User research platforms: AI search visibility ranking (2026)
How AI search engines rank user research 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 recruit participants, run interviews, capture insights, and centralize user research workflows for product teams. 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
Great Question holds the top composite score at 23.8 despite a visibility rate of only 12.5 percent, while UserTesting sits second at 21.2 with the highest visibility in the category at 25.0 percent. The gap between first and second is narrow in composite terms, but the drivers are entirely different. UserTesting reaches more queries, yet Great Question's citation rate of 50.0 percent is four times higher, meaning Google AI Mode mentions UserTesting more broadly but trusts Great Question's own domain as a source far more often.
The divergence between visibility and citation is the defining pattern in this category. Dovetail and Respondent both hold 12.5 percent visibility but record zero citations, producing composite scores of just 8.8 each. Maze and User Interviews match on both visibility at 12.5 percent and citation at 37.5 percent, sharing an identical composite score of 20.0. This split shows that being named in an AI response and being cited as a source are not correlated in this category, and brands with zero citation rates receive no trust signal from Google AI Mode regardless of their mention count.
Google AI Mode is the sole engine driving all ranked visibility in this dataset. The top cited external sources include youtube.com, gartner.com, reddit.com, banani.co, and getperspective.ai alongside brand-owned domains greatquestion.co, userinterviews.com, and maze.co. The presence of third-party review and analyst sources such as Gartner and Reddit suggests the AI is anchoring on authoritative roundup and community content rather than relying exclusively on vendor sites, which explains why brands with strong third-party coverage earn citation alongside visibility.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
UserTesting 0% → 25% · rank #0 → #2+25pp
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Great Question 0% → 12% · rank #0 → #1+12pp
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Maze 0% → 12% · rank #0 → #3+12pp
The ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
greatquestion.co
|
12% | 50% | Google AI Mode |
Great Question leads on composite score at 23.8 with a 50.0 percent citation rate, the highest in the category, despite visibility of only 12.5 percent against a category average of 4.4 percent. |
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| 2 |
usertesting.com
|
25% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
UserTesting records the highest visibility at 25.0 percent, nearly six times the category average, but its citation rate of 12.5 percent is well below Great Question's 50.0 percent, limiting its composite score to 21.2. |
||||
| 3 |
maze.co
|
12% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
Maze ties User Interviews on both visibility at 12.5 percent and citation at 37.5 percent, producing a shared composite score of 20.0, with its domain appearing directly in the top cited sources list. |
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| 4 |
userinterviews.com
|
12% | 38% | Google AI Mode |
User Interviews matches Maze exactly on visibility at 12.5 percent and citation at 37.5 percent, and its domain userinterviews.com appears in the top cited sources, confirming consistent AI source-level recognition. |
||||
| 5 |
dovetail.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Dovetail has 12.5 percent visibility above the 4.4 percent category average but records a zero citation rate, resulting in a composite score of 8.8, less than half that of the brands ranked directly above it. |
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| 6 |
respondent.io
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
lookback.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
lyssna.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
sprig.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
playbookux.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
enjoyhq.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
optimalworkshop.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
userfeel.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
condens.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
looppanel.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
uxtweak.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
ballparkhq.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
recollective.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
discuss.io
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
remesh.ai
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on user research 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 user research 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 user research platforms AI visibility
Who leads AI visibility in the user research platforms category?
Great Question holds the top composite score at 23.8, driven by a 50.0 percent citation rate. UserTesting leads on raw visibility at 25.0 percent but scores lower overall at 21.2 due to a much lower citation rate of 12.5 percent.
What is the average visibility for user research platforms in Google AI Mode?
The category average visibility is 4.4 percent and average citation is 6.9 percent. Only six of the top ten brands exceed zero on either metric, with four recording no visibility or citations at all.
Which sources does Google AI Mode cite most when answering queries about user research platforms?
The top cited sources include youtube.com, gartner.com, reddit.com, greatquestion.co, userinterviews.com, maze.co, banani.co, and getperspective.ai. This mix shows the AI draws on analyst, community, and vendor content rather than vendor sites alone.
Can a brand have high visibility but low citation in this category?
Yes. UserTesting has the highest visibility at 25.0 percent but a citation rate of only 12.5 percent. Dovetail and Respondent each hold 12.5 percent visibility with zero citations, confirming that mentions and source trust are not the same signal.
Which brands are new entrants to AI visibility in this category?
UserTesting, Great Question, and Maze all entered from zero previous visibility, recording gains of 25.0, 12.5, and 12.5 percentage points respectively. No brands recorded visibility declines in this audit period.
Is visibility concentrated at the top of this category or spread across brands?
Visibility is heavily concentrated. Only six of the ten ranked brands have any visibility at all, and four brands including Lookback, Lyssna, Sprig, and PlaybookUX record composite scores of zero.