Every AI answer engine behaves differently. Some recommend a longer list of brands in response to a query while citing few sources. Others conduct deeper research before they recommend anything. Understanding what works for which platform is very important when deciding your AI visibility strategy.
Claude, developed by Anthropic, belongs to the second group. It ranks as the third-largest among the four major answer engines in terms of consumer reach and is the fastest-growing. It held roughly 10.3% of the generative AI chatbot market in July 2026, up from 8.5% at the start of the year.
In our ‘Closing the AI Visibility Gap‘ survey, Claude ranked 4th in the list of AI answer engines PR professionals are prioritizing, behind ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.
However, these numbers only tell part of the story. Claude’s usage is heavily skewed towards professional and business-oriented contexts, meaning that a large part of its audience uses it for competitor research, vendor shortlists, and comparisons. That makes it an important channel for PR and communication teams.
Our data research identified what sets Claude apart from other AI answer engines, and how PR teams can use those insights to improve AI visibility.
What our research revealed about Claude behaviour
As part of our study, we submitted 6,120 prompts to Claude across 48 industry categories and captured every brand named, every source cited, and the reasoning behind each recommendation. Here are the key insights:
Claude cites far more sources than any other engine
Claude averaged 12.8 citations per answer. Perplexity, the next closest, averaged 7.7. Gemini managed 4.9 and ChatGPT just 3.6. Across the same prompt set, Claude produced 78,311 citations against ChatGPT’s 22,051, and it included at least one source in 99.7% of answers.
The citation gap widens when comparing different industry categories. Claude averaged 15.5 citations per prompt in Entertainment, 14.6 in Education, and 14 in Finance. For Education, it cited almost twice as many sources as the second-placed engine. In Beauty and Hair Care, where Claude references the fewest sources (10), it still exceeds Gemini (7.5) by 3.5 sources per prompt.
For PR teams, this means a bigger opportunity to get noticed. More citations per answer means more Influential sources are available to shape reputation. Where ChatGPT offers fewer than four openings per response, Claude offers nearly thirteen, giving PR teams the highest opportunity to build and guide brand visibility.
But it names the fewest brands
While Claude cites the highest, it also recommends the fewest brands. Claude surfaced an average of 6.2 brands per answer, the lowest of the four engines, against Gemini’s 10.6 (highest).
If you compare citations and brands per prompt, it draws on roughly two sources for every brand it names. This reveals a platform that conducts thorough analysis and verification before recommending a brand. For reference, ChatGPT and Gemini name roughly two brands for every source they cite.
This is an important insight for PR teams. On Claude, getting cited and getting recommended have very different implications. Since it is drawing on a large list of citations before recommending brands, third-party coverage that positions your brand strongly emerges as a key differentiator.
Your owned content can be referenced as supporting evidence in an answer that recommends a competitor. Making the shortlist requires consistent visibility and favourable positioning in content published across the industry.
Corporate dominates, but independent coverage is important
Similar to all AI answer engines, corporate media dominates citations with a 53.5% share. That includes owned content, as well as mentions by organizations within the same industry (e.g., a partner or competitor’s product pages, corporate blogs, etc.).
What’s surprising is Claude’s preference for independent third-party media, niche content, and review sites. Here’s how they fare:
| Citation Type | Description | Share of citations in Claude |
| Other | Local news, podcasts, YouTube transcripts, newsletters, and independent blogs | 18.1% |
| Trade | Industry-focused outlets that cover a particular sector or profession in depth | 14.1% |
| Reviews | User-generated review sites or aggregated review platforms | 5.8% |
Trade, review, and independent coverage account for roughly 38% of everything Claude cites. This confirms Claude’s reputation as a business-focused AI answer engine, frequently drawing upon specialist media to synthesize information.
Industry breakdowns confirm this trend. Other media accounts for 25.8% of Claude’s citations in Education and 22.8% in Travel. Similarly, trade reaches a 23.6% citation share, and reviews increase to 11.11% for Telecommunications.
In contrast, major media accounts for just 3.3% of Claude’s citations and social sits at 0.2%, the lowest for any platform. For PR teams, that changes the objective. A sustained presence across industry publications and genuine conversations around your brand do more for your AI visibility on Claude than a feature in a mainstream magazine.
Reputation counts for more on Claude than anywhere else
Performance drives 76.1% of Claude’s brand recommendations. It remains the dominant factor, as on every engine, but it is the lowest share of the four.
The difference goes to reputation, which accounts for 16.1% of Claude’s recommendations, the highest in the study. Popularity, at 1%, is also the highest recorded.
This does not replace the need for performance evidence. It does mean that awards, analyst recognition, expert bylines, and third-party endorsement have measurably more room to influence outcomes here than they do on ChatGPT, where reputation drives just 12.1%.
Bonus consideration: Claude’s Brave Search integration
Anthropic’s Claude unveiled its live web-search capability in March 2025, integrating with the Chromium-based browser, Brave Search. While not part of our report, this is a valuable insight for PR teams looking to optimize visibility on Claude.
Research shows close alignment with Brave’s search results, signalling that Brave’s search result rankings can influence AI visibility on the platform. Brave Search is built on an independent index, which is separate from Google. This means a page ranking on Google may not get cited in Claude at all.
PR teams optimizing visibility on Claude need to target Brave Search rankings and ensure their content is indexable for Brave’s crawlers.
What this means for PR teams
Our research into Claude reveals a unique AI engine that rewards a different media footprint than others. The AI strategy for building visibility on Claude needs to be tailored to the platform.
Here are the practical takeaways for PR teams prioritizing Claude:
- Claude offers the biggest citation opportunity. Regardless of market share, Claude’s 12.8 citation slots per answer make it the most accessible of the four engines for brands building AI visibility from a standing start.
- Distinguish being cited from being recommended. Claude uses roughly two sources per brand named. Appearing as evidence in an answer is not the same as appearing on the shortlist.
- Prioritize trade and independent coverage. Specialist publications, podcasts, newsletters, and expert interviews collectively drive far more Claude citations than mainstream media does.
- Pair performance proof with reputation assets. Reputation influences 16.1% of Claude’s recommendations, the most of any engine. Recognition, expertise, and endorsement carry real weight when paired with results and outcome-based content.
- Audit your visibility in Brave Search. Claude’s web search does not run on Google’s index, so factor Brave Search visibility into your SEO strategy.
The engine your audience uses determines what visibility actually requires. A brand with strong independent media coverage can perform well on Claude, but not on ChatGPT, which might require a different approach.
PR teams need dedicated AI visibility measurement to track where their brand appears across platforms, understand which sources are driving those citations, and direct outreach accordingly.
Agility’s Visibility Intelligence gives PR teams that view. See where your brand surfaces across Claude and other major AI answer engines, how it is portrayed, and what is driving the citations.
Book a demo to see where you stand on Claude today.
