When people ask an AI assistant a money question, which banks get named and which sources get cited. Here is what we found this quarter.
More people now skip the search results and ask an assistant straight out. What is the best cash back card. Where should I keep my savings to earn the most. Who should I talk to about a mortgage. The assistant answers by naming specific banks and pointing to specific sources. That is the Answers Economy, the place where the recommendation now happens, and this report measures how retail banking shows up inside it.
Read these numbers as a directional read rather than a final scoreboard. We asked each question once per assistant, and assistants phrase things a little differently each time. The value sits in the direction and the gaps: which banks keep appearing, who gets cited as the source, and where banks are missing. One point of difference between two brands matters less than the pattern across the whole set.
Get the full report as a PDF →Across 250 answers to the fifty most common consumer banking questions, the assistants cited a source 563 times. Fourteen of those, 2.5 percent, pointed to a bank’s own website. NerdWallet appeared in 41 percent of cited answers and Bankrate in 40 percent. When an assistant explains what a bank offers, it usually leans on a review site to do the explaining.
Being named and being the top pick are two different things. Capital One is named in more than half of all answers, the widest reach in the study. Chase turns that reach into the most first picks. Citi appears in nearly half of card answers and is the first name in four of a hundred. Reach is common. Preference is rarer.
Two of these describe how a bank shows up in the answer. Two describe where the answer gets its facts.
The full method and every question we asked live on the methodology page.
Read by reach. The tag counts how many times the bank was the first name across all 250 answers. Capital One holds the widest reach. Chase leads on first names, and Rocket Mortgage shows how a category specialist can earn top billing well above its overall reach.
Chase is named in 103 answers and first in 28, a 27 percent conversion. Rocket Mortgage converts at 54 percent, the highest in the study. Citi and Bank of America carry wide reach and rarely land the first name. Wide reach and top billing are earned separately.
Share of the 179 answers that showed a source. NerdWallet and Bankrate lead the field, ahead of national news. When an assistant backs up a claim about a bank, it usually points to a review site.
Every square is one of the 563 sources the assistants cited across the quarter. The accent squares are the fourteen that pointed to a bank’s own website. The rest pointed to review sites and news outlets writing about banks.
Each assistant answered the same fifty questions. Perplexity and Copilot show their work in nearly every answer. Gemini showed a source in three. Where an assistant shows its sources, the review sites get the credit. Where it answers without them, the bank named in the text carries the visibility on its own.
Cards is the deepest category. Capital One and Chase anchor almost every list, with American Express carrying the premium and travel questions.
Digital-first names lead the savings conversation. Capital One, SoFi, and Ally sit at the top, and the list runs long, down to single-branch credit unions.
One lender and one large credit union anchor the mortgage answer. Rocket Mortgage leads on reach and first names, with Navy Federal and PenFed owning the rate-shopping picks. PNC is the highest-placed regional bank at 28 percent.
The most settled category. Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard hold most of the conversation, and Fidelity takes more than half of the first names on its own.
The exhibits above show the leaders. Below is the complete picture: every bank named in each category, and every website the assistants cited. Open a section to see the full list. The underlying answers are published as an open file at the bottom of this page.
| # | Brand | Answer Share | Times named | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Capital One | 80% | 80 | 15 |
| 2 | Chase | 69% | 69 | 24 |
| 3 | American Express | 47% | 47 | 17 |
| 4 | Citi | 46% | 46 | 4 |
| 5 | Discover | 38% | 38 | 16 |
| 6 | Wells Fargo | 35% | 35 | 16 |
| 7 | Bank of America | 22% | 22 | 2 |
| 8 | Chime | 8% | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Petal | 8% | 8 | 2 |
| 10 | OpenSky | 7% | 7 | 2 |
| 11 | U.S. Bank | 5% | 5 | 0 |
| 12 | United | 4% | 4 | 0 |
| 13 | Delta | 4% | 4 | 0 |
| 14 | Southwest | 3% | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | Hilton | 3% | 3 | 0 |
| 16 | Marriott | 3% | 3 | 1 |
| 17 | Hyatt | 3% | 3 | 1 |
| 18 | Fidelity | 3% | 3 | 0 |
| 19 | AAA | 2% | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | Sam's Club | 2% | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | IHG | 2% | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | PenFed | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | Bilt | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | Synchrony | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | Barclays | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Navy Federal Credit Union | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | PayPal | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | Costco | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | Self | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| # | Brand | Answer Share | Times named | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Capital One | 64% | 48 | 11 |
| 2 | SoFi | 43% | 32 | 10 |
| 3 | Ally | 35% | 26 | 9 |
| 4 | Axos | 27% | 20 | 4 |
| 5 | Chase | 23% | 17 | 2 |
| 6 | Varo | 23% | 17 | 3 |
| 7 | CIT Bank | 19% | 14 | 0 |
| 8 | Chime | 19% | 14 | 7 |
| 9 | American Express | 17% | 13 | 0 |
| 10 | Discover | 17% | 13 | 0 |
| 11 | Wells Fargo | 17% | 13 | 1 |
| 12 | GO2bank | 17% | 13 | 5 |
