LeBron James tops a close field: 64/288 (22.2%; 95% interval 17.8–27.4%). 8 others are within its margin (Gwyneth Paltrow, Serena Williams, Rihanna, Lionel Messi, Zendaya, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dwayne Johnson and George Clooney), so no sole leader is established.
RESEARCH · Published April 4, 2026 · Updated November 8, 2026
Celebrity Index 2.0: LeBron James Tops a Close Field
AI answers analyzed across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity
of answers named LeBron James, the most-named (64 of 288)
tracked people named at least once (of 50)
of Google searches showed an AI Overview (34 of 35)
Version 2. This version replaces the first version of this study, first published May 22, 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
LeBron James
22/288 (7.6%)
25/72 (34.7%)
2/284 (0.7%)
34/35 (97.1%)
6/34 (17.6%)
71/284 (25%)
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 celebrities AI engines name
| # | Name | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeBron James | 64/288 | 22.2% | 17.8–27.4% |
| 2 | Gwyneth Paltrow | 53/288 | 18.4% | 14.4–23.3% |
| 3 | Serena Williams | 51/288 | 17.7% | 13.7–22.5% |
| 4 | Rihanna | 49/288 | 17.0% | 13.1–21.8% |
| 5 | Lionel Messi | 45/288 | 15.6% | 11.9–20.3% |
| 6 | Zendaya | 45/288 | 15.6% | 11.9–20.3% |
| 7 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 42/288 | 14.6% | 11.0–19.1% |
| 8 | Dwayne Johnson | 42/288 | 14.6% | 11.0–19.1% |
| 9 | George Clooney | 41/288 | 14.2% | 10.7–18.7% |
| 10 | Kim Kardashian | 36/288 | 12.5% | 9.2–16.8% |
| 11 | Ryan Reynolds | 34/288 | 11.8% | 8.6–16.0% |
| 12 | Beyoncé | 33/288 | 11.5% | 8.3–15.7% |
| 13 | David Beckham | 33/288 | 11.5% | 8.3–15.7% |
| 14 | Selena Gomez | 31/288 | 10.8% | 7.7–14.9% |
| 15 | MrBeast | 30/288 | 10.4% | 7.4–14.5% |
The full list
Own-domain citation is the share of 284 grounded answers that cited the tracked name's own domains (subdomains included). Citation share is of all 2,589 citations. None means no personal website is tracked for that person.
| # | Person | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval | First mention | Own-domain citation | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeBron James | 64/288 | 22.2% | 17.8–27.4% | 2.9 | 0.4% (1/284) | 0% |
| 2 | Gwyneth Paltrow | 53/288 | 18.4% | 14.4–23.3% | 2.9 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 3 | Serena Williams | 51/288 | 17.7% | 13.7–22.5% | 3.6 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 4 | Rihanna | 49/288 | 17% | 13.1–21.8% | 2.5 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 5 | Lionel Messi | 45/288 | 15.6% | 11.9–20.3% | 3.4 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 6 | Zendaya | 45/288 | 15.6% | 11.9–20.3% | 2.6 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 7 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 42/288 | 14.6% | 11–19.1% | 2.6 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 8 | Dwayne Johnson | 42/288 | 14.6% | 11–19.1% | 3.1 | None | None |
| 9 | George Clooney | 41/288 | 14.2% | 10.7–18.7% | 2.2 | None | None |
| 10 | Kim Kardashian | 36/288 | 12.5% | 9.2–16.8% | 3.6 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 11 | Ryan Reynolds | 34/288 | 11.8% | 8.6–16% | 3.9 | None | None |
| 12 | Beyoncé | 33/288 | 11.5% | 8.3–15.7% | 2.9 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 13 | David Beckham | 33/288 | 11.5% | 8.3–15.7% | 3.9 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 14 | Selena Gomez | 31/288 | 10.8% | 7.7–14.9% | 2.6 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 15 | MrBeast | 30/288 | 10.4% | 7.4–14.5% | 2.5 | None | None |
| 16 | Hailey Bieber | 29/288 | 10.1% | 7.1–14.1% | 3 | None | None |
| 17 | Jay-Z | 28/288 | 9.7% | 6.8–13.7% | 3.2 | None | None |
| 18 | Roger Federer | 27/288 | 9.4% | 6.5–13.3% | 3 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 19 | Snoop Dogg | 26/288 | 9% | 6.2–12.9% | 2.6 | 0.7% (2/284) | 0.1% |
| 20 | Ashton Kutcher | 23/288 | 8% | 5.4–11.7% | 2.3 | None | None |
| 21 | Jennifer Aniston | 20/288 | 6.9% | 4.5–10.5% | 3.1 | None | None |
| 22 | Timothée Chalamet | 18/288 | 6.3% | 4–9.7% | 4.4 | None | None |
| 23 | Kourtney Kardashian | 17/288 | 5.9% | 3.7–9.2% | 2.9 | None | None |
| 24 | Pharrell Williams | 16/288 | 5.6% | 3.4–8.8% | 3.8 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 25 | Dua Lipa | 15/288 | 5.2% | 3.2–8.4% | 2.3 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 26 | Kendall Jenner | 15/288 | 5.2% | 3.2–8.4% | 3.1 | None | None |
| 27 | Lewis Hamilton | 15/288 | 5.2% | 3.2–8.4% | 5.8 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 28 | Margot Robbie | 15/288 | 5.2% | 3.2–8.4% | 2 | None | None |
The full list (continued)
None means no personal website is tracked for that person.
