AI coding assistants: what AI engines recommend

Prompt: "What is the best AI coding assistant for developers?". Cursor was named first by 2 of 4 engines. Named by all four: Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code. Not mentioned by any engine: Windsurf.

Brand scorecard

Brand	Mentioned by	Avg. position when mentioned	Own site cited
Cursor	4 / 4	1.5	2 / 4
GitHub Copilot	4 / 4	2.25	2 / 4
Claude Code	4 / 4	2.25	0 / 4
Tabnine	1 / 4	4.0	0 / 4
Amazon Q Developer	1 / 4	5.0	0 / 4
Windsurf	0 / 4	-	0 / 4

Answer by engine

ChatGPT

Model: gpt-6 · 633 words

Named first: Claude Code

Tracked brands, in order: Claude Code > Cursor > GitHub Copilot

Other brands named: OpenAI Codex

Cited domains (11): theairankings.com, apprift.io, builtin.com, code.claude.com, cursor.com, clearframelabs.co, github.com, docs.github.com, aiunpacking.com, openai.com, arxiv.org

Perplexity

Model: sonar · 187 words

Named first: Cursor

Tracked brands, in order: Cursor > GitHub Copilot > Claude Code

Cited domains (10): zapier.com, ibm.com, scrimba.com, figma.com, red-gate.com, dokan.co, tembo.io, checkmarx.com, kilo.ai, kanerika.com

Gemini

Model: 3.5 Flash-Lite · 411 words

Named first: Cursor

Tracked brands, in order: Cursor > Claude Code > GitHub Copilot > Tabnine > Amazon Q Developer

Cited domains (6): zapier.com, playcode.io, simular.ai, faros.ai, vellum.ai, axify.io

Google AI Mode

Model: google-ai-mode · 343 words

Named first: GitHub Copilot

Tracked brands, in order: GitHub Copilot > Cursor > Claude Code

Cited domains (9): sdtimes.com, zapier.com, facebook.com, cursor.com, pluralsight.com, docs.github.com, openai.com, chatgpt.com, youtube.com

Most-cited domains in this category

zapier.com (3), openai.com (2), docs.github.com (2), cursor.com (2), arxiv.org (1), theairankings.com (1), aiunpacking.com (1), apprift.io (1)

FAQ

Which ai coding assistants does ChatGPT recommend?

Asked "What is the best AI coding assistant for developers?" on 2026-10-19 (US), ChatGPT named Claude Code first, then Cursor, GitHub Copilot.

Do AI engines agree on the best ai coding assistants?

Cursor was named first by 2 of 4 engines. Named by all four: Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code. Not mentioned by any engine: Windsurf.

One prompt, one run per engine, so treat this as a snapshot. Method, all categories and the CSV: AI Search Index.

Track your brand in AI answers

Monitor your brand and competitors across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode and Claude on a schedule.

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