The Gist 100Business softwareOctober 2026
Wix is the first name in half of AI answers
Wix is named in 93% of 300 AI answers and first in 50%, with Squarespace at 83%. Ask for a cheap builder or one for marketing teams, and Hostinger, Carrd and Webflow take the lead.
By Gist GEO team · October 2026
Share of AI answers about website builders that name each brand
The assistants reach for Wix more than any other builder, naming it in 93% of the 300 AI answers and first in 50% of them. Squarespace comes next, named in 83% of answers and first in 21%. The pattern holds across assistants: Wix is named in 88% of ChatGPT answers, 92% of Google AI Overviews answers, 94% of Perplexity answers and 100% of Claude answers.
The field looks wide and behaves narrowly. The answers named 35 brands at least once, yet a typical answer names 5.3. Shopify is named in 67% of answers, Hostinger in 58%, Webflow in 53% and WordPress in 52%. The largest gap between adjacent scores comes next: GoDaddy is named in 20%, 32 points below WordPress, and Carrd, Framer and Google Sites follow at 19%, 13% and 12%.
The surprise sits below the totals. Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, Hostinger and Carrd are each named in 100% of the answers to at least one question, and Carrd gets there with an overall score of 19%. Hostinger is named in 100% of answers about cheap builders and 0% of answers about marketing teams. Totals hide specialists, and each of the eight questions has its own shortlist.
Wix scores 93% and Squarespace 83%, a gap of 10 points. The gap widens when the question is who is named first. Wix is the first brand in 50% of answers and Squarespace in 21%, a gap of 29 points. Wix's lowest question score is 71%, on the cheap-builder question, while Squarespace is named in 32% of those answers and in 37% of answers about marketing teams. Presence in an answer and position within it are separate contests, and Wix leads on both.
On the cheap-builder question, Hostinger and Carrd are each named in 100% of answers. Wix follows at 71% and Google Sites at 49%. Squarespace, named in 100% of best-builder answers, falls to 32% here, and Shopify drops from 98% to 38%. Webflow is named in 0% of cheap-builder answers. Answers describe Hostinger as the low-cost option with quick AI-assisted setup and Carrd as the choice for one-page sites. Buyers who ask about cost see a different shortlist, so brands known for design control or ecommerce face a different contest there.
For the marketing-team question, Webflow is named in 92% of answers, HubSpot Content Hub in 79%, Wix in 78% and WordPress in 70%. Squarespace is named in 37% of them, Shopify in 8% and Hostinger in 0%, although Shopify is named in 100% of small-business answers. HubSpot Content Hub scores 2% or less on every other question. Framer's best result, 50%, comes on this question. Only Wix and WordPress sit in the leading four for both marketing teams and small businesses, so standing with small businesses does not carry over to marketing teams.
Claude names 6.4 brands per answer, against 5.4 for Perplexity, 5.0 for ChatGPT and 4.3 for Google AI Overviews. The extra room appears to help smaller brands. Claude names Carrd in 39% of its answers and Google AI Overviews names it in 5%. GoDaddy is named in 36% of Claude's answers and 5% of ChatGPT's. The widest split between assistants belongs to WordPress: ChatGPT names it in 69% of its answers and Google AI Overviews in 27%, a gap of 42 points. A brand's score depends on which assistant its buyers ask.
Who each company is, and how it shows up in the answers
93% of AI answers
Wix is an Israeli software company that offers a website builder and domain registration to businesses and individuals. Avishai Abrahami, Nadav Abrahami and Giora Kaplan founded it in 2006, and it is headquartered in Tel Aviv. Its core product is a drag-and-drop website builder with customizable templates, and Wix Stores handles products, inventory and checkout.
Founded 2006 · Tel Aviv, Israel
Answers credit a drag-and-drop editor, built-in AI tools and enough business and ecommerce features for most small companies, all without coding. It reaches 100% on the small-business and easiest-builder questions and bottoms out at 71% on the cheap-builder question. Claude names it in 100% of its answers.
83% of AI answers
Squarespace is an American company that sells website building, hosting and domain registration to businesses and individuals, along with e-commerce, marketing and scheduling tools. Anthony Casalena founded it in 2003 while a student at the University of Maryland and launched it as a website builder in 2004. Permira, a private equity firm, took Squarespace private in 2024.
Founded 2003 · New York
Polished, design-led sites for portfolios, consultants and restaurants are the credit here, along with a cohesive editor that needs little technical effort. It is named in 100% of best-builder, compare-three and easiest-builder answers, but in 32% of cheap-builder answers and 37% of marketing-team answers.
67% of AI answers
Shopify is a Canadian commerce platform that businesses use to build online stores and sell online or in person. Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake founded it in 2006, and the company is headquartered in Ottawa. Its website builder uses drag and drop editing, with themes and templates for building a site or store.
Founded 2006 · Ottawa, Canada
Selling products is the use answers attach to it, pointing to inventory, payments, fulfillment and a large app ecosystem. It is named in 100% of small-business answers and 98% of best-builder answers, then in 8% of answers about marketing teams. Perplexity names it most, in 79% of its answers.
58% of AI answers
Web hosting company with a low-cost website builder.
Quick, AI-assisted setup on low-cost plans is the credit, though one answer calls it less flexible than Wix. It is named in 100% of cheap-builder answers and 72% of easiest-builder answers, but in 0% of marketing-team answers. Google AI Overviews names it in 70% of its answers and ChatGPT in 44%.
