The most searched questions
Every month we ask AI assistants the questions customers ask before choosing, sector by sector, and count who gets recommended. The same questions, month after month, to see what changes.
What it measures
Questions such as “which is the best”, “what should I choose between” or “what is worth it” drive many decisions. For each sector the ranking shows which brands the assistants recommend, which they name and which sources they cite.
The structure of an answer to a “which is the best” question, with brand names replaced by descriptions: recommendation, presence and source.
QuestionWhat is the best online account for frequent travellers?
AI assistant · outline answer, without brand names
The answer first recommends an account from an online bank, then names a second bank as an alternative, and cites an account comparison site for fees abroad.
The brand recommended first for the need in the question.
A brand named as an alternative: presence is what counts.
The cited source, recorded where the assistant shows it.
Where the topic comes from
The questions are editorial, written in each country’s language and kept stable to compare one month with the next. The order of importance comes from interest measured with Google Trends and Wikimedia Pageviews.
The question bank of the monthly series: the parts that stay stable so months can be compared and the parts that are updated with measured interest.
| Stays stable | Changes every month | |
|---|---|---|
| The questions | The text of each question, in the country’s language. | The order of importance among the questions. |
| The sectors | The list of sectors observed in the series. | The sectors with the most interest at the top. |
| The sources | The collection method and the declared thresholds. | The Google Trends and Wikimedia Pageviews values. |
Status of the editions
The first month’s questions are being prepared, country by country. Until the edition reaches the minimum sample, no brands or shares appear on this page.
The preparation status of the monthly questions ranking: what is ready, what is missing and what stays off the page until the edition.
Related paths
The Observatory publishes rankings with their methodology. From here you move on to the other series, to the edition methodology and to the page that brings them all together.
Regular rankings of which brands AI assistants name first, in six countries, with a public method and open data under a CC BY 4.0 licence.
ReadHow every Observatory ranking is built: published questions, repetitions, 95% intervals, thresholds, topic sources and corrections.
ReadEvery week, the topics rising in searches and the brands AI assistants name first, country by country.
ReadEvery month, the brands and stores AI assistants suggest for the purchase categories with the most interest.
ReadEvery month, how much room AI assistants give the leading brands of each sector and country, and with which sources.
ReadEvery week and every month, the brands most present in articles, compared with what AI assistants answer.
Read