Credit Card Processing Companies: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index
Tracking how AI platforms recommend credit card processing companies. This public AI Visibility 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: Braintree
- 08Largest Decline: Stax
- 09Category Leader: Adyen
- 10Watch Item: Shift4 Payments
- 11Recommendation Placement Snapshot
- 12Buyer-Intent Distribution
Benchmark Summary
Questions This Section Answers
- Who led credit card processing companies in AI recommendation coverage in October 2026?
- Which brands posted the largest coverage gains and declines since the July 2026 baseline?
Adyen remained the coverage leader in October 2026 with 58.1% valid recommendation coverage, up from 53.4% in July 2026 and 47.7% in September 2026. The gap to the next-closest brand was 22.1 points. The largest coverage increase since baseline belonged to Braintree, which rose from 25.3% in July 2026 to 36.0% in October 2026, an increase of 10.7 points. The largest decline was recorded by Stax, which fell from 29.6% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 0.0% in October 2026, a drop of 29.6 points. The month recorded mixed movement, with three significant risers in Braintree, Host Merchant Services, and Stax Payments, and three significant decliners in Payline Data, Payment Depot, and Stax.
The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 389 qualified observations in October 2026 after qualification.
AI recommendation trend
valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Oct 2026
- Adyen58.1%
- Braintree36.0%
- Authorize.Net28.8%
- Checkout.com17.5%
- Stax Payments8.7%
- Payment Depot6.7%
- Elavon5.7%
- Payoneer5.4%
- Dharma Merchant Services3.6%
- NMI2.1%
- Nuvei2.1%
- Host Merchant Services1.5%
- Lightspeed1.3%
- Merchant One1.0%
- Payline Data1.0%
- Flagship Merchant Services0.8%
- Melio Payments0.5%
- PaySimple0.5%
- SpotOn0.5%
- CDGcommerce0.3%
- Gravity Payments0.3%
- WePay0.3%
- BluePay0.0%
- Clearent0.0%
- EMS Electronic Merchant Systems0.0%
- Heartland Payment Systems0.0%
- Olo0.0%
- Payanywhere0.0%
- Payroc0.0%
- Paytrace0.0%
- Pineapple Payments0.0%
- Priority0.0%
- Priority Commerce0.0%
- ProPay0.0%
- Revel Systems0.0%
- Sekure Merchant Solutions0.0%
- Shift4 Payments0.0%
- Stax0.0%
- USAePay0.0%
Current Benchmark at a Glance
Measure | July 2026 | October 2026 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
Qualified benchmark observations | 395 | 389 | Down 6 |
Tracked brands | 37 | 37 | No change |
Qualified surface breadth | 6 | 6 | No change |
Recommendation-shaped answer share | 39.5% | 49.4% | Up 9.9 points |
Valid recommendation shortlist share | 66.3% | 69.9% | Up 3.6 points |
Leader by valid recommendation coverage | Adyen (53.4%) | Adyen (58.1%) | 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 months of August 2026 and September 2026 saw qualified observation counts of 478 and 417 respectively before settling at 389 observations in October 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
Questions This Section Answers
- How many prompt-surface observations qualified for the public benchmark in October 2026?
- Why is the qualified benchmark denominator smaller than the raw collection of 800 observations?
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The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design.
Research stage | July 2026 | October 2026 | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
Source prompt-surface observations | 800 | 800 | Total prompt-surface collection |
Unique questions | 551 | 606 | Distinct question forms |
Brand / competitor mentions | 800 | 800 | Prompts mentioning a tracked brand |
Relevant observations | 571 | 623 | On-topic prompt responses |
Irrelevant observations | 229 | 177 | Off-topic prompt responses |
Qualified benchmark observations | 395 | 389 | Public denominator for measurement |
Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. See AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology.
Current Brand Standings
Questions This Section Answers
- Which credit card processing companies hold the strongest recommendation coverage and presence rates?
- How do top-three and rank-one rates differ among the leading brands?
