Research, not results
We counted 1,110 AI answers to choosing questions about 50 HR software companies.
Most didn't name the company at all.
FwdLink's own count, September 2026. All 50 companies were HR software vendors. We have not yet run the same study in other industries.
- 13.6%
- Choosing-question answers that named the company
- 7.7%
- Choosing-question answers that linked its own site
Outlined dot = the answer named the company · Gray dot = it did not. 100 dots, rounded. Links to the company’s own site are counted separately, and some linked answers did not name the company.
Named means the answer used the company name or an agreed alias. Linked means the answer cited that company’s own domain. Answers to company-fact and comparison questions are not in these rates. This is exploratory research.
What we did
We picked 50 HR software companies and asked AI services, through their APIs, the kind of questions a buyer asks when choosing one: open questions about what to use (discovery), and requests for alternatives to a named product (alternatives). We counted how often each company was named in those answers, and how often an answer linked that company's own site.
The rates use 1,110 answers to these choosing questions, from September 2026. Our archive also holds answers to two other question groups: questions about a company's own facts, and head-to-head comparisons. Those questions name the company being counted, so they are left out of these rates.
What it is not
It is exploratory research.
It is not a measure of market share, of quality, or of how many buyers exist. It counts answers to a fixed set of questions, nothing more.
It is one industry. We have not run the same study anywhere else, so we do not claim the numbers hold outside HR software.
It used its own protocol from that time, which differs from the current AI visibility check. It is not a customer result.
The numbers
- 50 HR software companies
- 1,110 answers to choosing questions (the analysis set)
- 13.6% of those answers named the company
- 7.7% linked the company's own site
Next step
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