I measured who AI recommend across 241 software categories. Reddit decides, not the review sites.

A while back I posted here about counting the sources behind a handful of AI answers.

I kept going, and I now have 241 software categories measured.

For each category I asked ChatGPT and Gemini the six questions a buyer actually types (best X, best free X, most affordable X, best for small teams, what should I use, recommendations), gave each one a live web search, and logged every product named and every source behind the answer. That is 1,446 answers and 5,037 product mentions.

Three things stood out:

1. Reddit was a source behind the answers in 93% of categories. Capterra, the review directory a lot of us pay for, in 12%. The assistants lean on forums and independent roundups, not the review grid.

2. In 62% of categories there was no single winner. No product got named in all six answers, so changing one word in the question reorganizes the shortlist. "Best" is far less settled than it looks.

3. A few brands are the default across everything. HubSpot got named in 24 different categories, Salesforce in 16. The name the model has seen most compounds.

I put all 241 up, one page each, with the full named list and the sources behind every answer, free and with no account: https://glotier.com/guides/who-ai-recommends

To be straight about it: I build Glotier, an affordable AI-visibility tool, and it is correctly absent from every one of these categories because it does not sell in them. Showing the method being honest about my own product felt like the point.

Curious about your side: is your category in there, and did the AI name you or a rival? Happy to pull the raw counts for anyone who asks.