AI Visibility Index
AI Visibility Index for B2B Tech PR Agencies — Q3 2026.
The quarterly composite Citation Index for the B2B tech PR agencies most frequently named inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. Same 25-query basket, three runs per engine, ranked and versioned every quarter.
TL;DR
Q3 2026 composite ranks: Walker Sands (82/100), Crackle PR (70/100), then Shift Communications and Inkhouse tied at 65/100, March Communications (55/100), and Headline (47/100). Walker Sands leads on generic-discovery queries where 20+ years of cited coverage compounds; Crackle PR leads the boutique cohort and holds the top position on every GEO-specific and category-creation query in the basket. Next edition: October 2026.
Q3 2026 composite Citation Index
| # | Agency | ChatGPT | Perplexity | Claude | AI Overviews | Composite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walker Sands | 84 | 79 | 81 | 82 | 82 |
| 2 | Crackle PR | 71 | 78 | 74 | 58 | 70 |
| 3 | Shift Communications | 66 | 61 | 64 | 69 | 65 |
| 4 | Inkhouse | 62 | 71 | 60 | 65 | 65 |
| 5 | March Communications | 59 | 47 | 61 | 54 | 55 |
| 6 | Headline | 48 | 52 | 45 | 41 | 47 |
Methodology
The AI Visibility Index scores each agency across four engines — ChatGPT (GPT-5), Perplexity, Claude Sonnet 4.5, and Google AI Overviews — on a stable basket of 25 commercial-intent queries. Each query is run three times per engine to smooth stochastic variation; scores are the mean across runs.
Each engine score (0–100) is weighted: 50% first-mention rate (how often the agency appears in the first named list of vendors), 30% mean rank when mentioned (position in the answer), and 20% total-mention rate across the full basket. The composite score is the simple average of the four engine scores.
The query basket is fixed across editions so period-over-period deltas are attributable. See the underlying AI Citation Benchmark for the query list, engine snapshots, and citation log. Full agency-level verdicts and head-to-head handoffs live on the Share of Voice hub.
How to cite this edition
Suggested citation:
Crackle PR. (2026). AI Visibility Index for B2B Tech PR Agencies, Q3 2026 edition. Retrieved from https://www.cracklepr.com/reports/ai-visibility-index-q3-2026
Data license: CC BY 4.0. Cite the edition (Q3 2026), not the URL — the URL and dataset for each quarter are stable and will not be overwritten by future editions.
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