Brand | Presence rate | Valid recommendation coverage | Top-three rate | Rank-one rate | Net sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adyen | 82.3% | 58.1% | 26.7% | 5.9% | 0.8 |
Braintree | 55.3% | 36.0% | 22.4% | 1.5% | 0.7 |
Authorize.Net | 45.2% | 28.8% | 7.5% | 1.8% | 0.7 |
Checkout.com | 25.4% | 17.5% | 4.1% | 0.0% | 0.8 |
Stax Payments | 10.3% | 8.7% | 2.1% | 0.3% | 0.8 |
Payment Depot | 7.5% | 6.7% | 2.3% | 1.0% | 0.9 |
Elavon | 12.8% | 5.7% | 2.1% | 0.3% | 0.5 |
Payoneer | 8.0% | 5.4% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.7 |
Dharma Merchant Services | 3.9% | 3.6% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 0.9 |
NMI | 3.6% | 2.1% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.6 |
Nuvei | 4.6% | 2.1% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.5 |
Host Merchant Services | 1.5% | 1.5% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Lightspeed | 2.3% | 1.3% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 0.6 |
Merchant One | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.8 |
Payline Data | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Flagship Merchant Services | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Melio Payments | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1.0 |
PaySimple | 1.3% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.4 |
SpotOn | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
WePay | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
CDGcommerce | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
Gravity Payments | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
BluePay | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Clearent | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
EMS Electronic Merchant Systems | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Heartland Payment Systems | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Olo | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Payanywhere | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Payroc | 0.0% | 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 | 0.5% | 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 |
Revel Systems | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Sekure Merchant Solutions | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
Shift4 Payments | 0.5% | 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 Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions.
Recommendation Coverage Movement
Questions This Section Answers
- Which brands moved most in recommendation coverage since the July 2026 baseline?
- What happened to Stax's recommendation coverage between July and October 2026?
Brand | July 2026 | October 2026 | Movement since baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
Adyen | 53.4% | 58.1% | Up 4.7 points |
Authorize.Net | 33.4% | 28.8% | Down 4.6 points |
BluePay | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Braintree | 25.3% | 36.0% | Up 10.7 points |
CDGcommerce | 0.2% | 0.3% | Up 0.1 points |
Checkout.com | 12.7% | 17.5% | Up 4.8 points |
Clearent | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Dharma Merchant Services | 4.0% | 3.6% | Down 0.4 points |
Elavon | 6.8% | 5.7% | Down 1.1 points |
EMS Electronic Merchant Systems | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Flagship Merchant Services | 0.5% | 0.8% | Up 0.3 points |
Gravity Payments | 0.8% | 0.3% | Down 0.5 points |
Heartland Payment Systems | 0.5% | 0.0% | Down 0.5 points |
Host Merchant Services | 0.2% | 1.5% | Up 1.3 points |
Lightspeed | 0.8% | 1.3% | Up 0.5 points |
Melio Payments | 0.5% | 0.5% | No change |
Merchant One | 2.8% | 1.0% | Down 1.8 points |
NMI | 1.8% | 2.1% | Up 0.3 points |
Nuvei | 1.3% | 2.1% | Up 0.8 points |
Olo | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Payanywhere | 0.2% | 0.0% | Down 0.2 points |
Payline Data | 6.1% | 1.0% | Down 5.1 points |
Payment Depot | 10.9% | 6.7% | Down 4.2 points |
Payoneer | 3.3% | 5.4% | Up 2.1 points |
Payroc | 0.2% | 0.0% | Down 0.2 points |
PaySimple | 0.0% | 0.5% | Up 0.5 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 | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
ProPay | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Revel Systems | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Sekure Merchant Solutions | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
Shift4 Payments | 0.5% | 0.0% | Down 0.5 points |
SpotOn | 0.0% | 0.5% | Up 0.5 points |
Stax | 29.6% | 0.0% | Down 29.6 points |
Stax Payments | 0.0% | 8.7% | Up 8.7 points |
USAePay | 0.0% | 0.0% | No change |
WePay | 0.2% | 0.3% | Up 0.1 points |
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Largest Increase: Braintree
Braintree rose from 25.3% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 36.0% in October 2026, an increase of 10.7 points. The brand recorded an upward move in each of the three months since July 2026. Its top-three rate rose from 5.6% in July 2026 to 22.4% in October 2026, and its rank-one rate rose from 0.0% to 1.5% over the same period.
Largest Decline: Stax
Stax declined from 29.6% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 0.0% in October 2026, a drop of 29.6 points. The brand recorded no valid recommendations in October 2026 qualified observations. The decline corresponds with the emergence of the Stax Payments name as a distinct classification during the same period.
