Subcategory · AI Citation Index
Who AI is citing in Payment Processing
No brand owns AI discovery in payment processing; Stripe Terminal leads evaluations at 57, but shortlist coverage is zero across 18 audited prompts.
Brands tracked
53
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 Payment Processing 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 38/100
Stripe Terminal leads comparison queries with an average evaluation score of 57 across 3 queries. Wave follows at 52, then Fastspring at 41. The median evaluation score sits at 38, indicating most brands struggle to differentiate in head-to-head matchups. Paddle scores 0 despite appearing in 4 comparison queries.
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 two months of data exist: March 2026 (7 samples, avg 61) and April 2026 (16 samples, avg 65). Wave rose 12 points month-over-month; Paddle fell 16.
Editorial picks
Brands worth watching
Stripe Terminal
Stripe Terminal posts the highest evaluation score in the category at 57, appearing in 3 comparison queries. It also scores 78 in featured-candidate rankings, the only brand to break into the mid-70s.
Read brand profile →Wave
Wave jumped 12 points month-over-month, the largest gain in the category. It holds a 52 average evaluation score and a 58 featured-candidate score, positioning it as a rising contender in AI citations.
Read brand profile →Paddle
Paddle fell 16 points between March and April 2026, the steepest decline tracked. Despite appearing in 4 comparison queries, it scored 0 on evaluation metrics, signaling weak AI endorsement in head-to-head scenarios.
Read brand profile →Tipalti
Tipalti appears in 6 comparison queries, the most of any brand in the evaluation set. Its 38 average evaluation score matches the category median, and it holds a 68 featured-candidate score.
Read brand profile →FAQ
Payment Processing questions, answered
Which payment processing software do AI models cite most often in comparisons?+
Is there a dominant brand in AI-generated payment processing recommendations?+
What payment processing brands are gaining traction in AI citations?+
Why does Paddle score zero on AI evaluation metrics?+
How fragmented is the payment processing category in AI recommendations?+
Which payment processing tool appears in the most AI comparison queries?+
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