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The most visible cloud hosting platforms, October 2026

October 2026 · 12 questions asked in English, worldwide · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 96 answers read

Leader

AWS

91%of answers name it

Most cited source

youtube.com

34citations

From Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews

Where engines disagree most

Microsoft Azure

1/4engines put it in their top three

Top three on ChatGPT, not on Google AI Mode, Gemini and Google AI Overviews

Brands

Rank Brand Heralded Score Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
– MassiveGRID US Too few answers 2% 0% None First reading
– phoenixNAP US Too few answers 1% 0% None First reading
– Qovery FR Too few answers 1% 1% None First reading
– ScalaHosting US Too few answers 2% 1% First reading
– Scalingo FR Too few answers 2% 1% None First reading
– Servers.com by Nexcess NL Too few answers 1% 0% None First reading
– SiteGround Cloud BG Too few answers 1% 1% First reading
– UltaHost US Too few answers 2% 1% None First reading

“=” marks brands whose score ranges overlap, so the test cannot separate them. Every brand named in at least three answers is ranked. By engine has one dot per engine (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode), darker the more often it names the brand.

Most cited sources

Rank Source Type Cited in Engines Pages cited Brands its pages mention
1 youtube.com Social 20.8% 2 of 4 18 Not read
2 google.com Brand site 20.8% 4 of 4 24 7
3 digitalocean.com Brand site 18.8% 3 of 4 14 12
4 amazon.com Brand site 18.8% 4 of 4 22 3
5 reddit.com Community 17.7% 4 of 4 16 27
6 microsoft.com Brand site 12.5% 3 of 4 15 2
7Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
8Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
9Withheld. Run a full Snapshot to see it.
10 elementor.com Brand site 10.4% 1 of 4 2 13

The questions, and who wins each

QuestionLanguageWins it
best cloud hosting for a software company English AWS and Google Cloud, tied
cloud hosting recommendations for a platform engineer English AWS
top cloud hosting English AWS, DigitalOcean and Vultr, tied
how to choose cloud hosting English DigitalOcean
what to look for in cloud hosting English No brand recommended
cloud hosting for a team of 20 to 200 English AWS
cloud hosting that integrates with Terraform English AWS and DigitalOcean, tied
cloud hosting with GDPR-compliant hosting English AWS, Google Cloud, Hetzner, Microsoft Azure, OVHcloud and Scaleway, tied
cloud hosting for media English AWS and DigitalOcean, tied
most reliable cloud hosting English AWS

Each engine's top three

Method

Each month Heralded asks every engine the same buyer questions, twice each, and reads every answer. An answer counts 0 for a brand it leaves out, 50 for a brand it names and 100 for a brand it recommends, and the Heralded Score is built from those. A brand named in at least three answers gets a score and a place.

How the leaderboards are measured