| # | Person | Named in | Appearance rate | 95% interval | First mention | Own-domain citation | Citation share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Kevin Hart | 14/288 | 4.9% | 2.9–8% | 4 | None | None |
| 30 | Logan Paul | 14/288 | 4.9% | 2.9–8% | 2.6 | None | None |
| 31 | Mark Wahlberg | 14/288 | 4.9% | 2.9–8% | 4.2 | None | None |
| 32 | Drake | 13/288 | 4.5% | 2.7–7.6% | 4.2 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 33 | Jennifer Lopez | 13/288 | 4.5% | 2.7–7.6% | 4.8 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 34 | will.i.am | 12/288 | 4.2% | 2.4–7.1% | 2.3 | None | None |
| 35 | Daniel Craig | 11/288 | 3.8% | 2.1–6.7% | 3 | None | None |
| 36 | Tom Brady | 11/288 | 3.8% | 2.1–6.7% | 4.5 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 37 | Tracee Ellis Ross | 11/288 | 3.8% | 2.1–6.7% | 3.5 | None | None |
| 38 | Travis Scott | 11/288 | 3.8% | 2.1–6.7% | 3.9 | None | None |
| 39 | Marques Brownlee | 10/288 | 3.5% | 1.9–6.3% | 1.2 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 40 | Charlize Theron | 9/288 | 3.1% | 1.7–5.8% | 4.6 | None | None |
| 41 | Emma Chamberlain | 8/288 | 2.8% | 1.4–5.4% | 2.4 | None | None |
| 42 | Shaquille O'Neal | 8/288 | 2.8% | 1.4–5.4% | 5.1 | 0% (0/284) | 0% |
| 43 | Magic Johnson | 6/288 | 2.1% | 1–4.5% | 2 | None | None |
| 44 | Bad Bunny | 5/288 | 1.7% | 0.7–4% | 4.4 | None | None |
| 45 | Robert De Niro | 5/288 | 1.7% | 0.7–4% | 2.4 | None | None |
| 46 | Eva Longoria | 4/288 | 1.4% | 0.5–3.5% | 4.8 | None | None |
| 47 | Patrick Mahomes | 4/288 | 1.4% | 0.5–3.5% | 3.3 | None | None |
| 48 | Robert Downey Jr. | 3/288 | 1% | 0.4–3% | 5.7 | None | None |
| 49 | Cameron Diaz | 0/288 | 0% | 0–1.3% | – | None | None |
| 50 | Mark Cuban | 0/288 | 0% | 0–1.3% | – | None | None |
The top eight, side by side
| # | Name | Appearance rate | Answers and interval | Other measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeBron James | 22.2% | 64/288 answers · 95% CI 17.8–27.4% | first-mention position: 2.9; owned-domain citation (1/284): 0.4%; citation share: 0% |
| 2 | Gwyneth Paltrow | 18.4% | 53/288 answers · 95% CI 14.4–23.3% | first-mention position: 2.9; owned-domain citation (0/284): 0%; citation share: 0% |
| 3 | Serena Williams | 17.7% | 51/288 answers · 95% CI 13.7–22.5% | first-mention position: 3.6; owned-domain citation (0/284): 0%; citation share: 0% |
| 4 | Rihanna | 17.0% | 49/288 answers · 95% CI 13.1–21.8% | first-mention position: 2.5; owned-domain citation (0/284): 0%; citation share: 0% |
| 5 | Lionel Messi | 15.6% | 45/288 answers · 95% CI 11.9–20.3% | first-mention position: 3.4; owned-domain citation (0/284): 0%; citation share: 0% |
| 6 | Zendaya | 15.6% | 45/288 answers · 95% CI 11.9–20.3% | first-mention position: 2.6; owned-domain citation (0/284): 0%; citation share: 0% |
| 7 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 14.6% | 42/288 answers · 95% CI 11–19.1% | first-mention position: 2.6; owned-domain citation (0/284): 0%; citation share: 0% |
| 8 | Dwayne Johnson | 14.6% | 42/288 answers · 95% CI 11–19.1% | first-mention position: 3.1 |
ChatGPT named Rihanna in 25 of 72 answers. The other engines named Rihanna in 6 to 9 of 72.
