Andreessen Horowitz: 225/288 (78.1%; 95% interval 73.0–82.5%). Sequoia Capital: 198/288 (68.8%; 95% interval 63.2–73.8%). Their 95% intervals overlap; neither can be called the sole leader.
FINANCE
Venture Capital AI Visibility Index 2026
Venture Capital Index 2.0: a16z and Sequoia Lead
Published June 28, 2026 · Updated November 9, 2026
AI answers analyzed across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity
of answers named Andreessen Horowitz, the most-named (225 of 288)
tracked firms named at least once (of 34)
of Google searches showed an AI Overview (61 of 61)
Version 2. This version replaces the first version of this study, first published June 28, 2026. It uses measured counts, so the two versions are not comparable. Version 2 asks 24 questions three times each on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity (288 answers) and adds Google AI Overviews. Every rate comes with its count and a 95% interval.
What the data shows
Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital
54/288 (18.8%)
36/72 (50%)
62/72 (86.1%)
18/288 (6.3%)
61/61 (100%)
34/61 (55.7%)
91/288 (31.6%)
Appearance rate across 288 four-engine answers. The bar is the 95% confidence interval; overlapping bars cannot be told apart at this sample size.
Which brands AI engines name
| # | Name | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreessen Horowitz | 225/288 | 78.1% | 73.0–82.5% |
| 2 | Sequoia Capital | 198/288 | 68.8% | 63.2–73.8% |
| 3 | Accel | 137/288 | 47.6% | 41.9–53.3% |
| 4 | Lightspeed Venture Partners | 127/288 | 44.1% | 38.5–49.9% |
| 5 | Bessemer Venture Partners | 111/288 | 38.5% | 33.1–44.3% |
| 6 | General Catalyst | 95/288 | 33.0% | 27.8–38.6% |
| 7 | Y Combinator | 93/288 | 32.3% | 27.2–37.9% |
| 8 | Khosla Ventures | 85/288 | 29.5% | 24.5–35.0% |
| 9 | Founders Fund | 77/288 | 26.7% | 22.0–32.1% |
| 10 | Insight Partners | 71/288 | 24.7% | 20.0–29.9% |
| 11 | Index Ventures | 66/288 | 22.9% | 18.4–28.1% |
| 12 | Benchmark | 57/288 | 19.8% | 15.6–24.8% |
| 13 | First Round Capital | 54/288 | 18.8% | 14.7–23.7% |
| 14 | NEA | 50/288 | 17.4% | 13.4–22.2% |
| 15 | Tiger Global | 41/288 | 14.2% | 10.7–18.7% |
The full list
Own-domain citation is the share of 288 grounded answers that cited the tracked name's own domains (subdomains included). Citation share is of all 2,424 citations.
| # | Brand | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval | First mention | Own-domain citation | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreessen Horowitz | 225/288 | 78.1% | 73–82.5% | 2.8 | 5.6% (16/288) | 0.9% |
| 2 | Sequoia Capital | 198/288 | 68.8% | 63.2–73.8% | 3 | 1.4% (4/288) | 0.2% |
| 3 | Accel | 137/288 | 47.6% | 41.9–53.3% | 4.6 | 0.7% (2/288) | 0.1% |
| 4 | Lightspeed Venture Partners | 127/288 | 44.1% | 38.5–49.9% | 5.9 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 5 | Bessemer Venture Partners | 111/288 | 38.5% | 33.1–44.3% | 5.9 | 0.7% (2/288) | 0.1% |
| 6 | General Catalyst | 95/288 | 33% | 27.8–38.6% | 5.9 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 7 | Y Combinator | 93/288 | 32.3% | 27.2–37.9% | 4.4 | 6.3% (18/288) | 1% |
| 8 | Khosla Ventures | 85/288 | 29.5% | 24.5–35% | 6.4 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 9 | Founders Fund | 77/288 | 26.7% | 22–32.1% | 5.6 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 10 | Insight Partners | 71/288 | 24.7% | 20–29.9% | 5.3 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 11 | Index Ventures | 66/288 | 22.9% | 18.4–28.1% | 7.4 | 1% (3/288) | 0.1% |
