UGC agencies are increasingly being discovered through AI search, with a small number of firms capturing the majority of mentions when brand-side buyers turn to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI products to research the category.
To better understand this shift, Net Influencer has partnered with AEO/SEO agency Grow and Convert, leveraging their Traqer AI Visibility platform to do a deep dive on which UGC agencies AI models surface when brand marketers, ecommerce operators, and DTC growth leads ask for recommendations. According to Grow and Convert’s analysis, 75 agencies surfaced across a standardized set of buyer-style queries run on five major AI platforms, with visibility concentrated at the top of the list.
The analysis tracked how often each agency appeared in AI responses to eight prompts run across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode.
Methodology
Prompts ranged from broad (“UGC agencies”) to specific buyer queries (“I need authentic-looking video ads for my skincare brand but don’t want polished studio content. Who can help?” and “Can you recommend a good agency that specializes in UGC for Amazon product listings?”). The query set was designed to mirror how brand marketers, ecommerce operators, and DTC teams actually research the UGC agency category before making contact.
The Universe of Agencies
According to Grow and Convert’s analysis, 75 agencies were mentioned at least once across all 40 query runs. That figure represents the full set of agencies AI models surfaced for buyers asking about UGC services. The broader UGC agency category includes many more firms, meaning most agencies in the category did not surface in any AI response across the tested queries.
How the Visibility Score Works
Each agency’s visibility score reflects the percentage of total query runs where it appeared in an AI response. An agency that surfaced in every query would score 100%. An agency that surfaced in roughly half would score 50%.
Grow and Convert’s data segments scores into four ranges:
60% and above (Default Recommendation): The model cites the agency across most queries on most platforms. Buyers running almost any version of an agency search will encounter the name.
30% to 59% (Strong Consideration Set): The agency reliably surfaces on multiple platforms for multiple query types. Buyers will see the name often, depending on phrasing and platform.
15% to 29% (Selective Visibility): The agency shows up for specific queries or specific platforms. A buyer might encounter the name once across several searches, or not at all on certain AI engines.
Below 15% (Long Tail): The model surfaced the agency once or twice across 40 runs. Buyers running a small number of searches have low probability of seeing the name in their results.
The Top 10
Rank
Company
Visibility Score
Strongest Platforms
1
Brighter Click
40%
AI Mode, AIO
2
Billo
30%
AI Mode, Gemini
3
Minisocial
30%
AI Mode, Gemini
4
Trend
28%
AI Mode, ChatGPT
5
Insense
28%
AI Mode, Gemini
6
InBeat
25%
AI Mode, AIO
7
UGC SHOP
20%
AI Mode, Gemini
8
House of Marketers
20%
AI Mode, ChatGPT
9
Twirl
20%
AI Mode, Gemini
10
Quimby Digital
15%
AI Mode, Perplexity
No agency in the top 10 cleared the default recommendation threshold. Three agencies sat in the strong consideration tier. The remaining seven appeared in selective visibility territory. Every agency outside the top 12 fell below 15%.
What the Data Shows
Brighter Click led all tracked agencies at 40% visibility, 10 percentage points clear of second-place Billo and Minisocial at 30%. Unlike the Influencer Marketing agency category, no firm in the UGC agency space cleared 60% visibility, meaning AI models do not treat any single agency as a near-universal default across queries and platforms.
The top five agencies, Brighter Click, Billo, Minisocial, Trend, and Insense, all cleared 28% visibility or higher. By contrast, much of the lower half of the ranking clustered at 3%, indicating a single appearance across all 40 query runs.
Several agencies with market-facing recognition appeared in the lower tiers. Viral Nation ranked 11th at 15%, while Linqia scored 5%. The rankings suggest that category specialization in UGC, rather than general Influencer Marketing brand recognition, may be more closely tied to AI recommendation frequency in this vertical.
Concentration and Drop-Off
The drop-off between ranked agencies is steep. Brighter Click sits at 40%. By rank 10, Quimby Digital scores 15%. By rank 16, The Social Savannah reaches 10%, and the field drops to 5% or below from rank 18 onward. More than half of the ranked agencies scored 3%, the floor of the dataset.
Three agencies cleared 30% visibility. Nine cleared 20%. The remaining 66 scored at 15% or below, with the vast majority clustered at 3%. The top three agencies, Brighter Click, Billo, and Minisocial, account for a disproportionate share of total mentions in the dataset.
The bottom tier of the 75 ranked agencies scored 3%, indicating those firms appeared once across all 40 query runs.
According to Grow and Convert, this level of concentration exceeds the gap between top and bottom rankings observed for comparable query sets in traditional Google search results.
Platform Distribution
Total mentions varied across the five AI platforms tested. AI Mode produced the highest total at 54 mentions, followed by ChatGPT at 44, Gemini at 40, Google AI Overviews at 37, and Perplexity at 29. The spread indicates that AI search visibility is not uniform across engines, with some platforms surfacing a wider set of UGC agencies than others.
Citation Sources
The data also tracked which domains AI models referenced when generating their answers. The most frequently cited sources included reddit.com (18 references), themarketingagency.ca (16), quimbydigital.com (14), dataally.ai (13), and showca.se (12). Aggregator, community, and listicle-style content from these domains accounted for a large share of the source material AI models drew from when forming agency recommendations.