ChatGPT
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Same questions, different answers
Claude
72 asked · 72 returned · 68 grounded
Gemini
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Perplexity
72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded
Google AI Overviews were captured through 35 U.S. desktop searches and scored only where an overview appeared, so five-engine figures use 288 + 34 = 322 answers.
The fifth engine
Trigger rate: 34 of 35 searches
Google AI Overviews appeared on 34 of 35 searches (97.1%, CI 85.5–99.5%). The other search showed no overview. Within the 34 overviews, Gwyneth Paltrow, Dwayne Johnson, Beyoncé and Kendall Jenner were each named in 6 (17.6%). instagram.com was the most-cited source, with 10 citations and an appearance in 8 of 34 overviews.
| Five-engine rank | Name | Five-engine rate | Four-engine rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeBron James | 20.5% | 1 |
| 2 | Gwyneth Paltrow | 18.3% | 2 |
| 3 | Serena Williams | 16.8% | 3 |
| 4 | Rihanna | 16.5% | 4 |
| 5 | Zendaya | 15.5% | 6 |
| 6 | Dwayne Johnson | 14.9% | 8 |
| 7 | Lionel Messi | 14.6% | 5 |
| 8 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 14.3% | 7 |
| 9 | George Clooney | 13.4% | 9 |
| 10 | Kim Kardashian | 12.7% | 10 |
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 | Hailey Bieber 75.0% | Dua Lipa 50.0%; Rihanna 50.0% | AI Overview shown on 1 of 1 searches |
| Q02 · 12 answers | Dwayne Johnson 100.0% | George Clooney 100.0%; Kendall Jenner 100.0% | AI Overview shown on 1 of 1 searches |
| Q03 · 12 answers | Cristiano Ronaldo 100.0% | LeBron James 100.0%; Lionel Messi 91.7% | AI Overview shown on 1 of 1 searches |
| Q04 · 12 answers | George Clooney 100.0% | Roger Federer 100.0%; LeBron James 75.0% | AI Overview lookup not available for this question |
| Q05 · 12 answers | George Clooney 41.7% | Zendaya 41.7%; Dwayne Johnson 41.7% | AI Overview shown on 1 of 1 searches |
| Q06 · 12 answers | Gwyneth Paltrow 100.0% | Kourtney Kardashian 91.7%; Kim Kardashian 41.7% | AI Overview shown on 1 of 1 searches |
The four engines produced 2,589 citations in total. en.wikipedia.org was cited most often, with 109 citations (4.2%) across 71 answers. Next came forbes.com (60), prnewswire.com (51), scmp.com (30), vogue.com (28), youtube.com (26).
Four AI engines · share of 284 grounded answers
Most-cited domains
Google AI Overviews · share of 34 overviews
Citation share by source type
Share of all citations by the type of site cited.
| Source type | Four AI engines (of 2,589 citations) | Google AI Overviews (of 81 citations) |
|---|---|---|
| Other / unclassified | 1,315 (50.8%) | 29 (35.8%) |
| General news / business press | 571 (22.1%) | 12 (14.8%) |
| Trade / specialist press | 191 (7.4%) | 3 (3.7%) |
| Company / brand sites | 178 (6.9%) | 7 (8.6%) |
| Reference | 126 (4.9%) | 0 (0%) |
| Community / social | 99 (3.8%) | 26 (32.1%) |
| Research / data providers | 34 (1.3%) | 3 (3.7%) |
| General news / sports media | 31 (1.2%) | 1 (1.2%) |
| Official / government | 15 (0.6%) | 0 (0%) |
| Institutions / trade bodies | 13 (0.5%) | 0 (0%) |
| Directories / rankings | 10 (0.4%) | 0 (0%) |
| Review / comparison publishers | 6 (0.2%) | 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. | LeBron James' own domains were cited in 0.4% of grounded answers. |
| Keep your facts accurate on the sites engines cite. | The most-cited sites other than the tracked names' own were en.wikipedia.org (in 25.0% of grounded answers), forbes.com (19.0%), prnewswire.com (13.7%), scmp.com (9.5%) and youtube.com (9.2%). General news and business press supplied 22.1% of citations and trade and specialist press 7.4%. |
| Check each engine separately. | ChatGPT named Rihanna in 34.7% of answers against 8.3% on Gemini. ChatGPT named Beyoncé in 22.2% of answers against 1.4% on Perplexity. |
| Watch names outside the tracked list. | Jessica Alba (31 answers), Michael Jordan (25 answers), Kate Hudson (19 answers), Lady Gaga (19 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 celebrities lead these AI answers?
