5W has released the AI Companies AI Visibility Index 2026, a two-wave public benchmark examining how leading AI assistants describe and recommend AI companies across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Based on an analysis of 32,200 prompts collected between January and May 2026, the report provides insights into recommendation patterns, citation behavior, and AI company visibility across major generative AI platforms.
The findings highlight notable differences in how AI assistants recommend foundation model providers, while also identifying the primary information sources influencing AI-generated responses.
According to the Index, every major AI assistant except Claude recommended its parent company's AI models more frequently than competing models across comparable prompts.
The analysis found that ChatGPT recommended OpenAI models twice as often as other AI assistants, while Gemini recommended Google DeepMind models 1.7 times more frequently. Google AI Overviews favored Google models at 1.6 times the baseline, and Perplexity surfaced its own platform in relevant search-tool queries 2.4 times more often than competing systems. Claude demonstrated the lowest level of self-preference, recommending Anthropic models only 1.2 times more frequently than other engines.
The report notes that these recommendation patterns remained consistent across both research waves.
The benchmark also measured overall AI company citation share across responses generated by leading AI assistants.
OpenAI accounted for 24.6% of total citations, followed by Anthropic at 14.8%, Google DeepMind at 13.7%, Meta AI at 9.7%, and xAI at 5.7%. Collectively, the five companies represented 68.5% of all AI company citations within the dataset.
Beyond recommendation patterns, the Index identified a significant shift in the sources AI assistants rely upon when generating responses about AI companies.
GitHub and ArXiv together contributed 31.2% of cited sources, second only to Wikipedia at 24.3%. According to the report, this distinguishes the AI sector from industries such as banking, venture capital, and financial services, where editorial publishers typically serve as primary reference sources.
"The most uncomfortable finding in our entire AI Visibility Index series is in this dataset. Every major AI assistant favors its parent company's models in recommendation queries — at measurable, two-wave-stable margins. The exception is Claude. That asymmetry is the story," said Ronn Torossian, Founder and Chairman of 5W. "And the structural story underneath it is that AI company communications strategy looks nothing like any other industry's. GitHub and ArXiv are the new tier-one outlets."
The report also identified several trends across AI recommendation categories.
Anthropic demonstrated a stronger presence in AI safety-related queries, accounting for 31.2% of responses within that category, significantly above its overall citation share. DeepSeek appeared in 18.4% of technical queries despite Chinese AI labs collectively representing less than 2% of citation share in U.S. consumer-focused prompts. Meanwhile, xAI accounted for 5.7% of overall citation share despite maintaining a strong social media presence.
The Index also found that application-layer AI companies, including Glean, Harvey, Cursor, and Replit, accounted for less than 1.5% of foundation-model queries but achieved significantly higher visibility within specialized industry and vertical-specific prompts.
The AI Companies AI Visibility Index 2026 highlights how recommendation patterns, citation sources, and platform-specific behaviors continue to shape AI company visibility. As generative AI becomes an increasingly important channel for information discovery, the findings provide insight into how organizations may evaluate their presence across AI-driven search and recommendation environments.
5W is the AI Communications Firm, building brand authority across the platforms where decisions now happen — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — alongside earned media, digital, and influencer channels. 5W combines public relations, digital marketing, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and proprietary AI visibility research to help clients measure and grow their presence in AI-driven buyer research. Founded in 2003, 5W is recognized as a Top U.S. PR Agency by O'Dwyer's, named Agency of the Year in the American Business Awards®, honored as a 2026 Top Place to Work in Communications by Ragan, and named to Digiday's WorkLife Employer of the Year list. 5W serves clients across B2C sectors — Beauty & Fashion, Consumer Brands, Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Travel & Hospitality, Technology, and Nonprofit — and B2B specialties including Corporate Communications, Reputation Management, Public Affairs, Crisis Communications, and Digital Marketing across Social, Influencer, Paid Media, GEO, and SEO. Learn more at 5wpr.com.
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