Who AI recommends for VPN service.

Updated 9 October 2026Google AI Overview on 10 October 2026 added

We ask AI assistants which VPN service they’d recommend, with live web search on. Here’s who they name.

Ask AI yourself:

Who gets recommended.

Products named for VPN service, by share of 80 answers
#	Product	Share of answers	DR	vs last month	Avg. position
1	Proton VPNDR 82proton.me	86% 69/80 answers —	DR 82	—	#2.6
2	SurfsharkDR 80surfshark.com	78% 62/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#2.7
3	NordVPNDR 86nordvpn.com	75% 60/80 answers —	DR 86	—	#2.4
4	ExpressVPNDR 83expressvpn.com	60% 48/80 answers —	DR 83	—	#3.6
5	MullvadDR 76mullvad.net	31% 25/80 answers —	DR 76	—	#4.4
6	Private Internet AccessDR 79privateinternetaccess.com	30% 24/80 answers —	DR 79	—	#4.8
7	Private Internet Access (PIA)DR 79privateinternetaccess.com	25% 20/80 answers —	DR 79	—	#4.5
8	Mullvad VPNDR 76mullvad.net	24% 19/80 answers —	DR 76	—	#3.2
9	CyberGhostDR 79cyberghostvpn.com	20% 16/80 answers —	DR 79	—	#5.4
10	NordLayerDR 75nordlayer.com	18% 14/80 answers —	DR 75	—	#1.1
11	IVPNDR 61ivpn.net	14% 11/80 answers —	DR 61	—	#3.5
12	TwingateDR 66twingate.com	9% 7/80 answers —	DR 66	—	#4.3
13	Perimeter 81DR 70perimeter81.com	6% 5/80 answers —	DR 70	—	#2.6
14	Proton VPN BusinessDR 82proton.me	6% 5/80 answers —	DR 82	—	#2.8
15	TailscaleDR 74tailscale.com	6% 5/80 answers —	DR 74	—	#3.6
16	CyberGhost VPNDR 79cyberghostvpn.com	6% 5/80 answers —	DR 79	—	#5
17	OpenVPN Access ServerDR 80openvpn.net	5% 4/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#4.8
18	OpenVPN CloudConnexaDR 31openvpn.com	4% 3/80 answers —	DR 31	—	#4.7
19	GoodAccessDR 42goodaccess.com	4% 3/80 answers —	DR 42	—	#5
20	PrivadoVPNDR 69privadovpn.com	4% 3/80 answers —	DR 69	—	#5.7
21	Private Internet Access for BusinessDR 79privateinternetaccess.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 79	—	#2.5
22	Perimeter81DR 70perimeter81.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 70	—	#3
23	OVPNDR 55ovpn.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 55	—	#4
23	WindscribeDR 76windscribe.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 76	—	#4
23	Proton VPN for BusinessDR 78protonvpn.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 78	—	#4
26	AzireVPNDR 58azirevpn.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 58	—	#5
26	BitDefender VPNDR 83bitdefender.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 83	—	#5
26	IPVanishDR 78ipvanish.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 78	—	#5
26	OpenVPN Access Server / OpenVPN CloudDR 80openvpn.net	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#5
26	PrivateVPNDR 71privatevpn.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 71	—	#5
31	Surfshark VPNDR 80surfshark.com	3% 2/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#6
32	NordLayer (NordVPN Business)DR 75nordlayer.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 75	—	#2
32	NordLayer (NordVPN Teams)DR 75nordlayer.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 75	—	#2
32	Surfshark BusinessDR 80surfshark.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#2
32	Proton Business VPNDR 78protonvpn.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 78	—	#2
36	Private Internet Access (PIA) BusinessDR 79privateinternetaccess.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 79	—	#3
36	CloudConnexaDR 80openvpn.net	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#3
36	Surfshark OneDR 80surfshark.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#3
39	Cisco AnyConnect (Secure Mobility Client)DR 90cisco.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 90	—	#4
39	Surfshark Business VPNDR 80surfshark.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#4
39	Surfshark for BusinessDR 80surfshark.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#4
39	NeweggDR 83newegg.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 83	—	#4
43	Fortinet FortiGate / FortiClient VPNDR 83fortinet.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 83	—	#5
43	Cisco Secure Access / AnyConnectDR 90cisco.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 90	—	#5
43	Cloudflare One / Cloudflare Zero TrustDR 91cloudflare.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 91	—	#5
43	OpenVPN CloudDR 80openvpn.net	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 80	—	#5
43	Aircove	1% 1/80 answers —	—	—	#5
43	IvacyDR 69ivacy.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 69	—	#5
43	Atlas VPNDR 70atlasvpn.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 70	—	#5
43	ProtonDR 82proton.me	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 82	—	#5
51	ExpressVPN for TeamsDR 83expressvpn.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 83	—	#6
51	ExpressVPN for BusinessDR 83expressvpn.com	1% 1/80 answers —	DR 83	—	#6

Prompt by prompt.

