The most visible online payment gateways in United Kingdom, October 2026

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

Leader

PayPal

76Heralded Score, range 68–83

Most cited source

youtube.com

18citations

From Google AI Overviews

Where engines disagree most

They agree

Every engine names the same top three.

Brands

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score All AI Search Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
1 PayPal US New entry 76 , range 68–83 77#1 75#1
76
  • : score 76 · #1
67% 34% First reading
2 Stripe US New entry 75 , range 66–82 75#2 75#2
75
  • : score 75 · #2
67% 29% First reading
3 Square US New entry 46 , range 30–70 54#3 32#12
46
  • : score 46 · #3
40% 16% First reading
4 Worldpay GB New entry 45 , range 11–53 30#7 70#4
45
  • : score 45 · #4
19% 5% First reading
5 Shopify Payments CA New entry 41 , range 24–62 44#4 36#9
41
  • : score 41 · #5
29% 13% First reading
6 GoCardless GB New entry 41 , range 12–54 33#5 54#5
41
  • : score 41 · #6
19% 8% First reading
7 Adyen NL New entry 37 , range 9–52 31#6 46#7
37
  • : score 37 · #7
17% 5% First reading
8 Revolut Business GB New entry 17 , range 2–47 7#12 35#10
17
  • : score 17 · #8
5% 5% First reading
9 Authorize.net US New entry 14 , range 2–42 4#16 32#11
14
  • : score 14 · #9
6% 1% First reading
10 Braintree US New entry 12 , range 3–48 12#8 13#15
12
  • : score 12 · #10
7% 4% 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 and Search give each brand’s score and rank on that side alone. 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 youtube.com Social 13.3% 1 of 4 17 Not read
2 businessexpert.co.uk Media 8.3% 1 of 4 4 11
3 startups.co.uk Media 11.7% 3 of 4 1 9
4 connectpay.com Vendor site 8.3% 3 of 4 2 10
5 forbes.com Media 8.3% 1 of 4 4 3
6 altagency.co.uk Consultancy 6.7% 2 of 4 1 8
7 ico.org.uk Regulator 3.3% 1 of 4 4 Not read
8 merchantsavvy.co.uk Consultancy 6.7% 2 of 4 2 25
9 comparecardfees.co.uk Review site 5.0% 2 of 4 3 Not read
10 linkedin.com Social 3.3% 1 of 4 3 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
best payment gateways for small businesses English Square and Stripe, tied
online payment gateway for ecommerce English PayPal, Shopify Payments and Stripe, tied
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 PayPal, Square, Stripe and Worldpay, 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