53% of AI answers
Visual website builder for designers and marketing teams.
Design control, clean exportable code and custom layouts for designers, agencies and developers are what answers credit, and they note it takes longer to learn. It is the most-named builder for marketing teams, at 92%, yet appears in 0% of cheap-builder, small-business and easiest-builder answers.
52% of AI answers
Open-source content management system that runs a large share of the web.
A self-hosted option for large content sites, with plugins and deep customization, though answers add that it needs its own host and more upkeep. It is named in 85% of small-business answers and 70% of marketing-team answers, and first in 0% of answers. ChatGPT names it in 69% of its answers and Google AI Overviews in 27%.
20% of AI answers
Domain registrar and web host with its own website builder.
Speed is the credit: answers point to a basic site online in minutes with minimal setup, and note it offers less flexibility than Wix or Squarespace. It is named in 70% of easiest-builder answers, against 0% on the best-builder and compare-three questions. Claude names it in 36% of its answers and ChatGPT in 5%.
19% of AI answers
Simple builder for one-page websites.
One-page sites are the use answers attach to it, from landing pages and portfolios to link pages and personal profiles, at a very low cost. It is named in 100% of cheap-builder answers and in 0% of small-business, marketing-team and compare-three answers. Claude names it in 39% of its answers, Google AI Overviews in 5%.
13% of AI answers
Design-led website builder that grew out of a prototyping tool.
Designer-friendly, animation-heavy sites and campaign pages are the credit, along with a familiar canvas for Figma users and built-in localization and testing. Its best result is 50% on the marketing-team question. ChatGPT names it in 28% of its answers and Google AI Overviews in 0%.
12% of AI answers
Google’s free, basic website builder.
A free, ad-free way to publish a simple page, with few design or business options, is how answers describe it. It is named in 49% of cheap-builder answers and 22% of easiest-builder answers. Perplexity names it in 25% of its answers and Google AI Overviews in 18%, against 1% for ChatGPT and 2% for Claude.
The three brands named most for each question Gist asked
| Question | Named most | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's the best website builder right now? | Squarespace 100% | Shopify 98% | Wix 95% |
| Which website builders do you recommend? | Wix 100% | Shopify 96% | Squarespace 96% |
| What's the best cheap website builder? | Carrd 100% | Hostinger 100% | Wix 71% |
| Which website builders are worth paying more for? | Wix 94% | Shopify 92% | Webflow 92% |
| What's the best website builder for a small business? | Shopify 100% | Wix 100% | Squarespace 98% |
| What's the best website builder for a marketing team? | Webflow 92% | HubSpot Content Hub 79% | Wix 78% |
| I need a new company website. Which three builders should I compare? | Squarespace 100% | Wix 100% | Webflow 57% |
| Which website builder is easiest to use? | Squarespace 100% | Wix 100% | Hostinger 72% |
Share of each assistant’s answers that name the brand
| Brand | All four | ChatGPT | Perplexity | Claude | Google AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wix | 93% | 88% | 94% | 100% | 92% |
| Squarespace | 83% | 89% | 85% | 84% | 75% |
| Shopify | 67% | 64% | 79% | 74% | 53% |
| Hostinger | 58% | 44% | 48% | 72% | 70% |
| Webflow | 53% | 62% | 48% | 59% | 43% |
| WordPress | 52% | 69% | 64% | 50% | 27% |
| GoDaddy | 20% | 5% | 22% | 36% | 17% |
| Carrd | 19% | 15% | 19% | 39% | 5% |
| Framer | 13% | 28% | 6% | 20% | 0% |
| Google Sites | 12% | 1% | 25% | 2% | 18% |
The websites AI cites most on website builders, by share of answers
Review sites carry much of the weight. TechRadar is cited in 53% of answers and Tooltester in 36%, while builders' own sites are rarer on the most-cited list: wix.com appears in 31% of answers and HubSpot in 17%. Claude leans on Website Builder Expert at 75%, TechRadar at 74% and Site Builder Report at 71%. Perplexity cites PCMag, Forbes and The New York Times (Wirecutter) in 75% of its answers each. Google AI Overviews cites YouTube in 60% and Reddit in 53%. ChatGPT's most-cited sites are builders' own, led by wix.com at 57%.
Three moves the numbers point to
Give Website Builder Expert, TechRadar and Site Builder Report current product facts and a clear use case, since Claude cites them in 75%, 74% and 71% of its answers and names 6.4 brands per answer, the widest field of any assistant.
Keep your own feature and comparison pages complete for ChatGPT, whose most-cited sites are builders' own, led by wix.com at 57% and squarespace.com at 52%. WordPress's own site is cited in 1% of answers and Hostinger's in 3%.
Aim at the question asking which three builders to compare, where Wix and Squarespace are each named in 100% of answers. After them the field splits among Webflow at 57%, Shopify at 48% and WordPress at 40%.
Analysis · 4 min read
Ask an AI assistant for a budget option and the top brand changes in 24 of 32 categories. Technivorm Moccamaster scores 67 overall and 0 on the budget question, while Carrd goes from 19 to 100. An overall score can hide how a brand fares on price questions.
24 of 32categories where the budget leader differs
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
Case study · 4 min read
The largest CRM vendor by market share is not the brand the answers name most. HubSpot scores 99 and Salesforce 83. Assistants name HubSpot first in 49% of answers and Salesforce first in 26%. The gap sits in four of eight questions, and the lead stays in CRM.
99 vs 83Share of CRM answers naming HubSpot vs Salesforce
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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