The Gist 100Business softwareOctober 2026
Docusign gets named first, but PandaDoc’s site gets cited most
Docusign is named in 93% of answers and first in 54%, while PandaDoc’s own site is cited in 70% of answers, the most of any site. Behind the leaders, the answers split by question and by assistant.
By Gist GEO team · October 2026
Share of AI answers about e-signature software that name each brand
Gist asked ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews eight buying questions about e-signature software, each asked ten times, and counted 292 answers. Across them 29 brands appear, but four carry the field. Docusign is named in 93% of answers, PandaDoc in 82%, Adobe Acrobat Sign in 73% and Dropbox Sign in 66%. SignNow (airSlate) is named in 51% and SignWell in 40%. Zoho Sign and Xodo Sign sit 22 points below SignWell, at 18% each.
Docusign is named in 100% of answers to the broad, recommendation, pick-three and security questions. Its lowest figure is 72%, on the free or cheap question. The brands behind it each have a gap. PandaDoc is named in 26% of answers to the security question and Dropbox Sign in 5%. Adobe Acrobat Sign is named in 17% of answers to the free or cheap question.
The surprise sits in the sources. PandaDoc’s own website is cited in 70% of answers, 30 points ahead of the next site, while docusign.com is cited in 24%. The brand named first most often and the brand cited most often are different brands. Claude cites PandaDoc in 95% of its answers and Perplexity in 88%, so the pull is not confined to one assistant. Google AI Overviews cites PandaDoc least, in 31%.
Docusign is named in 93% of answers and PandaDoc in 82%, a gap of 11 points. Count first mentions and the gap widens to 37 points, with Docusign first in 54% of answers and PandaDoc in 17%. SignWell is first in 9%, Adobe Acrobat Sign in 8% and Dropbox Sign in 5%, while SignNow and Zoho Sign are first in 1% each. Four brands share the presence in these answers, and one holds the opening line. A challenger measuring only whether it is named sees a smaller gap than the one it faces.
PandaDoc’s own site is cited in 70% of answers. ChatGPT cites PandaDoc’s site in 66%, Google AI Overviews in 31%, Perplexity in 88% and Claude in 95%. That is 30 points more than the next site and 46 points more than docusign.com, which is cited in 24%. Citation and naming do not always move together. SignNow is named in 51% of answers with its own site cited in 3%, while GetAccept is named in 16% with its own site cited in 30%. A brand can be named without being cited and cited without being named, so each needs its own count.
Adobe Acrobat Sign is named in 100% of answers to the security question and 23% of answers to the small business question. Dropbox Sign shows the mirror image, at 5% and 94%. PandaDoc falls from 98% on small business to 26% on security. SignWell is named in 90% of answers to the free or cheap question and 0% of answers to the sales contracts question. The answers match a tool to the concern in the question, so one overall figure hides where a brand is rarely named.
Claude names 8.0 brands per answer, against 4.0 for ChatGPT, 4.1 for Google AI Overviews and 5.4 for Perplexity. Several smaller tools are named far more often in those longer lists. Zoho Sign is named in 61% of Claude answers and 1% of Perplexity answers. Xodo Sign is named in 46% of Claude answers and 0% of ChatGPT answers, and GetAccept in 42% of Claude answers and 1% of ChatGPT answers. Claude’s longer lists are where a smaller brand has the most room to be named.
Who each company is, and how it shows up in the answers
93% of AI answers
Docusign is an American software company that sells organizations products for preparing, signing and managing electronic agreements, including electronic signatures and contract lifecycle management. Court Lorenzini, Tom Gonser and Eric Ranft founded it in 2003, and it is headquartered in San Francisco.
Founded 2003 · San Francisco
Enterprise compliance, the broadest set of integrations and advanced routing are what answers credit. It is named in 100% of answers to the security question and still in 72% to the free or cheap question. It is the first brand named in 54% of all answers.