| 12 | Benchmark | 57/288 | 19.8% | 15.6–24.8% | 5.4 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 13 | First Round Capital | 54/288 | 18.8% | 14.7–23.7% | 4.6 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 14 | NEA | 50/288 | 17.4% | 13.4–22.2% | 7 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 15 | Tiger Global | 41/288 | 14.2% | 10.7–18.7% | 6.3 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 16 | Kleiner Perkins | 39/288 | 13.5% | 10.1–18% | 7.3 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 17 | Lux Capital | 38/288 | 13.2% | 9.8–17.6% | 4.7 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 18 | Battery Ventures | 37/288 | 12.8% | 9.5–17.2% | 7.2 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 19 | Greylock | 36/288 | 12.5% | 9.2–16.8% | 8.3 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 20 | Techstars | 36/288 | 12.5% | 9.2–16.8% | 3 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 21 | Thrive Capital | 36/288 | 12.5% | 9.2–16.8% | 7.1 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 22 | Coatue | 28/288 | 9.7% | 6.8–13.7% | 7.5 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 23 | Ribbit Capital | 24/288 | 8.3% | 5.7–12.1% | 1.3 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 24 | Breakthrough Energy Ventures | 23/288 | 8% | 5.4–11.7% | 2 | 0.3% (1/288) | 0% |
| 25 | Lowercarbon Capital | 21/288 | 7.3% | 4.8–10.9% | 1.6 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 26 | Union Square Ventures | 20/288 | 6.9% | 4.5–10.5% | 7.4 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 27 | ARCH Venture Partners | 18/288 | 6.3% | 4–9.7% | 2.4 | 0.7% (2/288) | 0.1% |
| 28 | ICONIQ | 17/288 | 5.9% | 3.7–9.2% | 5.8 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
The full list (continued)
| # | Brand | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval | First mention | Own-domain citation | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 8VC | 15/288 | 5.2% | 3.2–8.4% | 4.8 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 30 | Flagship Pioneering | 14/288 | 4.9% | 2.9–8% | 2.6 | 1% (3/288) | 0.1% |
| 31 | Pantera Capital | 12/288 | 4.2% | 2.4–7.1% | 3 | 0.7% (2/288) | 0.1% |
| 32 | Paradigm | 12/288 | 4.2% | 2.4–7.1% | 2 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 33 | SV Angel | 11/288 | 3.8% | 2.1–6.7% | 5.5 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
| 34 | GV | 10/288 | 3.5% | 1.9–6.3% | 4.1 | 0% (0/288) | 0% |
Separate table: people from the earlier edition (not ranked)
Names the earlier edition tracked, counted in the same 288 answers but not ranked against the main list. Listed alphabetically; no own-domain figure.
| Name | Named answers | Rate | 95% interval | Named first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Horowitz | 11/288 | 3.8% | 2.1–6.7% | 0 |
| Bill Gurley | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0.0–1.3% | 0 |
| Marc Andreessen | 11/288 | 3.8% | 2.1–6.7% | 10 |
| Michael Moritz | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0.0–1.3% | 0 |
| Paul Graham | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0.0–1.3% | 0 |
| Peter Thiel | 8/288 | 2.8% | 1.4–5.4% | 6 |
| Reid Hoffman | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0.0–1.3% | 0 |
| Roelof Botha | 3/288 | 1.0% | 0.4–3.0% | 1 |
| Sam Altman | 0/288 | 0.0% | 0.0–1.3% | 0 |
| Vinod Khosla | 7/288 | 2.4% | 1.2–4.9% | 3 |
The top eight, side by side
| # | Name | Appearance rate | Answers and interval | Other measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreessen Horowitz | 78.1% | 225/288 answers · 95% CI 73–82.5% | first-mention position: 2.8; owned-domain citation (16/288): 5.6%; citation share: 0.9% |
| 2 | Sequoia Capital | 68.8% | 198/288 answers · 95% CI 63.2–73.8% | first-mention position: 3; owned-domain citation (4/288): 1.4%; citation share: 0.2% |
| 3 | Accel | 47.6% | 137/288 answers · 95% CI 41.9–53.3% | first-mention position: 4.6; owned-domain citation (2/288): 0.7%; citation share: 0.1% |