Each prompt, the engines whose answers named its most mentioned product, and how many of the planned answers came back. Open a prompt for its own ranking, sources, searches and every answer.

Every prompt, the product its answers named most, and how many answers came back
#	Prompt	Named the leader	Most mentioned	Answers
1	NordVPN 16/16	ChatGPT named itClaude named itPerplexity named itGemini named itGrok named itAI Overview named it	NordVPN16/16	16/16
2	Proton VPN 16/16	ChatGPT named itClaude named itPerplexity named itGemini named itGrok named itAI Overview named it	Proton VPN16/16	16/16
3	NordVPN 16/16	ChatGPT named itClaude named itPerplexity named itGemini named itGrok named itAI Overview named it	NordVPN16/16	16/16
4	NordLayer 14/16	ChatGPT named itClaude named itPerplexity named itGemini named itGrok named itAI Overview named it	NordLayer14/16	16/16
5	Surfshark 16/16	ChatGPT named itClaude named itPerplexity named itGemini named itGrok named itAI Overview named it	Surfshark16/16	16/16

Recommendations by engine.

Each cell is the share of that engine’s answers naming the product. Engines differ, and this is where it shows.

Share of each engine’s answers naming each product; open a cell for its answers
Product	ChatGPTChatGPT	ClaudeClaude	PerplexityPerplexity	GeminiGemini	GrokGrok	AI OverviewAI Overview
Proton VPN
Surfshark
NordVPN
ExpressVPN
Mullvad
Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access (PIA)
Mullvad VPN
CyberGhost
NordLayer
IVPN
Twingate
Perimeter 81
Proton VPN Business
Tailscale

Where the answers looked.

Sites the answers cited, by the share of answers citing each one.

1security.org
59%47/80
2gizmodo.com
41%33/80
3techradar.com
39%31/80
4tomsguide.com
31%25/80
5rtings.com
30%24/80
6pcworld.com
21%17/80
7allaboutcookies.org
20%16/80
8cnet.com
20%16/80
9cyberinsider.com
20%16/80
10pcmag.com
18%14/80
11reddit.com
16%13/80
12youtube.com
15%12/80

In their own words.

Lines from the answers that name the product, word for word, with the engine and the day it answered.

What the engines say about

“What is the best VPN service?”
1. Proton VPN — https://proton.me/vpn
ChatGPT9 Oct 2026
“What is the best VPN service?”
4. Proton VPN - www.protonvpn.com
Claude9 Oct 2026
“What is the best VPN service?”
1. Proton VPN — [protonvpn.com](https://protonvpn.com)
Perplexity9 Oct 2026
“What is the best VPN service?”
2. Proton VPN — [protonvpn.com](https://protonvpn.com)
Gemini9 Oct 2026
“What is the best VPN service?”
2. Proton VPN
Grok9 Oct 2026
“What is the best VPN service?”
- Best for Privacy & Open Source: Proton VPN is based in Switzerland with a strong reputation for transparency , audited no-logs policies, a free limited tier, and paid plans starting around $3.59 per month.[[1]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wt0lRdu6r8)[[2]](https://myvegantravels.com/tr…
AI Overview10 Oct 2026

How this was measured.

Measured on 9 October 2026.
5 buyer questions, on ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok and AI Overview.
Asked more than once.
Each question went to each engine several times (Google AI Overview once), so the tables show rates, not one list.
Gaps stay gaps.
An answer that failed is left out of every count, never read as one that named nobody.
Every answer is here.
Quoted word for word, and in the CSV and JSON.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Google and xAI. How it works · More AI rankings

Show your count on your site.

If your product was named in at least 40 of the 80 answers, you can say so on your site. The badge shows your own count and the month it was measured, and links to your row here.

It is drawn from the latest ranking. When the ranking is checked again, the badge shows the new count; if your product is no longer on the list or falls below the bar, the badge stops showing a claim.

Your product

Proton VPN: named in 69 of 80 AI answers for VPN service — recomention, October 2026

<a href="http://localhost:3000/ai-rankings/vpn-service#named-proton-vpn" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="http://localhost:3000/ai-rankings/vpn-service/badge.svg?product=named-proton-vpn&amp;v=3" alt="Proton VPN: named in 69 of 80 AI answers for VPN service — recomention, October 2026" title="Proton VPN: named in 69 of 80 answers from ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok and AI Overview for VPN service — recomention, October 2026" width="220" height="74" /></a>

Both themes make the same claim. The badge links to your product’s row in this ranking, where the answers are.

Other categories.

Not on this list? Check your brand.

A Quick report asks 15 questions a buyer would ask in your category, with your name left out of every one, 2 times each on ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. It shows how often you are named, who is named instead, and where the engines look. One payment, no subscription.

Quick report $19