Credit Card Processing Companies: AI Market Discovery Index
Tracking how AI platforms recommend credit card processing companies. This public AI Market Discovery Index is updated monthly since July 2026.
On this page
- 01Benchmark Summary
- 02Current Benchmark at a Glance
- 03Research Scope and Qualification
- 04Current Brand Standings
- 05How to Read the Standings
- 06Recommendation Coverage Movement
- 07Largest Increase: Stax Payments
- 08Largest Decline: Stax
- 09Significant Declines: Authorize.Net, Merchant One, Payline Data, Payment Depot
- 10Category Leader: Adyen
- 11Recommendation Placement Snapshot
- 12Buyer-Intent Distribution
Benchmark Summary
Adyen remained the coverage leader in September 2026 with 47.7% valid recommendation coverage, down from 53.4% in July 2026. The gap to the next-closest brand narrowed to 17.7 points, with Braintree at 30.0%. The largest coverage increase this month belonged to Stax Payments, which rose from 0.0% in August 2026 to 7.7% in September 2026. The largest decline was recorded by Stax, which fell from 18.8% in August 2026 to 0.0% in September 2026, continuing a two-month decline from 29.6% in July 2026. The Stax brand recorded no valid recommendations in the current month.
The month included notable movement, with the emergence of the Stax Payments name as a distinct classification (7.7% in September 2026) alongside the decline of the Stax brand. Authorize.Net, Merchant One, Payline Data, and Payment Depot also recorded significant declines over the baseline-to-current series.
The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month, producing 417 qualified observations in September 2026 after qualification.
AI recommendation trend
valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Sep 2026
- Adyen47.7%
- Braintree30.0%
- Authorize.Net23.5%
- Checkout.com12.7%
- Stax Payments7.7%
- Payment Depot6.0%
- Payoneer4.3%
- Elavon3.8%
- Dharma Merchant Services2.6%
- Lightspeed1.4%
- NMI1.4%
- Heartland Payment Systems1.2%
- Payline Data1.2%
- Host Merchant Services1.0%
- Nuvei1.0%
- Flagship Merchant Services0.5%
- Merchant One0.5%
- SpotOn0.5%
- WePay0.5%
- Melio Payments0.2%
- PaySimple0.2%
- Revel Systems0.2%
- Shift4 Payments0.2%
- BluePay0.0%
- CDGcommerce0.0%
- Clearent0.0%
- EMS Electronic Merchant Systems0.0%
- Gravity Payments0.0%
- Olo0.0%
- Payanywhere0.0%
- Payroc0.0%
- Paytrace0.0%
- Pineapple Payments0.0%
- Priority0.0%
- Priority Commerce0.0%
- ProPay0.0%
- Sekure Merchant Solutions0.0%
- Stax0.0%
- USAePay0.0%
Current Benchmark at a Glance
Measure | July 2026 | September 2026 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
Qualified benchmark observations | 395 | 417 | Up 22 |
Tracked brands | 37 | 37 | No change |
Qualified surface breadth | 6 | 6 | No change |
Recommendation-shaped answer share | 39.5% | 28.3% | Down 11.2 points |
Valid recommendation shortlist share | 66.3% | 56.6% | Down 9.7 points |
Leader by valid recommendation coverage | Adyen (53.4%) | Adyen (47.7%) | Adyen remained leader |
Qualified surface breadth counts the number of canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. The intermediate month of August 2026 saw 478 qualified observations and a 25.1% recommendation-shaped answer share before settling at 417 observations in September 2026.
For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Credit Card Processing Companies
Research Scope and Qualification
The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design.
Research stage | July 2026 | September 2026 | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
Source prompt-surface observations | 800 | 800 | Total prompt-surface collection |
Unique questions | 551 | 602 | Distinct question forms |
Brand / competitor mentions | 800 | 800 | Prompts mentioning a tracked brand |
Relevant observations | 571 | 657 | On-topic prompt responses |
Irrelevant observations | 229 | 143 | Off-topic prompt responses |
Qualified benchmark observations | 395 | 417 | Public denominator for measurement |
Want the full Authority Index
The paid deep-dive adds competitor threat profiles, the gap matrix, citation failure map, platform-by-platform recovery roadmap, and client-specific economic modeling.
Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. See AI Market Discovery Methodology.