| 4 | Lightspeed Venture Partners | 44.1% | 127/288 answers · 95% CI 38.5–49.9% | first-mention position: 5.9; owned-domain citation (0/288): 0%; citation share: 0% |
| 5 | Bessemer Venture Partners | 38.5% | 111/288 answers · 95% CI 33.1–44.3% | first-mention position: 5.9; owned-domain citation (2/288): 0.7%; citation share: 0.1% |
| 6 | General Catalyst | 33.0% | 95/288 answers · 95% CI 27.8–38.6% | first-mention position: 5.9; owned-domain citation (1/288): 0.3%; citation share: 0% |
| 7 | Y Combinator | 32.3% | 93/288 answers · 95% CI 27.2–37.9% | first-mention position: 4.4; owned-domain citation (18/288): 6.3%; citation share: 1% |
| 8 | Khosla Ventures | 29.5% | 85/288 answers · 95% CI 24.5–35% | first-mention position: 6.4; owned-domain citation (0/288): 0%; citation share: 0% |
Claude named Khosla Ventures in 36 of 72 answers. The other engines named it in 10 to 22 of 72. Claude named Sequoia Capital in 62 of 72 answers. The other engines named it in 42 to 49 of 72.
ChatGPT
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Same questions, different answers
Claude
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Gemini
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Perplexity
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Google AI Overviews were captured through 61 U.S. desktop searches and scored only where an overview appeared, so five-engine figures use 288 + 61 = 349 answers.
The fifth engine
Trigger rate: 61 of 61 searches
Google AI Overviews appeared on 61 of 61 searches (100%, CI 94.1–100%). The other 0 searches showed no overview. Within the 61 overviews, Andreessen Horowitz was named in 34 (55.7%), Sequoia Capital was named in 34 (55.7%), Lightspeed Venture Partners was named in 25 (41%), Accel was named in 22 (36.1%). openvc.app was the most-cited source, with 14 citations and an appearance in 14 of 61 overviews.
| Five-engine rank | Name | Five-engine rate | Four-engine rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreessen Horowitz | 74.2% | 1 |
| 2 | Sequoia Capital | 66.5% | 2 |
| 3 | Accel | 45.6% | 3 |
| 4 | Lightspeed Venture Partners | 43.6% | 4 |
| 5 | Bessemer Venture Partners | 36.4% | 5 |
| 6 | General Catalyst | 33.2% | 6 |
| 7 | Y Combinator | 32.7% | 7 |
| 8 | Khosla Ventures | 30.7% | 8 |
| 9 | Founders Fund | 27.5% | 9 |
| 10 | Index Ventures | 22.9% | 11 |
Who each question surfaces first
Six questions from the set. Each tile uses that question's own four-engine answers as the denominator.
| Question | Leader | Next | AI Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q01 · 12 answers | Andreessen Horowitz 100.0% | Sequoia Capital 100.0%; Accel 100.0% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches |
| Q02 · 12 answers | Andreessen Horowitz 100.0% | Sequoia Capital 100.0%; Khosla Ventures 100.0% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches |
| Q03 · 12 answers | Y Combinator 100.0% | First Round Capital 100.0%; Andreessen Horowitz 100.0% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches |
| Q04 · 12 answers | Bessemer Venture Partners 100.0% | Accel 100.0%; Sequoia Capital 100.0% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches |
| Q05 · 12 answers | Insight Partners 100.0% | Sequoia Capital 91.7%; Tiger Global 83.3% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches |
| Q06 · 12 answers | Andreessen Horowitz 100.0% | Paradigm 100.0%; Pantera Capital 100.0% | AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches |
The four engines produced 2,424 citations in total. rho.co was cited most often, with 133 citations (5.5%) across 91 answers. Next came openvc.app (117), en.wikipedia.org (76), affinity.co (60), waveup.com (59), roundfunded.com (58).
