Leader
56Heralded Score, range 34–72
The most visible cloud hosting platforms in Germany, October 2026
Most cited source
16citations
From Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews
Where engines disagree most
1/4engines put it in their top three
Top three on Gemini, not on Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT
Brands
| Rank | Brand | Rank change | Heralded Score All | AI | Search | Score trend | Mentioned | Recommended | By engine | Mentioned by | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | | New entry | 11 , range 3–48 | 11#11 | 10#7 | 11
| 8% | 4% | None | First reading | |
| 12 | | New entry | 9 , range 3–48 | 11#12 | 5#13 | 9
| 11% | 0% | None | First reading | |
| 13 | | New entry | 7 , range 3–48 | 10#13 | 0= #27 | 7
| 9% | 1% | None | First reading | |
| 14 | | New entry | 6 , range 2–47 | 9#14 | 0= #27 | 6
| 7% | 2% | | First reading | |
| 15 | | New entry | 6 , range 2–47 | 9#15 | 0= #27 | 6
| 7% | 1% | | First reading | |
| 16 | | New entry | 4 , range 2–46 | 7#16 | 0= #27 | 4
| 6% | 1% | None | First reading | |
| 17 | | New entry | 4 , range 1–41 | 3#21 | 5#14 | 4
| 4% | 0% | None | First reading | |
| 18 | | New entry | 4 , range 1–46 | 6#17 | 0= #27 | 4
| 4% | 2% | None | First reading | |
| = 19 | | New entry | 3 , range 1–43 | 4= #18 | 0= #27 | 3
| 4% | 0% | None | First reading | |
| = 19 | | New entry | 3 , range 1–43 | 4= #18 | 0= #27 | 3
| 4% | 0% | 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 and Search give each brand’s score and rank on that side alone. 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 | | Social | 15.0% | 2 of 4 | 16 | Not read |
| 2 |  shopify.com | Vendor site | 8.3% | 3 of 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | | Community | 10.0% | 2 of 4 | 7 | Not read |
| 4 | | Community | 6.7% | 2 of 4 | 4 | Not read |
| 5 | | Vendor site | 3.3% | 1 of 4 | 4 | Not read |
| 6 | | Consultancy | 3.3% | 2 of 4 | 3 | Not read |
| 7 | | Vendor site | 3.3% | 1 of 4 | 2 | Not read |
| 8 | | Consultancy | 3.3% | 1 of 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | | Media | 3.3% | 1 of 4 | 1 | Not read |
| 10 | | Review site | 3.3% | 1 of 4 | 2 | 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 | No brand recommended |
Each engine's top three
Google AI Mode
- 1
- 2
Hetzner
- 3
DigitalOcean
Gemini
- 1
- 2
Microsoft Azure
- 3
Google AI Overviews
- 1
- 2
Google Cloud
- 3
ChatGPT
- 1
- 2
- 3
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.