AI Visibility Industry Survey · Banks · September 2026
Which bank does the AI mention?
Eighteen questions that individuals, first-time homebuyers, entrepreneurs, and expats ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude about banks in the Netherlands. The topics include business accounts, mortgages, savings interest rates, investing, sustainability, switching banks, fees, and the app. Each question was asked three times per AI model, without mentioning any brand names in the question. Here are the 216 responses, as counted.
Measurement September 13, 2026 · 216 answers (18 questions × 4 search engines × 3 repetitions) · 14 Dutch and 4 English questions · Google rankings and speed: see Google for the same questions
216 answers, per question
Each row is a question, each dot is an answer. An open dot does not represent any bank. A dot’s position in the row says nothing about the engine or the repetition.
ABN AMRO mentioned
69%
Rabobank 65%, ING 62%. The three major banks are mentioned in more than six out of ten responses.
called bunq
42%
The fourth name, ahead of ASN Bank at 30%, Revolut at 28%, and Triodos at 25%.
Consumers’ Association as a source
126×
consumentenbond.nl is cited 126 times, far more than abnamro.nl (85), rabobank.nl (64), and ing.nl (27).
Without a bank
14 of 216
Answers that don’t mention any banks. There is no blank answer to select.
The thesis
For banks, the answer is already filled in.
When it comes to banks, 14 of the 216 responses did not mentionMention A place where your business name is mentioned, with or without a link. any. Anyone who asks an AI assistantAI Assistant A chat program such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity that you can ask questions in natural language. for a bank gets names: almost always the three major banks, and in four out of ten cases, bunq is included. What is striking, however, is where the AIAI Computer programs that perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as writing text or answering questions. gets those names: not from the banks themselves, but from the Consumers’ Association and comparison sites.
1. What the AI literally responds
This Is How AI Talks About Banks
These are just abridged versions, without formatting or source numbers. They show how the AI reasons. It lists the names it finds on a comparison site or in a guide, and it often mentions where it got them from. The banks mentioned are in bold.
Question for Claude
How do I choose a bank in the Netherlands? What should I look for, and which banks should I consider?
“The best bank in the Netherlands in 2026 is bunq for those who want a fully digital neobankNeobank A bank that operates exclusively online, without physical branches, typically through an app., Trade Republic for those who want free banking with attractive interest rates, and ING for those who prefer the security of a large traditional bank. Other well-known options include ABN AMRO and Rabobank, and RegioBank was voted the best bank in the Netherlands by the Consumentenbond.”
In response to this question, 11 out of 12 respondents named at least one bank. The most frequently mentioned were: ING, Rabobank, and ABN AMRO (each 9 out of 12), bunq (8), Knab (8), ASN Bank (7), and Triodos (7). The Consumentenbond is mentioned by name in 7 out of 12 responses.
Asked of Perplexity
Which bank in the Netherlands is best for expats who have just moved there, and how do I open an account?
“For most newly arrived expats, ING or ABN AMRO are the safest choices for a ‘main bank,’ while bunq is usually the easiest option if you want to open an account before you have a BSN or prefer a fully digital setup.”
For this question: ABN AMRO 12 out of 12, bunq 12 out of 12, ING 11, Rabobank 9, followed by Revolut, N26, and Wise with 4 each. On the English questions, bunq is on par with the major banks.
Asked to ChatGPT
Which Dutch bank is the most sustainable, and how can I be sure?
“If by ‘most sustainable’ you mean: according to the most recent Eerlijke Bankwijzer update I found, Triodos Bank ranks first among Dutch banks, with an average policy score of 9.4. However, ‘the most sustainable bank’ cannot be determined definitively, because it depends on which criteria you use.”
In response to this question: ASN Bank scored 11 out of 12, Triodos 8, SNS 6, RegioBank 6; the three major banks each scored 2 to 3. The Eerlijke Bankwijzer was mentioned in 8 of the 12 responses. The referee decides who wins here.