82% of AI answers
PandaDoc makes document automation software for sales processes, with built-in electronic signatures, workflow management, a document builder and quoting tools. Mikita Mikado and Sergey Barysiuk founded the company, and it is based in San Francisco.
San Francisco
Answers credit it for creating contracts, quotes and proposals and collecting signatures in a single workflow. They tie it to sales teams. It is named in 100% of answers to the sales contracts question and 98% to the small business question, but in 26% to the security question.
73% of AI answers
Adobe Acrobat Sign is a cloud-based e-signature service from Adobe that lets users send, sign, track and manage document signatures in a browser or on a mobile device. It began as EchoSign, which was first released in 2006, and Adobe acquired it in 2011. Users can send documents for signature directly from Adobe Acrobat.
Since 2006 · San Jose · Part of Adobe
Teams already working in PDFs, Adobe’s document tools and Microsoft 365 are the fit answers describe, along with enterprise signing features. It is named in 100% of answers to the security question and 17% to the free or cheap question. ChatGPT names it in 79% of its answers and Google AI Overviews in 56%.
66% of AI answers
Dropbox’s e-signature product, formerly HelloSign.
Straightforward signing with templates, reminders, audit trails and an API is the draw, and answers place it with individual users and small teams. It is named in 94% of answers to the small business question and 5% to the security question. ChatGPT names it in 82% of its answers.
51% of AI answers
E-signature software from airSlate.
Cost-conscious teams are the audience answers name, with template routing, automation and signing without envelope caps. It reaches 88% on the broad question and 6% on the security question. Claude names it in 72% of its answers and ChatGPT in 25%.
40% of AI answers
E-signature tool for small businesses and freelancers.
Simple signing without enterprise complexity is what answers credit it for, plus a free tier and a fit for occasional senders and small businesses. It is named in 90% of answers to the free or cheap question and 0% to the sales contracts question. Its own site is cited in 30% of answers.
18% of AI answers
The e-signature app in the Zoho suite.
Affordable small-business signing and appeal to teams that already use other Zoho tools are the credits in answers. Claude names it in 61% of its answers and Perplexity in 1%. It is named in 0% of answers to the security question.
18% of AI answers
E-signature service formerly known as Eversign.
A lightweight, low-cost choice with a free plan that includes templates is how answers describe it. Claude names it in 46% of its answers and ChatGPT in 0%. It reaches 38% on the question about platforms worth paying more for, where some answers offer it as a low-cost alternative.
16% of AI answers
Sales software that combines proposals, contracts and e-signatures.
Buyer engagement is the credit, through real-time tracking, automatic reminders and digital sales rooms aimed at sales teams. It is named in 68% of answers to the sales contracts question and 0% to the free or cheap question. Claude names it in 42% of its answers and ChatGPT in 1%.
14% of AI answers
E-signature product from the online form builder Jotform.
Pairing form creation with signatures is the credit, along with mobile and offline signing for teams that rely on Jotform forms. Perplexity names it in 50% of its answers and ChatGPT in 0%. Its own site is cited in 15% of answers.
