The most visible merchant of record platforms in Europe, October 2026

October 2026 · 105 questions asked from 7 countries · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 420 answers read

Leader

Paddle

73Heralded Score, range 70–76

Most cited source

europa.eu

84citations

From Google AI Mode and ChatGPT

Where engines disagree most

PayPro Global

1/4engines put it in their top three

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

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 Paddle GB New entry 73 , range 70–76 73#1
73
  • : score 73 · #1
82% 39% First reading
2 Lemon Squeezy US New entry 66 , range 60–71 66#2
66
  • : score 66 · #2
74% 30% First reading
3 FastSpring US New entry 38 , range 35–42 38#3
38
  • : score 38 · #3
38% 9% First reading
4 Gumroad US New entry 22 , range 12–31 22#4
22
  • : score 22 · #4
18% 4% First reading
5 PayPro Global CA New entry 9 , range 7–16 9#5
9
  • : score 9 · #5
13% 0% First reading
6 Dodo Payments IN New entry 6 , range 4–8 6#6
6
  • : score 6 · #6
8% 0% First reading
7 Polar SE New entry 5 , range 4–8 5#7
5
  • : score 5 · #7
6% 1% First reading
8 Freemius IL New entry 4 , range 3–6 4#8
4
  • : score 4 · #8
6% 0% None First reading
9 Cleverbridge DE New entry 4 , range 3–6 4#9
4
  • : score 4 · #9
5% 0% First reading
10 Creem SK New entry 4 , range 3–6 4#10
4
  • : score 4 · #10
5% 0% 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 europa.eu Regulator 7.6% 2 of 4 38 Not read
2 youtube.com Social 8.1% 2 of 4 32 Not read
3 ebrands.com Vendor site 7.1% 3 of 4 2 5
4 linkedin.com Social 5.0% 2 of 4 18 Not read
5 adyen.com Vendor site 3.1% 4 of 4 14 Not read
6 reddit.com Community 4.5% 3 of 4 17 5
7 avalara.com Vendor site 2.9% 3 of 4 12 Not read
8 belastingdienst.nl Regulator 1.7% 4 of 4 16 Not read
9 airwallex.com Vendor site 3.1% 4 of 4 12 Not read
10 gov.uk Regulator 1.9% 3 of 4 10 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
What changes when a provider becomes the seller of record for my digital products? English No brand recommended
How do full-service checkout platforms compare with handling international payments in-house? English No brand recommended
What can replace separate payment, tax, and billing tools for selling software? English FastSpring, Lemon Squeezy, Paddle and Polar, tied
How can i move away from managing sales tax filings in every country? English No brand recommended
What can replace a custom checkout when selling subscriptions internationally? English FastSpring, Lemon Squeezy and Paddle, tied
¿Qué debería usar una empresa de software para vender suscripciones en todo el mundo y gestionar los impuestos sobre las ventas? Spanish Paddle
¿Qué plataforma permite vender productos digitales en todo el mundo y gestionar pagos, impuestos y reembolsos? Spanish Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy and Paddle, tied
¿Cómo puede una pequeña empresa SaaS vender en varios países sin tener que crear un equipo de facturación? Spanish Lemon Squeezy and Paddle, tied
¿Qué servicio se encarga del proceso de compra y los impuestos para una empresa que vende software a nivel internacional? Spanish FastSpring, Lemon Squeezy and Paddle, tied
¿Cómo puedo recaudar y liquidar los impuestos sobre las ventas cuando clientes de otros países compran mi software? Spanish Lemon Squeezy and Paddle, tied

Each engine's top three

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.

How the leaderboards are measured