2. Per question
Who is mentioned, and how often—no one
Twelve responses per question (four search enginesSearch engine A website used to search the internet, such as Google or Bing., three duplicates). A figure per question indicates a trend, with a margin of up to ±28 percentage pointsPercentage Point The difference between two percentages, calculated by simple subtraction.. The pattern across 18 questions is the figure that counts. For seven questions, the most frequently mentioned name is not a major bank: savings interest (twice), investing, sustainability, switching, changing banks, and the deposit insurance system. Fourteen of the 216 responses do not mention any bank at all. There are four such responses for “switching banks” and three for “frozen accounts.” For “choosing a bank,” there is one such response; for “changing banks,” two; and for “deposit insurance system,” four.
| Question (abridged) | Most frequently mentioned (out of 12) |
|---|---|
| Business Account for an SMESME Small and medium-sized enterprises: businesses with fewer than 250 employees. | ABN AMRO 12 Rabobank 11, Knab 11, ING 8 |
| Getting a Mortgage as a First-Time Homebuyer | Rabobank 12 ABN AMRO 10, ING 6, RegioBank 6, Obvion 4 |
| Highest savings interest rate, freely withdrawable | bunq 10 Trade Republic 6, Rabobank 5, Openbank 5, Raisin 5 |
| Getting Started with Investing with 10,000 euros | DEGIRO 11 ABN AMRO 10, ING 7, Rabobank 7, Scalable Capital 6 |
| Most Sustainable Bank | ASN Bank 11 Triodos 8, SNS 6, RegioBank 6; major banks 2 to 3 |
| How do I switch banks, and which bank makes it easiest? | Consumers’ Association 8 Rabobank 7, ABN AMRO 5, ASN Bank 5 4 out of 12 without a bank |
| Private banking: starting at what asset level? | ABN AMRO 12 Rabobank 11, ING 10, Van Lanschot Kempen 9, Triodos 6 |
| Account blocked—who can resolve this the fastest? | Rabobank 9, ABN AMRO 9 ING 7, ASN Bank 5 3 out of 12 without a bank |
| How do I choose a bank? | ING 9, Rabobank 9, ABN AMRO 9 bunq 8, Knab 8, Consumentenbond 7 1 out of 12 without a bank |
| What to look for when switching providers, and who do people recommend? | ASN Bank 9 ING 8, Consumentenbond 7, ABN AMRO 7, Triodos 7 2 out of 12 without a bank |
| How much does a checking account cost, and which bank offers the lowest rates? | ABN AMRO 12 ING 10, Rabobank 10, Revolut 9, N26 9 |
| Deposit Insurance System: Which Banks Participate? | DNB 12 Rabobank 8, ABN AMRO 8, ING 6 4 out of 12 without a bank |
| Bank Account for a Child or Teen | Rabobank 10, ABN AMRO 10 ASN Bank 9, ING 9 |
| Best app and online banking | ING 10 Rabobank 9, Revolut 7, bunq 7, RegioBank 5 |
| Best Bank for Expats Who Just Moved (English) | ABN AMRO 12, bunq 12 ING 11, Rabobank 9 |
| How to Choose a Bank as a Newcomer (English) | ABN AMRO 12 bunq 11, ING 10, Rabobank 9, Revolut 7, Wise 7 |
| Best Business Account for a Small Company (English) | ING 11 ABN AMRO 10, bunq 9, Wise 7, Rabobank 6 |
| Highest interest rate on a savings account (English) | bunq 11 Raisin 10, Trade Republic 10, Revolut 9; major banks, 1 each |
Across the two questions about savings account interest rates combined—24 responses—the AI mentions bunq 21 times and each major bank no more than 6 times. That’s a trend, not a fact, but it’s the only part of the survey where the major banks are left out of the responses.
3. The Map
Who is mentioned across all 216 responses
Counted by name, including common variations. A name counts once per response, regardless of how often it appears. Supervisors, evaluators, and media representatives are listed separately from the referees. The bar represents the percentage of the 216 responses.
Mentioned as a percentage of 216 responses
ABN AMRO (150)69
Rabobank (140)65
ING (134)62
bunq (91)42
ASN Bank (65)30
Revolut (60)28
Triodos (54)25
RegioBank (43)20
Knab (37)17
SNS (31)14
N26 (29)13
Trade Republic (28)13
Openbank (27)13
Wise (21)10
Raisin (15)7
Scalable Capital (14)6
DEGIRO (11)5
Van Lanschot Kempen (10)5
In parentheses is the number of responses. Nationale-Nederlanden, Saxo Bank, NIBC, Obvion, and Brand New Day: 2 to 3% (4 to 6 responses). BUX and Florius: 1%. Meesman, Aegon, De Hypotheker, De Hypotheekshop, Viisi, and Sparen.nl: 0%; they’re on the list but weren’t mentioned in any of the responses.