Category Leader: Adyen
Adyen remained the category leader with 58.1% valid recommendation coverage in October 2026, up from 53.4% in July 2026. The brand held the top position in every month of this series. Its prior-to-current move from 47.7% in September 2026 to 58.1% in October 2026 was a significant increase of 10.4 points.
Watch Item: Shift4 Payments
Shift4 Payments recorded 0.0% valid recommendation coverage in October 2026, down from 0.5% in July 2026. The brand declined in each of the three months since July 2026, though the cumulative change remains within normal month-to-month variation. This is not yet a trend.
Recommendation Placement Snapshot
Questions This Section Answers
- How do Adyen and Braintree compare on top-three and rank-one recommendation rates?
- What does the placement gap between top-three and rank-one rates reveal about shortlist prominence?
Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Adyen held a 26.7% top-three rate and a 5.9% rank-one rate in October 2026, compared with 13.4% and 1.5% respectively in July 2026. Braintree recorded a 22.4% top-three rate and a 1.5% rank-one rate in October 2026, compared with 5.6% and 0.0% in July 2026. Authorize.Net held a 7.5% top-three rate and a 1.8% rank-one rate in October 2026.
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Brand | October 2026 top-three rate | October 2026 rank-one rate | July 2026 top-three rate | July 2026 rank-one rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Adyen | 26.7% | 5.9% | 13.4% | 1.5% |
Braintree | 22.4% | 1.5% | 5.6% | 0.0% |
Authorize.Net | 7.5% | 1.8% | 3.5% | 0.2% |
Braintree and Adyen held closer top-three rates in October 2026, yet Adyen's rank-one rate of 5.9% was nearly four times Braintree's 1.5%, showing how similar overall coverage can still hide different first-position rates.
Buyer-Intent Distribution
In each month, the qualified observations fell into the brand recommendation class.
Buyer-intent class | July 2026 | October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Brand Recommendation | 395 | 389 |
Pricing & Value | 0 | 0 |
Multi-Brand Comparison | 0 | 0 |
Total qualified observations | 395 | 389 |
The current public series measures the brand recommendation class of discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the pricing and value or multi-brand comparison classes.
Historical Measurement Record
Questions This Section Answers
- Has any brand other than Adyen led recommendation coverage across the recorded months?
- What were the largest coverage movements recorded in each measurement month?
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 Payments, up 7.7 points to 7.7% |
October 2026 | 389 | Adyen | 58.1% | Adyen, up 10.4 points to 58.1% |
Evidence and Source Layer
Questions This Section Answers
- What types of prompt-level evidence are retained in the benchmark observations?
- Can source presence be treated as proof that a citation caused a recommendation?
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.
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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.
Top 10 Cited Domains
Questions This Section Answers
- Which domains were cited most often across AI platform responses?
- Did any credit card processing brand's own domain appear among the top 10 cited sources?
Across all AI platform responses in this measurement period, 5,596 citations were observed across 1,522 unique domains. The top 10 most-cited domains are shown below.
Rank | Domain | Citations | Share | Platforms citing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | google.com | 256 | 4.6% | AI Mode, AI Overviews |
2 | youtube.com | 202 | 3.6% | ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
3 | reddit.com | 161 | 2.9% | ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
4 | connectpay.com | 115 | 2.1% | Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
5 | forbes.com | 108 | 1.9% | ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
6 | airwallex.com | 108 | 1.9% | ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
7 | stripe.com | 106 | 1.9% | ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
8 | nerdwallet.com | 102 | 1.8% | ChatGPT, Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
9 | zapier.com | 83 | 1.5% | ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
10 | en.wikipedia.org | 82 | 1.5% | ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
Citations are broadly distributed, with no single domain exceeding 5% of total citations and the top 10 domains together accounting for roughly 24% of all citations. None of the tracked brands' own domains appear in the top 10. The citation mix is dominated by general-purpose platforms (Google, YouTube, Reddit, Wikipedia), industry publications (Forbes), financial comparison sites (NerdWallet), and payments-adjacent company sites (ConnectPay, Airwallex, Stripe).
About This Benchmark
The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility 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 Visibility Market Discovery Methodology
- AI Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions
- AI Visibility Market Discovery Research Standards
- Modeled AI Visibility Authority Value
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