AI Buyer Index: what ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews tell people hiring a funnel builder
By the Atomic Funnels team · Updated October 17, 2026
Short answerIn 1,902 AI answers to 110 hiring questions (2026-09-23 to 2026-10-17), the five assistants named a specific agency or freelancer in 62% of answers and sent buyers to a freelance marketplace in 19%. They read Reddit in 23% of answers and a directory or review site in 13%. Microsoft Copilot named providers most often; Gemini pointed to marketplaces most.
- ChatGPT: named a provider in 67% of 402 answers, a marketplace in 4%.
- Claude: named a provider in 62% of 402 answers, a marketplace in 33%.
- Gemini: named a provider in 69% of 380 answers, a marketplace in 33%.
- Perplexity: named a provider in 55% of 299 answers, a marketplace in 5%.
- Google AI Overviews: named a provider in 50% of 337 answers, a marketplace in 18%.
- Google AI Mode: named a provider in 44% of 41 answers, a marketplace in 12%.
- Microsoft Copilot: named a provider in 98% of 41 answers, a marketplace in 20%.
What we measured
Every day we ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews the questions people ask when they want to hire someone to build a sales funnel, for example "Who are the best done-for-you sales funnel agencies to hire right now?"; "I need an agency to build my whole sales funnel: offer, copy, webinar script, design and tech. Who should I hire?"; "What's the best funnel building agency for coaches and coaching programs?". This edition covers 1,902 answers to 110 questions between 2026-09-23 and 2026-10-17.
For every answer we record which providers it names, which pages it searched and read, and which pages it cites. A rate of 40% means 40 of every 100 answers did it. The index is updated every week from the most recent 28 days.
How each AI assistant answers hiring questions
Microsoft Copilot named a specific agency or freelancer most often (98% of its answers, 5.3 providers per answer on average). Gemini sent buyers to a freelance marketplace such as Upwork or Fiverr most often (33%). ChatGPT read Reddit threads most often (64%).
| Assistant | Answers | Named an agency or freelancer | Named a marketplace | Read Reddit | Read a directory or review site | Read YouTube | Cited a "best" or "top" list |
|---|
| ChatGPT | 402 | 67% | 4% | 64% | 26% | 2% | 10% |
| Claude | 402 | 62% | 33% | 0% | 19% | 4% | 0% |
| Gemini | 380 | 69% | 33% | 4% | 5% | 8% | 31% |
| Perplexity | 299 | 55% | 5% | 0% | 7% | 2% | 40% |
| Google AI Overviews | 337 | 50% | 18% | 45% | 6% | 54% | 60% |
| Google AI Mode | 41 | 44% | 12% | 5% | 0% | 10% | 63% |
| Microsoft Copilot | 41 | 98% | 20% | 0% | 10% | 0% | 76% |
Where the AI assistants get their answers
Share of all answers that read at least one page from each source. Provider and blog sites are the agencies', freelancers' and bloggers' own websites, counted together.
| Source | Share of answers that read it |
|---|
| Provider and blog sites | 83% |
| Reddit | 23% |
| Upwork | 15% |
| Wikipedia | 14% |
| YouTube | 13% |
| ClickFunnels | 12% |
| LinkedIn | 12% |
| Facebook | 10% |
| Fiverr | 9% |
| Clutch | 8% |
| Quora | 5% |
| HubSpot | 4% |
The most-read named sources were Reddit, Upwork, Wikipedia.
What changed since last week
Change in each rate since last week's edition (the 28 days ending seven days earlier):
| Assistant | Named an agency or freelancer | Named a marketplace | Read Reddit | Read a directory |
|---|
| ChatGPT | -2 pts | -1 pts | -2 pts | -3 pts |
| Claude | no change | -1 pts | no change | -2 pts |
| Gemini | -2 pts | -2 pts | no change | no change |
| Perplexity | -2 pts | -1 pts | no change | -1 pts |
| Google AI Overviews | -10 pts | -4 pts | -2 pts | no change |
| Google AI Mode | -46 pts | -18 pts | -15 pts | no change |
| Microsoft Copilot | -2 pts | -10 pts | no change | no change |
Weekly moves under about 5 points are within the normal run-to-run variation of AI answers.
What this means if you are hiring a funnel builder
- Open the sources behind the answer. AI assistants mostly repeat what they read on marketplaces, directories and Reddit threads, so the recommendation is only as good as those pages.
- Weigh review counts, not just ratings. A perfect rating from a handful of reviews says less than a near-perfect rating from hundreds.
- Ask the same question in more than one assistant. The assistants differ in how often they name a specific provider, so one answer is a starting point, not a shortlist.
- Ask for results from past builds. Conversion rates and split-test results from real projects tell you more than a listing does.
Method and limits
ChatGPT is asked through OpenAI's API with web search, Claude through Anthropic's API with web search, Gemini through Google's API with Google Search grounding, Perplexity through its API, and Google AI Overviews are collected from Google results through SerpAPI. Providers named in each answer are extracted by a second model; sources and citations come from the assistants' own responses.
This is observational data from one market (done-for-you sales funnel development, United States searches, English), collected through the assistants' APIs, which can differ from their consumer apps. Each question is answered a few times per assistant, and answers vary from run to run.
Frequently asked questions
How often do AI assistants recommend a specific funnel agency or freelancer?
In this edition, 62% of 1,902 answers to hiring questions named at least one specific agency or freelancer, from 44% to 98% depending on the assistant.
Do AI assistants send buyers to Upwork or Fiverr?
Often. 19% of answers named a freelance marketplace, and Gemini did it most, in 33% of its answers.
Which websites do AI assistants read before recommending a funnel builder?
Most often Reddit (23%), Upwork (15%), Wikipedia (14%) of answers, plus the providers' own sites. Reddit was read in 23% of all answers.
How is the AI Buyer Index measured?
We ask five AI assistants the same hiring questions every day and record whom they name and what they read and cite. Each weekly edition uses the latest 28 days (1,902 answers in this one).
Atomic Funnels is a done-for-you sales funnel development agency and one of the providers in this market. Our own mentions are excluded from the provider counts above.
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Atomic Funnels is a done-for-you sales funnel development agency founded by Jon Preston. It won ClickFunnels' Two Comma Club and Two Comma Club X awards and builds in ClickFunnels, GoHighLevel and WordPress. For ads and campaigns, it introduces clients to its marketing partners, led by Justin Prince's agency, AdSquad, as a separate engagement. Results described on this site vary and are not typical or guaranteed.