Four AI engines · share of 288 grounded answers
Most-cited domains
Google AI Overviews · share of 61 overviews
Citation share by source type
Share of all citations by the type of site cited.
| Source type | Four AI engines (of 2,424 citations) | Google AI Overviews (of 178 citations) |
|---|---|---|
| Other / unclassified | 869 (35.8%) | 60 (33.7%) |
| Company / brand sites | 750 (30.9%) | 34 (19.1%) |
| Directories / rankings | 326 (13.4%) | 25 (14%) |
| Community / social | 108 (4.5%) | 37 (20.8%) |
| Reference | 95 (3.9%) | 3 (1.7%) |
| General news / business press | 83 (3.4%) | 9 (5.1%) |
| Research / data providers | 75 (3.1%) | 6 (3.4%) |
| Trade / specialist press | 74 (3.1%) | 3 (1.7%) |
| Review / comparison publishers | 21 (0.9%) | 0 (0%) |
| Institutions / trade bodies | 12 (0.5%) | 1 (0.6%) |
| Official / government | 11 (0.5%) | 0 (0%) |
How can brands improve their AI visibility?
These steps follow from the measured results above. They describe what the engines cited in this study and are not a guarantee of results.
| Step | What this study measured |
|---|---|
| Put your facts on your own domain. | Y Combinator's own domains were cited in 6.3% of grounded answers, Andreessen Horowitz's in 5.6% and Sequoia Capital's in 1.4%. |
| Keep your facts accurate on the sites engines cite. | The most-cited sites other than the tracked names' own were openvc.app (in 36.1% of grounded answers), rho.co (31.6%), affinity.co (20.8%), waveup.com (20.5%) and roundfunded.com (19.1%). Directories and rankings supplied 13.4% of citations and community and social 4.5%. |
| Check each engine separately. | Claude named General Catalyst in 50.0% of answers against 12.5% on ChatGPT. Claude named Khosla Ventures in 50.0% of answers against 13.9% on ChatGPT. |
| Watch names outside the tracked list. | Menlo Ventures (25 answers), Precursor Ventures (18 answers), General Atlantic (18 answers), Prelude Ventures (18 answers), QED Investors (18 answers) were named often but were not tracked. |
| Re-run the same questions every month. | Compare counts and intervals, not ranks. The 24 questions are in the appendix. |
What AI answers
Which firms lead these AI answers?
Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital lead this measured set. Andreessen Horowitz: 225/288 (78.1%; 95% interval 73.0–82.5%). Sequoia Capital: 198/288 (68.8%; 95% interval 63.2–73.8%). Their 95% intervals overlap; neither can be called the sole leader.
Which firm is named first most often?
Sequoia Capital was the first firm named in 54 of 288 answers, with an average first position of 3.
How often do Google AI Overviews appear for these questions?
An overview appeared on 61 of 61 searches (100%, CI 94.1–100%). Within those 61 overviews, Andreessen Horowitz was named most often, in 34 (55.7%).
Which sources do the engines cite?
Across 2,424 four-engine citations, rho.co was cited most (133 citations, in 91 of 288 grounded answers), followed by openvc.app (117 citations).
Do the four engines agree?
Only in part. Claude named Khosla Ventures in 36 of 72 answers, against 10 to 22 of 72 on the other engines. Claude named Sequoia Capital in 62 of 72 answers, against 42 to 49 of 72 on the other engines.
How this study was measured
24 questions × 3 runs each × 4 AI engines = 288 answers + 61 Google searches · 61 AI Overviews
24 questions asked three times on each of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, measured November 3, 2026. United States, English; Google retrieval uses desktop results. Models: gpt-5-mini, claude-sonnet-5-5, gemini-3.6-flash only, sonar-pro. Google AI Overviews come from DataForSEO, not inferred chat answers. Appearance counts returned text, including ungrounded answers; citation rates use grounded answers. Longer overlapping names suppress shorter ones; First mention is the earliest eligible name order. Own-domain rates include declared domains and subdomains; shared parent scopes may count for multiple names and cannot be summed as unique citations.
| Engine | Model IDs called | Asked | Returned | Grounded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | gpt-5-mini | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Claude | claude-sonnet-5-5 | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Gemini | gemini-3.6-flash | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Perplexity | sonar-pro | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Google AI Overviews | DataForSEO Google SERP (live, advanced) | 61 | 61 shown | 61 |
Own-domain citations count a domain plus all its subdomains, with the same rule in every table.
