The most visible online payment gateways in Romania, October 2026

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

Leader

Stripe

74Heralded Score, range 63–81

Most cited source

gomag.ro

4citations

From Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews

Where engines disagree most

PayPal

1/4engines put it in their top three

Top three on Gemini, not on Google AI Mode, 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 74 , range 63–81 74#1
74
  • : score 74 · #1
82% 41% First reading
2 Netopia Payments RO New entry 59 , range 47–73 59#2
59
  • : score 59 · #2
60% 33% First reading
3 PayU PL New entry 46 , range 37–59 46#3
46
  • : score 46 · #3
44% 22% First reading
4 EuPlatesc RO New entry 45 , range 37–58 45#4
45
  • : score 45 · #4
45% 20% First reading
5 PayPal US New entry 42 , range 35–53 42#5
42
  • : score 42 · #5
44% 13% First reading
6 Square US New entry 21 , range 7–37 21#6
21
  • : score 21 · #6
16% 5% First reading
7 Adyen NL New entry 16 , range 5–36 16#7
16
  • : score 16 · #7
14% 5% None First reading
8 Braintree US New entry 14 , range 5–35 14#8
14
  • : score 14 · #8
14% 4% First reading
9 Shopify Payments CA New entry 14 , range 5–35 14#9
14
  • : score 14 · #9
13% 5% First reading
10 Paysera Checkout LT New entry 7 , range 3–32 7#10
7
  • : score 7 · #10
11% 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 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 gomag.ro Vendor site 6.7% 2 of 4 3 10
2 wise.com Vendor site 6.7% 2 of 4 4 Not read
3 merchantpro.ro Vendor site 5.0% 1 of 4 3 Not read
4 connectpay.com Vendor site 3.3% 2 of 4 2 Not read
5 zapier.com Vendor site 3.3% 2 of 4 1 7
6 10web.io Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
7 bancatransilvania.ro Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
8 bcr.ro Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
9 bigbuy.eu Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
10 bridgerpay.com Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read

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