GetIntel released The AI Software Index 2026 on Aug. 12, 2026, in Bengaluru, India, analyzing 9,978 usable AI answers across 126 software categories and 1,825 brands. The study found that ChatGPT and Gemini name a different #1 product in one out of every three software categories measured. GetIntel ran roughly 80 buyer-phrased questions in each category, split across the two assistants, using live consumer apps rather than developer APIs. The analysis included 5,023 answers from ChatGPT and 4,955 from Gemini, recording which of 1,825 brands were named, which was recommended first, and which websites were cited. When ChatGPT recommends a product, it cites that product's own website 53% of the time, while Gemini does so only 13% of the time. G2, Capterra and TrustRadius together account for just 5% of all citations. Gemini's most-cited "independent" sources are blog posts written by other software companies. Buyer identity changes recommendations, with a brand moving from winning 34% of answers to 90% depending on whether the buyer says "I'm a freelancer" or "we're an enterprise." The #1 recommendation flips between US- and UK-phrased versions of the same question in about half of the categories measured. The most-cited source across the study was TechRadar, with 1,114 citations, followed by Reddit