Section 01About the Index
Every industry has its league tables. AI visibility — which brands assistants actually recommend when buyers ask — has none. The AI Visibility Index is our attempt to build that reference: an annual, methodology-first ranking of brands by measured recommendation performance across frontier AI assistants.
Scores are computed with the Visibility Score formula defined in the methodology paper — a weighted composite of recommendation share, citation share, first-mention share, consistency and sentiment framing — evaluated per model family on fixed category panels, then aggregated.
Preview edition. The tables below use illustrative, fictional brand entries (Northwind, Acme, Globex and similar) to demonstrate the index format and methodology while the production dataset is compiled and reviewed. No real-brand rankings are asserted in this edition.
Key takeaways
- The index turns the Visibility Score into a public, comparable league table.
Business implications
- A recurring index compounds authority for the discipline — and for its participants.
Recommendations
- Use the format below to build an internal index for your own category today.
Section 02Top AI-Visible SaaS Brands (Illustrative Excerpt)
The flagship table ranks SaaS brands by aggregate Visibility Score. The excerpt below shows the index format for the top 20; the production edition extends to 100 entries with full per-model breakdowns.
| # | Brand (illustrative) | Category | Visibility Score | YoY | Strongest family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwind | CRM | 78 | ▲ 6 | GPT |
| 2 | Acme Analytics | Product analytics | 74 | ▲ 9 | Perplexity |
| 3 | Globex Cloud | Cloud platform | 72 | ▲ 2 | Gemini |
| 4 | Initech Payments | Fintech infra | 69 | ▲ 11 | Perplexity |
| 5 | Umbrella Secure | Cybersecurity | 66 | ▲ 4 | Claude |
| 6 | Stark Data | Data warehouse | 64 | ▲ 7 | Gemini |
| 7 | Wayne Works | Project management | 61 | ▼ 3 | GPT |
| 8 | Tyrell Ops | DevOps | 59 | ▲ 5 | Claude |
| 9 | Wonka Commerce | E-commerce SaaS | 57 | ▲ 1 | GPT |
| 10 | Aperture Signal | Observability | 55 | ▲ 8 | Claude |
| 11 | Hooli Mail | Email platform | 53 | ▼ 2 | GPT |
| 12 | Vandelay ERP | ERP | 51 | ▲ 3 | Gemini |
| 13 | Dunder Docs | Documentation | 49 | ▲ 6 | Claude |
| 14 | Prestige HR | HR tech | 47 | ▲ 2 | GPT |
| 15 | Cyberdyne ML | ML platform | 46 | ▲ 10 | Perplexity |
| 16 | Oscorp Sheets | Spreadsheet automation | 44 | ▼ 1 | Gemini |
| 17 | Monarch Billing | Subscription billing | 43 | ▲ 4 | Claude |
| 18 | Pied Piper Sync | File sync | 41 | ▼ 4 | GPT |
| 19 | Soylent Chat | Customer messaging | 40 | ▲ 2 | GPT |
| 20 | Gringotts Ledger | Accounting | 38 | ▲ 5 | Gemini |
Table 1 — Illustrative top-20 excerpt demonstrating the index format: aggregate score, year-over-year movement and each brand's strongest model family.
The visual communicates the long-tail shape of AI visibility: a small elite scores above 70 while most ranked brands cluster between 30 and 50.
Key takeaways
- Visibility is heavily top-concentrated even among the top 100.
Business implications
- Movement of a few points can change league position materially in the mid-table.
Recommendations
- Track YoY movement and strongest-family columns — they carry the actionable signal.
Section 03Biggest Movers & Citation Leaders
| Biggest movers (illustrative) | Δ Score | Primary driver |
|---|---|---|
| Initech Payments | +11 | Published original benchmark research; citations compounded |
| Cyberdyne ML | +10 | Documentation overhaul; entered Claude's consideration set |
| Acme Analytics | +9 | Comparison hub + freshness cycle; Perplexity retrieval gains |
| Aperture Signal | +8 | Community programme matured; GPT consensus signals |
| Pied Piper Sync | −4 | Stale cornerstone content; lost freshness-weighted citations |
Table 2 — Movement drivers map cleanly onto the ranking factors from the quarterly report.
| Leaderboard | Illustrative leader | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Citation leader (owned sources cited most) | Dunder Docs | Documentation cited across all four families |
| Prompt-share leader (widest intent coverage) | Northwind | Recommended across 11 of 12 intent classes |
| Consistency leader (highest stability index) | Umbrella Secure | Stable top-3 across repeat samples in every family |
| Research leader (data assets cited most) | Acme Analytics | Two original studies drove citation share |
Table 3 — Specialist leaderboards published alongside the main index.
The visual communicates industry medians, matching the maturity gradient documented in the quarterly scorecard.
Every large positive mover in the illustrative set shares one property: a citable asset shipped in the previous two quarters — research, documentation or structured comparison content. No mover gained on publishing volume alone.
Key takeaways
- Movement concentrates around citable assets, not content volume.
Business implications
- The index doubles as an evidence base for the ranking-factor model.
Recommendations
- If you want to move next year's table: ship one citable asset per quarter.
Section 04Methodology & Production Roadmap
Index scores are the aggregate Visibility Score defined in the methodology paper, computed per model family on fixed category panels and averaged with equal family weights. Category assignment follows the 70-vertical segmentation of the benchmark corpus; brands active in multiple categories are ranked in their primary category only.
- Production edition: real-brand rankings across SaaS, D2C and AI-native categories, with per-family score breakdowns and full sensitivity analysis.
- Review process: ranked brands will be able to inspect the prompt panel and per-metric components behind their score.
- Cadence: annual headline edition with quarterly delta updates aligned to the State of GEO series.
The preview edition exists to make the methodology public before any real ranking is asserted — the same order of operations we recommend to every brand publishing research: methodology first, claims second.
Key takeaways
- Format and formula are public before any real-brand claims are made.
Business implications
- The production index inherits credibility from the already-published methodology.
Recommendations
- Follow the series: quarterly deltas will land alongside the State of GEO reports.