The three brands named most for each question Gist asked
| Question | Named most | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's the best e-signature software right now? | Adobe Acrobat Sign 100% | Docusign 100% | PandaDoc 88% |
| Which e-signature tools do you recommend? | Docusign 100% | PandaDoc 96% | Adobe Acrobat Sign 83% |
| What's the best free or cheap e-signature tool? | SignWell 90% | PandaDoc 78% | Docusign 72% |
| Which e-signature platforms are worth paying more for? | Docusign 96% | PandaDoc 96% | Dropbox Sign 89% |
| What's the best e-signature tool for a small business? | PandaDoc 98% | Dropbox Sign 94% | Docusign 84% |
| What's the best e-signature software for a sales team sending contracts? | PandaDoc 100% | Docusign 96% | Adobe Acrobat Sign 77% |
| We need e-signature software. Which three should we compare? | Adobe Acrobat Sign 100% | Docusign 100% | PandaDoc 75% |
| Which e-signature tool is the most secure and legally reliable? | Adobe Acrobat Sign 100% | Docusign 100% | OneSpan 64% |
Share of each assistant’s answers that name the brand
| Brand | All four | ChatGPT | Perplexity | Claude | Google AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Docusign | 93% | 99% | 100% | 96% | 77% |
| PandaDoc | 82% | 71% | 86% | 90% | 81% |
| Adobe Acrobat Sign | 73% | 79% | 75% | 81% | 56% |
| Dropbox Sign | 66% | 82% | 72% | 70% | 40% |
| SignNow (airSlate) | 51% | 25% | 46% | 72% | 60% |
| SignWell | 40% | 25% | 52% | 50% | 33% |
| Zoho Sign | 18% | 5% | 1% | 61% | 6% |
| Xodo Sign | 18% | 0% | 15% | 46% | 12% |
| GetAccept | 16% | 1% | 11% | 42% | 10% |
| Jotform Sign | 14% | 0% | 50% | 5% | 0% |
The websites AI cites most on e-signature software, by share of answers
Brand sites are the largest group among the sites the answers cite most, ahead of review sites and publishers. PandaDoc’s own site leads at 70% of answers, and the publisher Zapier is cited in 33%. The assistants lean on different pages. ChatGPT cites docusign.com in 71% of its answers and adobe.com in 70%. Google AI Overviews cites Reddit in 60% and YouTube in 48%. Perplexity cites the review sites G2 and Tom’s Guide, and spotdraft.com, in 86% each. Claude cites PandaDoc in 95% and Guideflow in 72%.
Three moves the numbers point to
Publish detailed pages on your own site and earn a place on third-party pages. ChatGPT cites docusign.com in 71% of its answers and adobe.com in 70%, while Perplexity cites G2, Tom’s Guide and spotdraft.com in 86% each.
Document security practices in public. The security question names Docusign and Adobe Acrobat Sign in 100% of answers each, then OneSpan in 64% and PandaDoc in 26%, so the field is open behind the first two names.
Test the brand on Claude first if it sits outside the four leaders. Claude names 8.0 brands per answer against 4.0 for ChatGPT, and Zoho Sign is named in 61% of Claude answers but 1% of Perplexity answers.
Analysis · 4 min read
AI answers cite a ranked brand’s own site in 68% of business software answers and 24% of consumer ones. A vendor’s site is the most-cited website in 9 of 16 business categories and none of the consumer ones. Being cited is not the same as being named.
68% vs 24%Business vs consumer answers citing a brand’s site
Analysis · 4 min read
Outside sources name the market leader in six categories. AI answers name that brand first in two. In the other four it ranks second to sixth, 14 to 41 points behind the most-named brand, so market size and AI standing need separate scoreboards.
2 of 6Categories where AI names the market leader first
Analysis · 4 min read
HubSpot scores 99 in CRM software and 29 for its Service Hub in customer support software. Zoho has a top-ten product in seven categories and leads none. Five of 13 companies with products in several categories lead one, and none leads two. A lead stays in its category.
99 vs 29HubSpot’s CRM score against its Service Hub score
Gist asks a fixed set of eight buying questions in each category. None of them names a brand. Each question is put to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews ten times, with web search on.
A brand’s score is the share of answers that name it, averaged across the assistants so that each one counts equally. Stores and review sites named in passing are not ranked. Brands named in fewer than one answer in ten are left off.
Measured October 5 to October 6, 2026.
No. It shows which brands AI assistants name when asked, not which products are best. Being named often usually reflects how much has been written about a brand, and where.
The page shows the 10 most-named brands. The free scan checks your own brand on a topic you choose.
Yes. AI answers shift as assistants are updated and as new pages are published. The date at the top shows when this ranking was measured.
See which brands appear in AI recommendations for your category, and where your brand stands among them.
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