Current Brand Standings
Brand | Presence rate | Valid recommendation coverage | Top-three rate | Rank-one rate | Net sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adyen | 80.8% | 47.7% | 22.1% | 2.6% | 0.8 |
Braintree | 55.6% | 30.0% | 13.4% | 0.7% | 0.7 |
Authorize.Net | 45.8% | 23.5% | 2.6% | 1.0% | 0.7 |
Checkout.com | 24.7% | 12.7% | 1.9% | 0.5% | 0.7 |
Stax Payments | 10.3% | 7.7% | 1.7% | 0.2% | 1.0 |
Payment Depot | 7.2% | 6.0% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 1.0 |
Payoneer | 6.7% | 4.3% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.8 |
Elavon | 12.2% | 3.8% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.5 |
Dharma Merchant Services | 3.1% | 2.6% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.9 |
NMI | 3.6% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.5 |
Lightspeed | 2.6% | 1.4% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.6 |
Heartland Payment Systems | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Payline Data | 1.7% | 1.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Nuvei | 3.4% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.7 |
Host Merchant Services | 1.4% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
WePay | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Flagship Merchant Services | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.7 |
SpotOn | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Merchant One | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.8 |
Clearent | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
EMS Electronic Merchant Systems | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Gravity Payments | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Melio Payments | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.5 |
PaySimple | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.5 |
Revel Systems | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Shift4 Payments | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.5 |
BluePay | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
CDGcommerce | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Olo | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Payanywhere | 1.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Payroc | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Paytrace | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Pineapple Payments | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Priority | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Priority Commerce | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
ProPay | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Sekure Merchant Solutions | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Stax | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
USAePay | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
How to Read the Standings
- Presence rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned.
- Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a clear recommendation.
- Top-three rate: share of qualified observations where the brand appears among the top three recommended options.
- Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is the first recommended option.
- Net sentiment: positive mentions minus negative mentions divided by total mentions.
For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions.
Recommendation Coverage Movement
Brand | July 2026 | September 2026 | Movement since baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
Adyen | 53.4% | 47.7% | Down 5.7 points |
Authorize.Net | 33.4% | 23.5% | Down 9.9 points |
BluePay | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Braintree | 25.3% | 30.0% | Up 4.7 points |
CDGcommerce | 0.2% | 0.0% | Down 0.2 points |
Checkout.com | 12.7% | 12.7% | No change |
Clearent | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Dharma Merchant Services | 4.0% | 2.6% | Down 1.4 points |
Elavon | 6.8% | 3.8% | Down 3.0 points |
EMS Electronic Merchant Systems | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Flagship Merchant Services | 0.5% | 0.5% | No change |
Gravity Payments | 0.8% | 0.0% | Down 0.8 points |
Heartland Payment Systems | 0.5% | 1.2% | Up 0.7 points |
Host Merchant Services | 0.2% | 1.0% | Up 0.8 points |
Lightspeed | 0.8% | 1.4% | Up 0.6 points |
Melio Payments | 0.5% | 0.2% | Down 0.3 points |
Merchant One | 2.8% | 0.5% | Down 2.3 points |
NMI | 1.8% | 1.4% | Down 0.4 points |
Nuvei | 1.3% | 1.0% | Down 0.3 points |
Olo | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Payanywhere | 0.2% | 0.0% | Down 0.2 points |
Payline Data | 6.1% | 1.2% | Down 4.9 points |
Payment Depot | 10.9% | 6.0% | Down 4.9 points |
Payoneer | 3.3% | 4.3% | Up 1.0 points |
Payroc | 0.2% | 0.0% | Down 0.2 points |
PaySimple | 0.0% | 0.2% | Up 0.2 points |
Paytrace | 0.2% | 0.0% | Down 0.2 points |
Pineapple Payments | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Priority | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Priority Commerce | 0.2% | 0.0% | Down 0.2 points |
ProPay | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Revel Systems | 0.0% | 0.2% | Up 0.2 points |
Sekure Merchant Solutions | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Shift4 Payments | 0.5% | 0.2% | Down 0.3 points |
SpotOn | 0.0% | 0.5% | Up 0.5 points |
Stax | 29.6% | 0.0% | Down 29.6 points |
Stax Payments | 0.0% | 7.7% | Up 7.7 points |
USAePay | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
WePay | 0.2% | 0.5% | Up 0.3 points |
Largest Increase: Stax Payments
Stax Payments rose from 0.0% valid recommendation coverage in August 2026 to 7.7% in September 2026. The brand appeared in 43 of 417 qualified observations in September 2026, a presence rate of 10.3%, with 32 of those appearances qualifying as valid recommendations for the 7.7% coverage rate. The shift to the Stax Payments name in the current month corresponds with the decline of the Stax brand, which recorded no valid recommendations in September 2026.
Want the full Authority Index
The paid deep-dive adds competitor threat profiles, the gap matrix, citation failure map, platform-by-platform recovery roadmap, and client-specific economic modeling.
Largest Decline: Stax
Stax declined in each of the two months since July 2026, falling from 29.6% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 0.0% in September 2026. The intermediate decline from 18.8% in August 2026 to 0.0% in September 2026 was the largest single-month move for the brand, a drop of 18.8 points. The brand recorded no valid recommendations in September 2026 qualified observations.
