Leader
60Heralded Score, range 55–65
The most visible cloud hosting platforms in Europe, October 2026
Most cited source
31citations
From Google AI Mode, Gemini and Google AI Overviews
Where engines disagree most
1/4engines put it in their top three
Top three on ChatGPT, not on Google AI Mode, Gemini and Google AI Overviews
Brands
Search is not measured for this board yet, so it ranks on AI answers.
| Rank | Brand | Rank change | Heralded Score All | AI | Score trend | Mentioned | Recommended | By engine | Mentioned by | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  AWS US | New entry | 60 , range 55–65 | 60#1 | 60
| 73% | 21% | None | First reading | |
| 2 | | New entry | 48 , range 45–52 | 48#2 | 48
| 56% | 16% | None | First reading | |
| 3 | | New entry | 46 , range 43–50 | 46#3 | 46
| 46% | 22% | None | First reading | |
| 4 | | New entry | 41 , range 38–45 | 41#4 | 41
| 42% | 12% | None | First reading | |
| 5 | | New entry | 37 , range 34–41 | 37#5 | 37
| 28% | 16% | None | First reading | |
| 6 | | New entry | 37 , range 34–40 | 37#6 | 37
| 28% | 15% | None | First reading | |
| 7 | | New entry | 36 , range 34–40 | 36#7 | 36
| 25% | 17% | None | First reading | |
| 8 | | New entry | 31 , range 24–34 | 31#8 | 31
| 17% | 12% | None | First reading | |
| 9 | | New entry | 31 , range 24–34 | 31#9 | 31
| 18% | 10% | None | First reading | |
| 10 | | New entry | 29 , range 18–32 | 29#10 | 29
| 21% | 3% | 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. AI gives each brand’s score and rank from the engines’ answers; Search is not measured for this board yet. 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 | | Community | 7.1% | 3 of 4 | 27 | Not read |
| 2 | | Community | 3.8% | 3 of 4 | 10 | Not read |
| 3 | | Community | 1.7% | 1 of 4 | 5 | Not read |
| 4 | | Community | 1.7% | 2 of 4 | 3 | Not read |
| 5 | | Community | 1.0% | 1 of 4 | 1 | Not read |
| 6 | | Community | 0.7% | 1 of 4 | 1 | Not read |
| 7 | | Community | 0.5% | 1 of 4 | 1 | Not read |
| 8 | | Community | 0.5% | 1 of 4 | 1 | Not read |
| 9 | | Community | 0.5% | 1 of 4 | 1 | Not read |
| 10 | | Community | 0.2% | 1 of 4 | 1 | Not read |
Questions asked
| Question | Language | Most recommended |
|---|---|---|
| best cloud hosting platform for independent developers | English | |
| cloud hosting for small software teams | English | |
| how can a developer host an app without managing servers | English | |
| how to keep a startup website online as traffic grows | English | AWS |
| managed cloud hosting vs self-managed servers for startups | English | |
| What’s the best cloud hosting platform for startups? | English | AWS, |
| Cloud hosting for small online stores | English | |
| How can a startup keep its app online without interruptions? | English | AWS |
| How do I host an online store that’s getting more visitors? | English | AWS, |
| In-house server or cloud hosting for startups? | English | No brand recommended |
Each engine's top three
Google AI Mode
- 1
- 2
DigitalOcean
- 3
Google Cloud
Gemini
- 1
- 2
- 3
Google AI Overviews
- 1
- 2
- 3
ChatGPT
- 1
- 2
- 3
Microsoft Azure
Related leaderboards
Method
Each leaderboard ranks brands on two sides. AI is how ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode answer the board's buyer questions. Search is Google's top 10 results for the keywords behind those questions. All combines the two, where Search is measured.
For the AI side, 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.