AI Authority Index: Payments
What AI engines say about payments: the published findings
What the edition found, in headlines and on its Star Chart, read from the published edition and free to quote. The full edition, with every company's five CRISP factors, opens once a reader enters their details.
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The edition in figures
- 830 AI answers read for the edition
- 166 buyer questions asked
- 398 brands the engines named
- 35 providers named in fewer than 30 of those answers each
Source: AI Authority Index: Payments, edition 1, published 4 November 2026.
Where each company sits
The Star Chart: Payments
From AI Authority Index: Payments, edition 1, published 4 November 2026. Real companies, placed by the published edition. Names and cells only: each company's five CRISP factors are in the full edition.
31 companies on the Leaderboard, by cell:
- AI Famous (4): Airwallex, eWAY, Square, Stripe. Named in 30 percent of answers or more, and recommended for its benefits more often than cautioned against.
- Rising Star (5): Adyen, GoCardless, Shopify, Tyro, Zeller. Named in 15 to 29 percent of answers, and recommended for its benefits more often than cautioned against when it is.
- Cult Favourite (11): Ezidebit, MYOB, OFX, Pin Payments, Pinch Payments, SecurePay, Wise, Worldline, Worldpay, Zai, Zepto. Named in under 15 percent of answers, and recommended for its benefits in the answers that reach it.
- AI Infamous (1): PayPal. Named in 30 percent of answers or more, and cautioned against more often than recommended.
- Bad Press (4): ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac. Named in 15 to 29 percent of answers, and cautioned against more often than recommended.
- Off the Guest List (3): Afterpay, Braintree, Zip. Named in under 15 percent of answers, and cautioned against more often than recommended when it is.
- On the line (3): Adobe Commerce, Global Payments, WooCommerce. Reputation reads 50, where recommendation and caution are equal, so the company is placed by Presence alone, on the line between the two.
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What the edition found
Size does not predict Reputation: GoCardless and Adyen are recommended more strongly than Square
The sample separates GoCardless and Adyen from Square on Reputation: GoCardless 82 (range 76 to 88) and Adyen 78 (range 72 to 85) against Square 62 (range 53 to 71). The engines recommend them more strongly and name them less: Presence 21 and 27 against 54.
Same visibility, opposite verdict: only Reputation splits companies named as often
AI Famous and AI Infamous sit in the same column, named by default: Presence 36 to 78 against 47. What separates them is Reputation, 62 to 100 against 24, either side of the line at 50. Rising Star and Bad Press sit in the same column, named at the edge: Presence 19 to 27 against 16 to 26. What separates them is Reputation, 52 to 82 against 39 to 41, either side of the line at 50. Cult Favourite and Off the Guest List sit in the same column, rarely named: Presence 4 to 11 against 5 to 9. What separates them is Reputation, 51 to 60 against 45 to 48, either side of the line at 50. In AI Infamous, PayPal was cautioned against more often than recommended in the answers that named it. In Bad Press, NAB, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, and ANZ were each cautioned against more often than recommended in the answers that named them. In Off the Guest List, Zip, Afterpay, and Braintree were each cautioned against more often than recommended in the answers that named them.
11 providers the engines recommend but rarely name
11 of the 31 companies on the Leaderboard are Cult Favourites: named in under 15 percent of answers, and recommended for their benefits in the answers that reach them. Listed by composite, they include Wise (42), Pin Payments (41), and OFX (40).
35 of 66 providers the engines named are Under the Radar
Each was named in fewer than 30 of 830 answers: too rarely for a reliable CRISP score, which is itself the finding. A buyer asking an AI engine about payments is rarely told they exist. The most named of them, Monoova, appeared in 29.
Further findings
Most of the Leaderboard needs to be found
Across the Leaderboard, the most room in the composite is Reputation for one; Influence for 10; Presence for 20. The most room is the factor whose weight, times the points it sits short of a full score, is largest: the most composite still to gain.
Who could move by the next edition
On the Leaderboard, these companies' ranges reach a line, so the sample cannot place them firmly on their side of it. Reputation, against the line at 50: Shopify (47 to 57), Ezidebit (48 to 56), and Worldpay (48 to 56). Presence, against the line at 30: Adyen (24 to 30) and Tyro (24 to 30). Under the Radar, the companies nearest the cut of 30 answers are Monoova (29), Gr4vy (27), and Debit Success (25), each named in fewer than 30 of 830 answers, so none carries a CRISP score.
The engines agree on the most-named, and much less on everyone else
Consensus, compared as medians and not as a composite or a sector score: the five companies named by default, with Presence of 30 or more, have a median Consensus of 60. The other 26 companies on the Leaderboard have a median Consensus of 32.5.
Edition 1 read 830 answers from five AI engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity) to 166 buyer questions. The engines named 66 companies. The 31 named most are on the Leaderboard, each scored on all five factors, and the other 35 are Under the Radar, with no CRISP score.
How to cite these findings
Third Hemisphere, AI Authority Index: Payments, edition 1, published 4 November 2026. https://thirdhemisphere.agency/ai-authority-index/payments/findings
Read the full edition: AI Authority Index: Payments. What each cell means is in the glossary, and how it was measured in the CRISP methodology.
Your company
See where your company sits with the free AI Authority Check, or every factor measured with the AI Authority Blueprint.
Frequently asked questions
What does the AI Authority Index find about payments?
Size does not predict Reputation: GoCardless and Adyen are recommended more strongly than Square. Same visibility, opposite verdict: only Reputation splits companies named as often. 11 providers the engines recommend but rarely name. 35 of 66 providers the engines named are Under the Radar. Edition 1 read 830 answers from five AI engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity) to 166 buyer questions. The engines named 66 companies. The 31 named most are on the Leaderboard, each scored on all five factors, and the other 35 are Under the Radar, with no CRISP score.
Which payments companies do AI engines recommend?
The Star Chart on this page places every company on the edition's Leaderboard in its cell, by name. The full edition scores each of them on all five factors and lists every company Under the Radar with how often it was named. It is free, and opens once a reader enters their details on the edition's page.
How was the payments edition measured?
Each edition asks a market's own buyer questions of ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity, reads every answer, and places each company the engines name on the Star Chart. Each company is scored on Consensus, Reputation, Influence, Source, and Presence.
Can a company pay to be included or placed?
No. A market publishes the companies its answers rank highest. No company can pay to be included or to be placed, and Third Hemisphere's clients are measured on the same instrument as everyone else.
Can I quote these findings?
Yes. They are published and free to quote, with the source: Third Hemisphere, AI Authority Index: Payments, edition 1, published 4 November 2026. https://thirdhemisphere.agency/ai-authority-index/payments/findings
How can I see where my company stands?
Run the free AI Authority Check for your company's place on the same chart, or commission the AI Authority Blueprint for every factor measured on your own questions and the plan to move it.
About the author
Jeremy Liddle is the Executive Chair of Third Hemisphere and the author of the AI Authority Index. He designed CRISP, the proprietary technology and methodology behind the Index, and leads its development. About Jeremy Liddle