Significant Declines: Authorize.Net, Merchant One, Payline Data, Payment Depot
Authorize.Net fell from 33.4% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 23.5% in September 2026, down 9.9 points. Merchant One declined from 2.8% in July 2026 to 0.5% in September 2026, down 2.3 points. Payline Data fell from 6.1% in July 2026 to 1.2% in September 2026, down 4.9 points. Payment Depot declined from 10.9% in July 2026 to 6.0% in September 2026, down 4.9 points. Each of these movements exceeded normal month-to-month variation for the respective brand across the series.
Category Leader: Adyen
Adyen remains the category leader with 47.7% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026, compared with 53.4% in July 2026. The baseline-to-current change is within normal month-to-month variation, and Adyen has held the top position in every month of this series. The brand's top-three rate was 22.1% in September 2026 compared with 13.4% in July 2026, and its rank-one rate was 2.6% compared with 1.5% in July 2026.
Recommendation Placement Snapshot
Coverage shows how often a brand is recommended, but not how prominently. Adyen held a 22.1% top-three rate and a 2.6% rank-one rate in September 2026, compared with 13.4% and 1.5% respectively in July 2026. Braintree recorded a 13.4% top-three rate and a 0.7% rank-one rate in September 2026, compared with 5.6% and 0.0% in July 2026. Authorize.Net held a 2.6% top-three rate and a 1.0% rank-one rate in September 2026.
Want the full Authority Index
The paid deep-dive adds competitor threat profiles, the gap matrix, citation failure map, platform-by-platform recovery roadmap, and client-specific economic modeling.
Brand | September 2026 top-three rate | September 2026 rank-one rate | July 2026 top-three rate | July 2026 rank-one rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Adyen | 22.1% | 2.6% | 13.4% | 1.5% |
Braintree | 13.4% | 0.7% | 5.6% | 0.0% |
Authorize.Net | 2.6% | 1.0% | 3.5% | 0.2% |
Authorize.Net and Braintree held different overall coverage levels in September 2026, and Authorize.Net's rank-one rate of 1.0% shows that similar or lower top-three placement can still carry different first-position rates.
Buyer-Intent Distribution
In each month, the qualified observations fell into the brand recommendation class.
Buyer-intent class | July 2026 | September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Brand Recommendation | 395 | 417 |
Pricing & Value | 0 | 0 |
Multi-Brand Comparison | 0 | 0 |
Total qualified observations | 395 | 417 |
The current public series measures brand-recommendation discovery only and does not yet contain qualified observations in the pricing and value or multi-brand comparison classes.
Historical Measurement Record
This is an evergreen benchmark URL. New measurements are added to the same report.
Measurement | Qualified observations | Coverage leader | Leader coverage | Largest coverage movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
July 2026 | 395 | Adyen | 53.4% | Baseline month (no prior comparison) |
August 2026 | 478 | Adyen | 46.9% | Stax, down 10.8 points to 18.8% |
September 2026 | 417 | Adyen | 47.7% | Stax, down 18.8 points to 0.0% |
Evidence and Source Layer
The benchmark is built from prompt-level observations that retain the query, AI/search surface, answer, brand outcome, recommendation placement, sentiment, and where exposed, citations or attributable evidence sources. Source presence is evidence about the information environment. It is not automatically proof that the source caused the recommendation.
Scope Boundaries
This public benchmark does not measure market share, attributable sales, every possible AI response, organic-search ranking, social mention volume, private or sponsored channels, or causality from a metric movement alone. Differences between months reflect shifts in AI-generated recommendations across the measured public surfaces and are not attributable to any single cause without further analysis. The benchmark cannot distinguish platform behavior from measurement effects.
About This Benchmark
The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index measures how often credit card processing companies are mentioned and recommended across major AI chat and search surfaces. The benchmark uses a structured methodology to qualify observations and measure presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment. For more detail, see these research links:
- AI Market Discovery Methodology
- AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions
- AI Market Discovery Research Standards
- Modeled AI Authority Value
Get a Company-Level Authority Index
The public industry benchmark shows category-level standings. A company-level Authority Index can go deeper.
Want the full Authority Index
The paid deep-dive adds competitor threat profiles, the gap matrix, citation failure map, platform-by-platform recovery roadmap, and client-specific economic modeling.
Keep reading
Related posts
Industry Reports
Credit Help Services: AI Market Discovery Index
Read this blog on LLM Authority Index.
ReadIndustry Reports
Credit Cards: AI Market Discovery Index
Read this blog on LLM Authority Index.
ReadIndustry Reports
Credit Repair: AI Market Discovery Index
A benchmark of how AI systems rank and validate credit repair companies across consumer financial recovery and credit rebuilding journeys.
Read