefoot.com, along with others. Many of these are aggregator and review sites, meaning they compile ratings and customer feedback, which significantly impacts the AI engines' answers.
For someone looking to hire a self-storage provider from this list, it's valuable to consider brands that AI engines frequently mention, based on recent reviews and third-party validations. Paying attention to how these engines value topical authority and specific subcategories might lead you to a more reliable choice.
At a glance
What we observed in this category
Extra Space Storage leads the Tampa self-storage AI visibility landscape by a wide margin, holding 25.0% visibility against a category average of just 3.1%. CubeSmart and Devon Self Storage each sit at 12.5% visibility, but the gap between first and second place is still 12.5 percentage points. That gap matters because Extra Space Storage also holds a 75.0% citation rate, meaning it is not just named more often but trusted as a source far more than any competitor in the category.
A clear divergence exists between being named in AI responses and being cited as a source. Public Storage has zero visibility yet a 25.0% citation rate, meaning Google AI Mode treats it as a reference source while rarely surfacing it as a recommended brand. Devon Self Storage shows the opposite pattern, appearing in 12.5% of responses but earning zero citations. Store Space and Value Store It each carry 12.5% citation rates despite zero visibility, reinforcing that citation and naming are being driven by different signals.
Google AI Mode is the sole engine recorded across all 16 brands in this audit. Among the top cited sources, aggregator and directory platforms appear prominently alongside brand domains, with google.com, sparefoot.com, storagecafe.com, and moving.com all listed alongside extraspace.com and cubesmart.com. This pattern suggests AI responses in this category are being anchored on third-party listing and comparison sites rather than brand websites alone, which helps explain why brands like Public Storage can accumulate citations without achieving visibility.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
Devon Self Storage 0% → 12% · rank #5 → #3+12pp
Biggest visibility fallers
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Extra Space Storage 50% → 25% · rank #1 → #1-25pp
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Store Space 25% → 0% · rank #2 → #5-25pp
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Public Storage 12% → 0% · rank #3 → #4-12pp
The AEO ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
extraspace.com
|
25% | 75% | Google AI Mode |
Extra Space Storage leads all brands with 25.0% visibility and a 75.0% citation rate, both far above the category averages of 3.1% and 8.6% respectively, though visibility has fallen from 50.0% in the prior period. |
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| 2 |
cubesmart.com
|
12% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
CubeSmart sits at 12.5% visibility and 12.5% citation rate, the only brand outside Extra Space Storage where both scores align, placing it at roughly four times the category average visibility of 3.1%. |
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| 3 |
devonselfstorage.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Devon Self Storage rose from rank 5 to rank 3 with a 12.5 percentage point visibility gain, but its 0.0% citation rate means AI responses name it without using its content as a cited source. |
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| 4 |
publicstorage.com
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Public Storage holds a 25.0% citation rate despite 0.0% visibility, meaning it functions as a background reference source for AI responses rather than a brand that gets directly recommended to users. |
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| 5 |
storespace.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
Store Space dropped from rank 2 to rank 5, losing 25.0 percentage points of visibility and 37.5 percentage points of citation rate, the largest combined decline of any brand in this audit period. |
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| 6 |
valuestoreit.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
uhaul.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
lifestorage.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
metroselfstorage.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
personalministorage.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
aaselfstorage.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
morningstarstorage.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
istorage.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
storquest.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
primestorage.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
securespace.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on self-storage facilities in Tampa, 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 AEO 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 →
AEO 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 90 days and refresh this page automatically. How AI search ranking works →
Run an AEO audit on your own self-storage facilities in Tampa brand
The brands above were curated from public market-leader lists. Want the same answer engine optimisation 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 AEO for self-storage facilities in Tampa
Who leads AI visibility in the Tampa self-storage category?
Extra Space Storage leads with 25.0% visibility and a 75.0% citation rate, both far above the category averages of 3.1% and 8.6%. No other brand comes close on either metric in this audit period.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for Tampa self-storage research?
The top cited sources include google.com, extraspace.com, sparefoot.com, storagecafe.com, and moving.com, indicating that AI responses in this category draw heavily from aggregator and directory platforms alongside brand websites.
Which brands are cited by AI but rarely or never named as recommendations?
Public Storage carries a 25.0% citation rate with 0.0% visibility, and Store Space and Value Store It each hold 12.5% citation rates with zero visibility, showing a clear gap between being used as a source and being surfaced as a recommendation.
How concentrated is AI visibility in this category?
Visibility is heavily concentrated, with Extra Space Storage, CubeSmart, and Devon Self Storage accounting for all named visibility while 10 of the 16 brands audited hold a 0.0% visibility score.
Which brand showed the biggest change in AI visibility between periods?
Extra Space Storage fell 25.0 percentage points from 50.0% to 25.0% visibility, while Store Space dropped from 25.0% to 0.0% and also lost 37.5 percentage points of citation rate, the largest declines in the dataset.
Is Devon Self Storage a rising threat to the top two brands in AI visibility?
Devon Self Storage rose from rank 5 to rank 3 with a 12.5 percentage point visibility gain, but its 0.0% citation rate suggests it is being named in AI responses without the source authority that supports CubeSmart or Extra Space Storage.