Methodology
Rankings were generated by Grow and Convert using eight prompts run across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode. Prompts covered general agency searches and specific buyer queries related to skincare brand content, Amazon product listings, volume UGC for ad testing, and agency evaluation criteria. A mention is counted when an AI response names the agency in its answer. The visibility score reflects the percentage of prompts where the agency appeared across all platforms. Citation source data captures which domains AI models referenced when generating their answers.
Full rankings, prompt-level detail, and source citations are available on the Grow and Convert ranking page for this vertical.
Nii A. Ahene is the founder and managing director of Net Influencer, a website dedicated to offering insights into the influencer marketing industry. Together with its newsletter, Influencer Weekly, Net Influencer provides news, commentary, and analysis of the events shaping the creator and influencer marketing space. Through interviews with startups, influencers, brands, and platforms, Nii and his team explore how influencer marketing is being effectively used to benefit businesses and personal brands alike.
UGC agencies are increasingly being discovered through AI search, with a small number of firms capturing the majority of mentions when brand-side buyers turn to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI products to research the category.
To better understand this shift, Net Influencer has partnered with AEO/SEO agency Grow and Convert, leveraging their Traqer AI Visibility platform to do a deep dive on which UGC agencies AI models surface when brand marketers, ecommerce operators, and DTC growth leads ask for recommendations. According to Grow and Convert’s analysis, 75 agencies surfaced across a standardized set of buyer-style queries run on five major AI platforms, with visibility concentrated at the top of the list.
The analysis tracked how often each agency appeared in AI responses to eight prompts run across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode.
Methodology
Prompts ranged from broad (“UGC agencies”) to specific buyer queries (“I need authentic-looking video ads for my skincare brand but don’t want polished studio content. Who can help?” and “Can you recommend a good agency that specializes in UGC for Amazon product listings?”). The query set was designed to mirror how brand marketers, ecommerce operators, and DTC teams actually research the UGC agency category before making contact.
The Universe of Agencies
According to Grow and Convert’s analysis, 75 agencies were mentioned at least once across all 40 query runs. That figure represents the full set of agencies AI models surfaced for buyers asking about UGC services. The broader UGC agency category includes many more firms, meaning most agencies in the category did not surface in any AI response across the tested queries.
How the Visibility Score Works
Each agency’s visibility score reflects the percentage of total query runs where it appeared in an AI response. An agency that surfaced in every query would score 100%. An agency that surfaced in roughly half would score 50%.
Grow and Convert’s data segments scores into four ranges:
The Top 10
No agency in the top 10 cleared the default recommendation threshold. Three agencies sat in the strong consideration tier. The remaining seven appeared in selective visibility territory. Every agency outside the top 12 fell below 15%.
What the Data Shows
Brighter Click led all tracked agencies at 40% visibility, 10 percentage points clear of second-place Billo and Minisocial at 30%. Unlike the Influencer Marketing agency category, no firm in the UGC agency space cleared 60% visibility, meaning AI models do not treat any single agency as a near-universal default across queries and platforms.
The top five agencies, Brighter Click, Billo, Minisocial, Trend, and Insense, all cleared 28% visibility or higher. By contrast, much of the lower half of the ranking clustered at 3%, indicating a single appearance across all 40 query runs.
Several agencies with market-facing recognition appeared in the lower tiers. Viral Nation ranked 11th at 15%, while Linqia scored 5%. The rankings suggest that category specialization in UGC, rather than general Influencer Marketing brand recognition, may be more closely tied to AI recommendation frequency in this vertical.
Concentration and Drop-Off
The drop-off between ranked agencies is steep. Brighter Click sits at 40%. By rank 10, Quimby Digital scores 15%. By rank 16, The Social Savannah reaches 10%, and the field drops to 5% or below from rank 18 onward. More than half of the ranked agencies scored 3%, the floor of the dataset.
Three agencies cleared 30% visibility. Nine cleared 20%. The remaining 66 scored at 15% or below, with the vast majority clustered at 3%. The top three agencies, Brighter Click, Billo, and Minisocial, account for a disproportionate share of total mentions in the dataset.
The bottom tier of the 75 ranked agencies scored 3%, indicating those firms appeared once across all 40 query runs.
According to Grow and Convert, this level of concentration exceeds the gap between top and bottom rankings observed for comparable query sets in traditional Google search results.
Platform Distribution
Total mentions varied across the five AI platforms tested. AI Mode produced the highest total at 54 mentions, followed by ChatGPT at 44, Gemini at 40, Google AI Overviews at 37, and Perplexity at 29. The spread indicates that AI search visibility is not uniform across engines, with some platforms surfacing a wider set of UGC agencies than others.
Citation Sources
The data also tracked which domains AI models referenced when generating their answers. The most frequently cited sources included reddit.com (18 references), themarketingagency.ca (16), quimbydigital.com (14), dataally.ai (13), and showca.se (12). Aggregator, community, and listicle-style content from these domains accounted for a large share of the source material AI models drew from when forming agency recommendations.
Methodology
Rankings were generated by Grow and Convert using eight prompts run across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode. Prompts covered general agency searches and specific buyer queries related to skincare brand content, Amazon product listings, volume UGC for ad testing, and agency evaluation criteria. A mention is counted when an AI response names the agency in its answer. The visibility score reflects the percentage of prompts where the agency appeared across all platforms. Citation source data captures which domains AI models referenced when generating their answers.
Full rankings, prompt-level detail, and source citations are available on the Grow and Convert ranking page for this vertical.
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