Who AI names when you ask for an agency in the US
Twelve buying questions about AEO, AI-ready web design and Shopify, asked on 27 September 2026. 76 companies were named. 6 of the 52 sources ChatGPT cited were "best agencies" lists written by an agency that puts itself on the list. Reidify publishes this index and was named in none of the 12 answers.
By Rish Sadh, founderUpdated
The finding, before the table
ChatGPT barely repeats itself. Of 76 companies named across 12 answers, only 10 came up in more than one. And ChatGPT reads the market's own marketing: 69% of its sources were agencies' own pages, and 6 of 7 "best agencies" lists it cited were published by an agency that puts itself on the list.
What was asked, and how
Twelve questions, each with a slot for a vendor, so none of them is a definition question. Only the market and the city change between the three markets, so the US can be compared with the UK and Australia.
- Which agencies in the US do answer engine optimization?
- I run a small business in New York and want ChatGPT to recommend us. Who should I hire?
- How much does an AEO agency cost in the US, and which ones are worth talking to?
- Which companies in the US help brands get cited in Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT, apart from the big SEO agencies?
- Recommend a web design studio in the US that builds websites AI search engines can read.
- Which web design agencies in New York design for AI search as well as for people?
- For a new company website in the US, should I hire a traditional web agency or an AI-first design studio? Name a few of each.
- I'm a founder in Austin rebuilding our website. Which studios make sites that show up in ChatGPT answers?
- Who are the best Shopify design agencies in the US?
- Recommend a Shopify agency in the US that can make my store show up in AI shopping answers.
- I sell skincare on Shopify in the US. Which agencies should I talk to about a store redesign?
- Should I hire a Shopify agency or use a theme and a freelancer? If an agency, which would you shortlist in the US?
Every prompt opened a fresh conversation in a fresh browser with no cookies: ChatGPT logged out, Google signed out. No company name was typed at any point. No follow-ups. Asked from India with the market named in the question. The word Reidify was never typed. ChatGPT localises by IP, so this is what the engines say when asked about the US from India, not a guarantee of what a buyer in New York sees.
ChatGPT answered all 12 questions. Google showed this run's IP its "unusual traffic" page before the US questions were reached, and the run stopped Google rather than try to get past it. So US is measured on ChatGPT alone. Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot all need a sign-in and were not run.
| Company | Named by (answers) | Answers naming it |
|---|---|---|
| 1Digital | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 12 |
| 5Boro Digital | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| 5WPR | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Absolute Web | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| AEO Agency | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| AEO.co | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Aeolidia | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Amsive | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Avex Designs | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| BackTier | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Barrel | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Barsky Design | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Baunfire | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| BlueSwitch | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Breaking B2B | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| C2 Digital | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 12 |
| Caffeine & Commerce | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Clay | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| DD.NYC | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Digital Retail Partners | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Directive | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Domaine | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Driver Digital | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Electric Eye | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 12 |
| Elevated Strategy AI | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| FactoryJet | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Firebrand | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| First Page Sage | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 12 |
| Fortify Commerce | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Foundation Marketing | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Fuel Made | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 12 |
| Geostar | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Go Fish Digital | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| GoForgeAI | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Growthr | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Haloxion | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| HS Creative | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| IL Webdesign | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Inbound CMS | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| iPullRank | ChatGPT (3) | 3 of 12 |
| Isadora Agency | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| IWD Agency | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Lounge Lizard | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Macaw Digital | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Manhattan Strategies | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| MarketSmiths | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Mindmove | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Mindsaw | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Mission Control | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| NoGood | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 12 |
| Omniscient Digital | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 12 |
| Optimize Plus | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Perfexion | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Reidify | None | 0 of 12 |
| RELICED Digital | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Rodeo Creative | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| SEOBRO | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Siege Media | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 12 |
| Single Grain | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Sleepless Media | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Smart GEO Agency | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| SmartSites | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Soar | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| SPLIT Development | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Studio Unbothered | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Terakeet | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| The Starr Conspiracy | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Theory Road | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Transfuture | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Unified Pixel | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| VOID Agency | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| WebDesignSEOAI.com | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| WebFX | ChatGPT (3) | 3 of 12 |
| Workhorse | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| WRKNG Digital | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| XgenTech | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
| Yellowfirst | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 12 |
What the engines read to decide
ChatGPT cited 52 sources across its 12 answers for the US, from 47 different websites. By type:
- An agency's own page: 36 (69%)
- A "best agencies" list whose publisher is on it: 6 (12%)
- A "best agencies" list whose publisher is not on it: 1 (2%)
- Directory: 6 (12%)
- Editorial or platform publication: 2 (4%)
- Other: 1 (2%)
The lists whose publisher is on its own list came from andersoncollaborative.com, breakingb2b.com, elsner.com, unifiedplatforms.com, wrkngdigital.com. Each was opened and read, and 4 of 5 put the publisher at number one.
Most of what the engines read is small. Of the 47 websites cited for the US on any surface, 31 are outside the Tranco top million, the research ranking of the most-visited million sites.
Where the named companies are based
Each company's headquarters was checked against an address on its own website. 16 of 76 could be verified that way; the rest are recorded as unverified rather than guessed. 1 of the 16 verified companies is based outside the US: FactoryJet (IN).
Reidify scored zero, and that is the point
Reidify publishes this index. Across 12 answers for the US it was named zero times, and it sits in the table in its alphabetical place with the same columns as everyone else.
A list written by a participant is only worth reading if the participant reports its own result honestly. The alternative is a source this run found ChatGPT citing 6 times for the US: the "best agencies" list whose author puts itself on it.
What this does not measure
It does not measure quality, and appearing here is not an endorsement. It is one run on one day. Engines regenerate their wording on every ask, so the screenshots are the evidence and a re-run will not reproduce a sentence word for word. A company absent today may appear next quarter.
It cannot see the whole market. Only companies an engine chose to name are here, which is the point of the measurement rather than a gap in it.
Corrections, the data and how to cite it
If your company is listed and something here is wrong, write to reidify.design@gmail.com. The rule for inclusion is that an engine named you unprompted under this method. Inclusion is not paid for and cannot be. Every company named here will be told after publication, one at a time, and invited to correct its entry.
Every answer is in the scoring sheet (CSV), one row per answer, with the companies, the cited domains and their source type.
Reidify. "AEO Visibility Index, United States, run intl-01." 27 September 2026. reidify.design/research/aeo-visibility-index-us
Common questions
Which agencies do AI engines recommend for AEO, AI-ready web design and Shopify in the US?
Asked 12 buying questions on 27 September 2026, the engines named 76 companies. 10 were named in more than one answer, and the rest appeared once. The full alphabetical list, with which engine named each one, is on this page and in the CSV.
What sources do the engines cite when they recommend an agency?
ChatGPT cited 52 sources across 12 answers. 36 were agencies' own pages and 7 were "best agencies" lists, of which 6 were published by an agency that puts itself on its own list.
Is being on this list an endorsement?
No. It records that an AI engine named a company on a particular day. It is not a review, a verification of quality or a recommendation, and nobody paid to appear.
Why does Reidify appear with a score of zero?
Because that is what it scored. Reidify publishes this index and was named in none of the 12 answers for the US. A list published by a participant is only worth reading if the participant reports its own result, including when the result is bad.
Was Google measured?
No. Google showed its "unusual traffic" page to the run's IP before the US prompts were reached, and the run stopped Google rather than try to get past it. US results here are ChatGPT only.
Run the same questions about your own business. The answer is more useful than anyone's claim about it.