Category · AI Citation Index
Who AI is citing in Design
Figma and Miro lead AI-cited design tools, scoring 75 and 73 on head-to-head comparisons; no brand dominates discovery queries.
Brands tracked
18
Avg AEO score
64/100
Citation coverage
0%
of brands cited at least once
Dominant brands
0
cited > 50% of queries
Discovery stage
The shortlist
When buyers ask AI for the best Design software
No discovery-stage prompts have been scored against this category yet — once the shortlist cron runs, this section will surface which brands AI cites most.
Evaluation stage
The battleground
How brands fare on comparison queries · category median 43/100
Figma leads evaluation queries with a 75 average score across 4 comparisons, followed by Miro at 73. The median evaluation score sits at 43, with Aha, Lucidchart, Maze, Sketch, and Whimsical all clustered at 45. Mural trails at 40.
Each brand's evaluation score averages how AI responds to head-to-head comparison queries that mention them. Above-median brands win their comparisons more often than they lose.
Trends
Over the last 12 months
Too few audits to establish a trend — only March 2026 (avg score 60, n=15) and April 2026 (avg score 64, n=19) are captured. Dovetail posted the largest single-brand gain at +16 points; Maze fell 5 points.
Editorial picks
Brands worth watching
Figma
Figma scores 78 in overall citation strength and 75 in head-to-head evaluations, the highest of any design tool. AI consistently recommends it across UI/UX and prototyping contexts.
Read brand profile →Miro
Miro ranks second with a 74 citation score and 73 evaluation average. Its collaborative whiteboard positioning places it in both design and workshop queries.
Read brand profile →Dovetail
Dovetail jumped 16 points month-over-month, the largest gain in the category, and holds a 62 citation score. User research tools are seeing increased AI visibility.
Read brand profile →Sketch
Sketch scores 72 overall but only 45 in direct comparisons — a 27-point gap. It still surfaces in discovery queries despite losing ground to web-based competitors.
Read brand profile →Drill down
Subcategories
FAQ
Design questions, answered
What design tools does AI cite most often in head-to-head comparisons?+
Which design brands are rising or falling in AI citations?+
Do any design tools dominate discovery queries in AI answers?+
How does Figma perform compared to Sketch in AI citations?+
What is the median evaluation score for design tools?+
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