Definitions
- Appearance rate: answers naming the tracked name ÷ answers returned, with Wilson 95% intervals.
- First mention: average order in which the tracked name first appears (1 = first).
- Own-domain citation: grounded answers citing the tracked name's domains ÷ grounded answers.
- Citation share: citations to the tracked name's domains ÷ all citations.
Limits
- Only 34 tracked firms are ranked; results are not an exhaustive market ranking.
- Only the tracked firms were scored. Untracked names that appeared often were not scored, including Menlo Ventures (25 answers), Precursor Ventures (18 answers), General Atlantic (18 answers), Prelude Ventures (18 answers), QED Investors (18 answers).
- 349 of 360 planned results were returned. 11 AI Overview lookups were excluded after at most three total attempts.
- 61 successful Google searches: 61 overviews shown; 0 without an overview. Failures are excluded, not scored as zero.
- All returned chat answers had search sources.
- Questions 10 and 12 name Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, so each of those counts includes up to 12 answers to a question that names it.
- Removing 2 Core questions naming tracked subjects leaves 264 eligible answers. The top two are Andreessen Horowitz (204/264) and Sequoia Capital (177/264); their order does not change.
- Unverified own domains are not available, never zero or guessed. Source types use Company / brand sites only for verified official organisations; other unresolved sites are Other / unclassified.
- Wilson 95% intervals are descriptive; overlapping leading intervals do not establish a sole leader. Measurements do not endorse medical, legal, financial or product claims.
- Firms from the earlier edition plus specialists the questions cover (crypto, biotech, climate, defense, accelerators). People named in the earlier edition (partners and founders) are not ranked; only firms are. No firm status changes requiring a note were found in this check. Names the earlier edition tracked (people) are counted in a separate table that is not ranked against the main list; the main ranking and title stay on the main list. They have no own-domain figure.
- Google Shopping links and unresolved google.com/goto redirect links are not counted as cited sources; original URLs remain in the evidence.
- Answers were collected through each engine's API using the model IDs listed in the methodology. The consumer ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity apps can answer differently.
The 24 questions
Questions marked "Core question" are the original study questions, asked word for word. The others are added neutral questions.
| # | Question | Group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | What are the best venture capital firms in the US? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 02 | Which VC firms are best for AI startups? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 03 | Who are the top seed investors for early-stage startups? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 04 | Which venture firms lead Series A rounds for SaaS companies? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 05 | What are the best growth-stage venture capital firms? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 06 | Which VC firms invest in crypto and web3 startups? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 07 | Which venture firms focus on biotech and life sciences? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 08 | Which VC firms invest in climate tech? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 09 | Which venture capital firms invest in defense technology? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 10 | Should I apply to an accelerator like Y Combinator or raise from a VC? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 11 | Which venture capital firms are most founder-friendly? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 12 | Sequoia vs Andreessen Horowitz: how do they differ? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 13 | What are the most prestigious venture capital firms? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 14 | Which venture firms have the best track record of early investments? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 15 | Which venture capital firms invest in fintech startups? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 16 | Who are the leading pre-seed investors in the US? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 17 | What are the best startup accelerators in the US? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 18 | Which venture firms invest most in generative AI companies? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 19 | Which firms lead late-stage funding rounds for tech companies? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 20 | Which VC firms are best for B2B software startups? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 21 | Which venture firms back healthcare and medical device startups? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 22 | Which venture firms invest in energy and climate startups at seed stage? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 23 | Which venture capital firms invest in space and aerospace startups? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 24 | Which venture capital firms invest in consumer fintech apps? | Venture Capital Index 2.0 | Added question |
About 5W
5W is an independent PR, creative and GEO agency founded in 2003, and we get you in the chatbox. All of our work is done in house, including media relations, site building and content. Learn more about our GEO practice or write to info@5wpr.com.
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