The most visible online payment gateways, October 2026

October 2026 · 15 questions asked in English, worldwide · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 60 answers read

Leader

PayPal

77Heralded Score, range 67–84

Most cited source

nerdwallet.com

11citations

From Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT

Where engines disagree most

They agree

Every engine names the same top three.

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 PayPal US New entry 77 , range 67–84 77#1
77
  • : score 77 · #1
79% 52% First reading
2 Stripe US New entry 74 , range 64–81 74#2
74
  • : score 74 · #2
85% 40% First reading
3 Square US New entry 67 , range 52–76 67#3
67
  • : score 67 · #3
68% 37% None First reading
4 Shopify Payments CA New entry 42 , range 34–54 42#4
42
  • : score 42 · #4
35% 22% None First reading
5 Helcim CA New entry 35 , range 23–44 35#5
35
  • : score 35 · #5
27% 11% First reading
6 Adyen NL New entry 32 , range 14–42 32#6
32
  • : score 32 · #6
22% 10% None First reading
7 Braintree US New entry 21 , range 6–37 21#7
21
  • : score 21 · #7
13% 8% None First reading
8 Klarna SE New entry 17 , range 6–36 17#8
17
  • : score 17 · #8
15% 4% First reading
9 Authorize.net US New entry 15 , range 5–35 15#9
15
  • : score 15 · #9
13% 5% None First reading
10 Stax US New entry 7 , range 3–32 7#10
7
  • : score 7 · #10
9% 2% 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 nerdwallet.com Media 16.7% 3 of 4 5 6
2 forbes.com Media 5.0% 2 of 4 2 7
3 cio.com Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
4 kitmere.com Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
5 mytotalretail.com Media 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
best payment gateways for small businesses English Helcim, PayPal, Square and Stripe, tied
online payment gateway for ecommerce English Shopify Payments
how to accept online payments on a website English PayPal, Square and Stripe, tied
how to reduce declined card payments online English PayPal
payment gateway fees comparison English PayPal, Square and Stripe, 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