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
11 chargebackgurus.com Vendor site 1.4% 1 of 4 1 Not read
12 chargeblast.com Vendor site 1.4% 1 of 4 1 Not read
13 clearlypayments.com Vendor site 1.4% 3 of 4 2 Not read
14 10web.io Vendor site 1.2% 1 of 4 2 Not read
15 fastspring.com Vendor site 1.2% 2 of 4 1 Not read
16 mijnwebwinkel.nl Vendor site 1.2% 2 of 4 2 3
17 nomupay.com Vendor site 1.2% 1 of 4 3 Not read
18 tectah.com Vendor site 1.2% 1 of 4 1 Not read
19 agilepayments.com Vendor site 1.0% 1 of 4 2 Not read
20 combidesk.com Vendor site 1.0% 2 of 4 2 6

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
Was ist das beste Zahlungsgateway für einen Onlineshop? German PayPal
Online-Zahlungsabwicklung für kleine Unternehmen German Mollie, PayPal and Stripe, tied
Wie kann ein kleiner Onlineshop Kartenzahlungen akzeptieren? German No brand recommended
Wie kann ich Online-Zahlungen auf meiner Website anbieten? German Mollie, PayPal and Stripe, tied
Zahlungsgateway einer Bank oder Online-Zahlungsanbieter für den E-Commerce? German Mollie and Unzer, tied
Pauschalgebühren oder Interchange-Plus-Modell bei Online-Zahlungen? German No brand recommended
Welche Alternativen zur Nachnahme gibt es für einen Onlineshop? German PayPal
Welche Alternativen zu Banküberweisungen gibt es, um online Kundenzahlungen einzuziehen? German GoCardless
Ich betreibe einen kleinen Onlineshop. Welches Zahlungsgateway sollte ich nutzen? German Mollie and PayPal, tied
Ich leite den E-Commerce-Bereich eines Einzelhändlers und möchte, dass beim Bezahlvorgang weniger Zahlungen abgelehnt werden. German No brand recommended

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