The most visible online payment gateways 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

Stripe

75Heralded Score, range 72–78

Most cited source

connectpay.com

30citations

From Google AI Mode, Gemini and Google AI Overviews

Where engines disagree most

Adyen

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 Stripe US New entry 75 , range 72–78 75#1
75
  • : score 75 · #1
84% 42% First reading
2 PayPal US New entry 70 , range 65–73 70#2
70
  • : score 70 · #2
76% 36% First reading
3 Mollie NL New entry 37 , range 34–40 37#3
37
  • : score 37 · #3
26% 16% First reading
4 Adyen NL New entry 35 , range 32–38 35#4
35
  • : score 35 · #4
29% 10% First reading
5 Shopify Payments CA New entry 35 , range 32–38 35#5
35
  • : score 35 · #5
27% 11% First reading
6 Square US New entry 32 , range 28–35 32#6
32
  • : score 32 · #6
23% 7% First reading
7 Netopia Payments RO New entry 9 , range 6–18 9#7
9
  • : score 9 · #7
9% 5% None First reading
8 SumUp GB New entry 8 , range 6–15 8#8
8
  • : score 8 · #8
7% 5% None First reading
9 Redsys ES New entry 8 , range 5–14 8#9
8
  • : score 8 · #9
7% 5% None First reading
10 GoCardless GB New entry 7 , range 5–12 7#10
7
  • : score 7 · #10
8% 3% 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 connectpay.com Vendor site 6.0% 3 of 4 8 10
2 inflowpay.com Vendor site 3.6% 2 of 4 1 5
3 zapier.com Vendor site 3.1% 2 of 4 1 7
4 multisafepay.com Vendor site 2.1% 3 of 4 3 Not read
5 taxually.com Vendor site 1.9% 1 of 4 2 7
6 qonto.com Vendor site 1.4% 2 of 4 4 Not read
7 roxpay.eu Vendor site 1.7% 3 of 4 7 Not read
8 thrivecart.com Vendor site 1.7% 3 of 4 1 6
9 visa.com Vendor site 1.4% 2 of 4 5 Not read
10 zen.com Vendor site 1.7% 3 of 4 2 1

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
best payment gateways for small businesses English PayPal, Shopify Payments, Square and Stripe, tied
online payment gateway for ecommerce English Stripe
how to accept online payments on a website English PayPal and Stripe, tied
how to reduce declined card payments online English No brand recommended
payment gateway fees comparison English Adyen, EuPlatesc, Helcim, Netopia Payments, PayPal, PayU, 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