| 13 | Forbright Bank | 16% | 12 | 3 |
| 14 | Pibank | 12% | 9 | 4 |
| 15 | Charles Schwab | 9% | 7 | 0 |
| 16 | Alliant Credit Union | 9% | 7 | 1 |
| 17 | Wealthfront | 9% | 7 | 0 |
| 18 | Vio Bank | 8% | 6 | 0 |
| 19 | NBKC | 8% | 6 | 0 |
| 20 | Climate First Bank | 7% | 5 | 0 |
| 21 | Marcus | 7% | 5 | 0 |
| 22 | PNC | 7% | 5 | 0 |
| 23 | Newtek Bank | 7% | 5 | 1 |
| 24 | Synchrony | 5% | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | Bask Bank | 4% | 3 | 0 |
| 26 | Bank of America | 4% | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | BCU | 4% | 3 | 2 |
| 28 | Western Alliance Bank | 4% | 3 | 0 |
| 29 | Openbank | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 30 | First Central Savings | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | BECU | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 32 | Connexus | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 33 | Lake Michigan Credit Union | 3% | 2 | 1 |
| 34 | Current | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | Peak Bank | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 36 | LendingClub | 3% | 2 | 1 |
| 37 | EverBank | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 38 | GalaxyOne | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 39 | Spectra Credit Union | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | Goldman Sachs | 3% | 2 | 1 |
| 41 | Huntington Bank | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 42 | Bread | 3% | 2 | 0 |
| 43 | Oregon Community Credit Union | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 44 | U.S. Bank | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 45 | Vanguard | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 46 | Fidelity | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 47 | mph.bank | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 48 | KeyBank | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 49 | Genisys Credit Union | 1% | 1 | 1 |
| 50 | All America Bank | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 51 | Raisin | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 52 | Limelight Bank | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 53 | E*TRADE | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 54 | UFB Direct | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 55 | FourLeaf Federal Credit Union | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 56 | Santander | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 57 | Apple Bank | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 58 | Primis | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 59 | Navy Federal Credit Union | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 60 | Greenlight | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 61 | My Banking Direct | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 62 | Quontic Bank | 1% | 1 | 1 |
| 63 | Happen Bank | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 64 | Dave | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 65 | Nordstrom Federal Credit Union | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 66 | Nassau Financial FCU | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 67 | Prospera Credit Union | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| 68 | OnPath Federal Credit Union | 1% | 1 | 0 |
| # | Brand | Answer Share | Times named | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rocket Mortgage | 56% | 28 | 15 |
| 2 | Navy Federal Credit Union | 48% | 24 | 6 |
| 3 | Bank of America | 36% | 18 | 1 |
| 4 | Chase | 34% | 17 | 2 |
| 5 | PenFed | 34% | 17 | 4 |
| 6 | PNC | 28% | 14 | 0 |
| 7 | Better Mortgage | 24% | 12 | 2 |
| 8 | Pennymac | 22% | 11 | 2 |
| 9 | Veterans United | 20% | 10 | 0 |
| 10 | Guild Mortgage | 16% | 8 | 0 |
| 11 | loanDepot | 16% | 8 | 0 |
| 12 | Truist | 14% | 7 | 5 |
| 13 | Alliant Credit Union | 12% | 6 | 1 |
| 14 | New American Funding | 12% | 6 | 1 |
| 15 | Figure | 10% | 5 | 0 |
| 16 | Capital One | 10% | 5 | 0 |
| 17 | Carrington | 8% | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | Wells Fargo | 8% | 4 | 1 |
| 19 | U.S. Bank | 8% | 4 | 0 |
| 20 | Flagstar | 8% | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | SoFi | 6% | 3 | 0 |
| 22 | TD Bank | 6% | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | myAutoLoan | 6% | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | Consumers Credit Union | 6% | 3 | 0 |
| 25 | LendingTree | 6% | 3 | 0 |
| 26 | FourLeaf Federal Credit Union | 6% | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | Gravity Lending | 6% | 3 | 0 |
| 28 | Autopay | 6% | 3 | 0 |
| 29 | Caribou | 6% | 3 | 1 |
| 30 | Guaranteed Rate | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | LightStream | 4% | 2 | 1 |
| 32 | Southeast Financial | 4% | 2 | 1 |
| 33 | AmeriSave | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 34 | Fifth Third Bank | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | Tomo Mortgage | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 36 | Achieve | 4% | 2 | 1 |
| 37 | Third Federal | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 38 | Aven | 4% | 2 | 1 |
| 39 | Service Credit Union | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | Ally | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 41 | iLending | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 42 | NBKC | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 43 | Zillow | 4% | 2 | 0 |
| 44 | USAA | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 45 | PrimeWay FCU | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 46 | DCU | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 47 | First Federal Bank | 2% | 1 | 1 |
| 48 | Fairway | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 49 | Rate | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 50 | Sage Home Loans | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 51 | Connexus | 2% | 1 | 1 |