LeBron James tops a close field: 64/288 (22.2%; 95% interval 17.8–27.4%). 8 others are within its margin (Gwyneth Paltrow, Serena Williams, Rihanna, Lionel Messi, Zendaya, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dwayne Johnson and George Clooney), so no sole leader is established.
Which celebrity is named first most often?
Gwyneth Paltrow was the first tracked person named in 22 of 288 answers, with an average first position of 2.9.
How often do Google AI Overviews appear for these questions?
An overview appeared on 34 of 35 searches (97.1%, CI 85.5–99.5%). Within those 34 overviews, Gwyneth Paltrow, Dwayne Johnson, Beyoncé and Kendall Jenner tied, each named in 6 (17.6%).
Which sources do the engines cite?
Across 2,589 four-engine citations, en.wikipedia.org was cited most (109 citations, in 71 of 284 grounded answers), followed by forbes.com (60 citations).
Do the four engines agree?
Only in part. ChatGPT named Rihanna in 25 of 72 answers, against 6 to 9 of 72 on the other engines. ChatGPT named Beyoncé in 16 of 72 answers, against 1 to 8 of 72 on the other engines.
How this study was measured
24 questions × 3 runs each × 4 AI engines = 288 answers + 35 Google searches · 34 AI Overviews
24 questions asked three times on each of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, measured November 4, 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 | 68 |
| Gemini | gemini-3.6-flash | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Perplexity | sonar-pro | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Google AI Overviews | DataForSEO Google SERP (live, advanced) | 35 | 34 shown | 34 |
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 50 tracked people are ranked; results are not an exhaustive market ranking.
- Only the tracked people were scored. Untracked names that appeared often were not scored, including Jessica Alba (31 answers), Michael Jordan (25 answers), Kate Hudson (19 answers), Lady Gaga (19 answers).
- 323 of 360 planned results were returned. 37 AI Overview lookups were excluded after at most three total attempts.
- 35 successful Google searches: 34 overviews shown; 1 without an overview. Failures are excluded, not scored as zero.
- 4 chat answers had no search sources and are left out of the citation figures.
- No Core question names a tracked name.
- Names with no tracked own site are shown as None. 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.
- The ranking counts how often each person is named. It does not score tone or check whether endorsement deals are current.
- A surname or nickname on its own (such as James, Johnson, Williams, Ronaldo, Jenner, Kardashian, Hamilton, Cuban or Magic) was not counted; the full name or a known stage name was needed.
- Earlier names and stage names count for the same person.
- Brand names such as Fenty, Rhode, Goop, SKIMS and Feastables were not counted as naming the person behind them.
- Endorsement deals described in the earlier version were not re-checked and are not part of this measurement.
- Own-domain figures use only websites verified as the person’s official site; where none was verified, the figure is shown as None.
- For Kim Kardashian, only her personal page was counted as her own domain.
- 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 | Which celebrities would be good partners for a new skincare brand? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 02 | Which celebrities own successful tequila or spirits brands? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 03 | Which athletes are top endorsers for sportswear brands? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 04 | Which celebrities partner with luxury watch brands? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 05 | Which celebrities would suit a hotel or resort brand campaign? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 06 | Which celebrities have their own wellness brands? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 07 | Which creators have launched successful snack or food brands? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 08 | Which celebrities are associated with finance and fintech brands? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 09 | Which celebrities are known for technology partnerships? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 10 | Which fashion brands work with celebrity ambassadors? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 11 | Which celebrity would suit a new energy drink launch? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 12 | Who are the most effective celebrity brand endorsers in 2026? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Core question |
| 13 | Which actors have founded beauty brands? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 14 | Which musicians own spirits brands? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 15 | Which athletes have long-running footwear partnerships? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 16 | Which celebrities are ambassadors for luxury fashion houses? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 17 | Which creators have partnerships with consumer electronics brands? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 18 | Which celebrities have collaborated on limited-edition jewelry collections? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 19 | Which celebrities have partnerships with travel or hospitality companies? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 20 | Which public figures have founded fitness or wellness businesses? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 21 | Which celebrities have partnered with grocery retailers on product launches? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 22 | Which athletes have appeared in banking or payment campaigns? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 23 | Which celebrities have renewed multi-year brand ambassador partnerships? | Celebrity Index 2.0 | Added question |
| 24 | Which celebrities have partnerships spanning more than one consumer category? | Celebrity 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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