Nine UK Software Firms Invisible to Top AI Platforms

A recent study by Recrawled, an answer engine optimisation agency, found that nine out of forty UK B2B software companies were never recommended on any of four AI platforms, even when their names were typed in. The research, titled 'The AI Shortlist 2026', used a one-day snapshot of 1,608 questions asked to ChatGPT, Gemini, and two Google search tools about the 40 companies.

The study began with 200 UK-headquartered B2B software companies, each with between 20 and 150 staff, across seven sectors. The researchers then selected 40 companies for in-depth analysis, asking six shortlist questions and three name-based questions to each of the four platforms.

The results showed that while every company was correctly identified by at least one platform when their names were typed in, only 29 were named on at least one shortlist question that specified the UK. Four of the six shortlist questions tested the same companies in different buying situations, and the wording of these questions affected the results.

For example, a company's chances of being recommended increased by 20-30% when the question specified the UK, compared to asking about mid-sized buyers without mentioning the country. However, even with this variation, nine companies were never named on any shortlist answer across all four platforms.