| 52 | Community First | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 53 | BCU | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 54 | Affinity Plus | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 55 | MCU | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 56 | Citi | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 57 | America First Credit Union | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 58 | Aimloan | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 59 | Movement Mortgage | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 60 | Ford Credit | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 61 | Toyota Financial | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 62 | Star One Credit Union | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 63 | Logix Federal Credit Union | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 64 | Apple Federal Credit Union | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 65 | OpenRoad Lending | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 66 | Summit Credit Union | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 67 | M&T Bank | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 68 | SUMA Federal Credit Union | 2% | 1 | 1 |
| 69 | OneMain Financial | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 70 | Triboro Postal Federal Credit Union | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 71 | First Tech Federal Credit Union | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 72 | Cooperative Credit Union | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 73 | LONGSHOREMENS LOCAL 4 | 2% | 1 | 1 |
| 74 | Ohio County Public Schools FCU | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| 75 | YTR Community FCU | 2% | 1 | 0 |
| # | Brand | Answer Share | Times named | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fidelity | 72% | 18 | 14 |
| 2 | Charles Schwab | 64% | 16 | 1 |
| 3 | Vanguard | 60% | 15 | 0 |
| 4 | Betterment | 40% | 10 | 2 |
| 5 | Wealthfront | 32% | 8 | 3 |
| 6 | Robinhood | 24% | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | SoFi | 20% | 5 | 0 |
| 8 | Bright Start | 20% | 5 | 0 |
| 9 | my529 | 20% | 5 | 4 |
| 10 | Lively | 16% | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | HealthEquity | 16% | 4 | 0 |
| 12 | New York 529 | 12% | 3 | 1 |
| 13 | E*TRADE | 12% | 3 | 0 |
| 14 | Pennsylvania 529 | 12% | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | HSA Bank | 12% | 3 | 0 |
| 16 | T. Rowe Price | 8% | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | M1 Finance | 4% | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | Massachusetts 529 | 4% | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | Alaska 529 | 4% | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | U.Fund | 4% | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | Fidelity Go | 4% | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Optum | 4% | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | BlackRock | 4% | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | Webull | 4% | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | NBKC | 4% | 1 | 0 |
| # | Website | Citation Share | Answers citing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | nerdwallet.com | 40.8% | 73 |
| 2 | bankrate.com | 39.7% | 71 |
| 3 | forbes.com | 29.6% | 53 |
| 4 | cnbc.com | 18.4% | 33 |
| 5 | usnews.com | 11.2% | 20 |
| 6 | wsj.com | 10.6% | 19 |
| 7 | wallethub.com | 10.1% | 18 |
| 8 | fool.com | 8.4% | 15 |
| 9 | yahoo.com | 8.4% | 15 |
| 10 | money.com | 6.7% | 12 |
| 11 | cnn.com | 5.6% | 10 |
| 12 | creditkarma.com | 5.6% | 10 |
| 13 | thepointsguy.com | 5.0% | 9 |
| 14 | yahoofinance.com | 4.5% | 8 |
| 15 | smartasset.com | 3.9% | 7 |
| 16 | lendingtree.com | 3.9% | 7 |
| 17 | clearvaluelending.com | 3.9% | 7 |
| 18 | youtube.com | 3.9% | 7 |
| 19 | finder.com | 3.4% | 6 |
| 20 | kiplinger.com | 2.8% | 5 |
| 21 | reddit.com | 2.8% | 5 |
| 22 | firstcard.com | 2.2% | 4 |
| 23 | chime.com | 2.2% | 4 |
| 24 | lendedu.com | 2.2% | 4 |
| 25 | navyfederal.org | 2.2% | 4 |
| 26 | consumeraffairs.com | 2.2% | 4 |
| 27 | investopedia.com | 2.2% | 4 |
| 28 | switchwize.com | 2.2% | 4 |
| 29 | financebuzz.com | 1.7% | 3 |
| 30 | monitorbankrates.com | 1.7% | 3 |
| 31 | thecollegeinvestor.com | 1.7% | 3 |
| 32 | mortgage-info.com | 1.7% | 3 |
| 33 | thepennyhoarder.com | 1.7% | 3 |
| 34 | morningstar.com | 1.7% | 3 |
| 35 | shopback.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 36 | wealthvieu.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 37 | depositaccounts.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 38 | savingforcollege.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 39 | credible.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 40 | moneygeek.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 41 | themortgagereports.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 42 | triplapp.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 43 | experian.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 44 | cnet.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 45 | gobankingrates.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 46 | businessinsider.com | 1.1% | 2 |
| 47 | parentsimple.org | 1.1% | 2 |
| 48 | joinkudos.com | 0.6% | 1 |
| 49 | smartertravel.com | 0.6% | 1 |
| 50 | onemileatatime.com | 0.6% | 1 |
Five questions worth taking into your next leadership discussion.
We started with the fifty money questions people ask most, across cards, deposits, lending, and investing. We put each one to five assistants, ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity, in a clean session from a US location. For every answer we recorded three things: the banks it named, the order it named them in, and the sources it cited. This quarter we ran each question once per assistant, so read the results as a directional snapshot.
The full method and every question we asked live on the methodology page. Every figure traces to the answers we collected, which you can take with you.