Margin of error based on 216 responses: ± 5.3 percentage points at 20%, ± 2.9 at 5%. Per question (n = 12), the margin rises to ± 28 percentage points; a figure per question indicates a trend, not a fact.
4. The Referees
What sources does the AI cite?
When the AI cites a source, it is more often a comparison site or a guide than a bank. Number of times a domain is cited as a source, based on 216 responses:
The thick line shows the route the AI takes most often. For each category, the three most frequently cited domains are listed. The complete lists are shown below.
Comparison sites, regulatory bodies, guides, and media
- consumentenbond.nl: 126
- banken.nl: 66, bank.nl: 54, bankenvergelijking.nl: 45
- dutchreview.com: 58, expatica.com: 32, godutch.com: 31, expatnetherlandshub.com: 23
- dnb.nl: 35
- reddit.com: 34, nl.trustpilot.com: 18
- geld.nl: 32, bankingreview.nl: 31, bankinggeek.com: 28, homefinance.nl: 24
- finner.nl: 17, eerlijkegeldwijzer.nl: 17, zakelijkbankieren.nl: 16, boekhouder.nl: 15
Banks Themselves
- abnamro.nl: 85
- rabobank.nl: 64
- wise.com: 34
- ing.nl: 27
- raisin.com: 25
- bunq.com: 17
In the text itself, the Consumentenbond is mentioned by name in 42 of the 216 responses (19%). DNB is mentioned in 21 responses (10%), and the Eerlijke Bankwijzer in 11.
One comparison site is cited more often than the most-cited bank, and three smaller comparison sites combined account for another 165 citations. The AI retrieves its names from the party doing the comparing, not from the party being compared. For the English-language queries, these are the expat guides: dutchreview.com, expatica.com, and godutch.com, which are cited a combined 121 times.
5. Search Google for the same questions
How Banks Rank in Regular Google Search Results
In addition to the AI responsesAI Answer The generated response provided by an AI assistant in answer to a query. above, we also looked at how ING ranks in regular Google search resultsSearch Results The page containing links and advertisements that you see after searching for something on Google. for the same topics. This is a separate analysis, so it can’t be directly compared to the AI scores above, but it does provide a second perspective on the same questions.
On average, ING ranks 10th on Google: not bad, but it’s also not in the top 3, where most visitors come from. This varies greatly by topic. For “open a bank account in the Netherlands” (a popular search term among expats), ING ranks 2nd and is very easy to find. For “highest savings interest rate,” ING ranks only 18th. With over 12,000 searches per month, that term is the most popular in this study. So ING is far out of the picture for the very topic that most people are searching for.
It is also striking that ING is, in fact, frequently mentioned in the AI responses above—among the three most popular names. A good Google rankingPosition The location where your website appears in search results, for example, spot 3. and a prominent mention in AI results do not necessarily go hand in hand.
Finally, ING’s website is on the slow side when accessed on a mobile phone, with a load time of over 4 seconds. Google itself considers 4 seconds to be the threshold. The speed on a computer, however, is good. Incidentally, a faster website did not result in a higher ranking across this entire sector. For none of the eleven bank websites examined was speed correlated with ranking. Brand recognition and the size of the website likely carry more weight here than technical factors.
Average Google ranking on desktop, nationwide (lower is better)
n = the number of the 13 keywords with a measured position for that domain. When n is small (SNS Bank n=1, Knab and RegioBank n=2), the average is not stable. The dot indicates the direction, not an exact number.
Rankings on Google.nl (desktop): Top 5 Banks for 10 Keywords
| Search term | ING | ABN AMRO | Rabobank | bunq | ASN Bank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-Time Homebuyer Mortgage | 8 | 2 | 5 | — | 12 |
| Highest Savings Account Interest Rate | 18 | 43 | 16 | — | 33 |
| Getting Started with Investing | 7 | 10 | 1 | — | 5 |
| Switching to Another Bank | 10 | 12 | 1 | — | 5 |
| Change Banks | 10 | 14 | 1 | 41 | 5 |
| Cheapest checking account | 20 | — | 17 | — | 6 |
| Deposit Insurance System | — | 11 | 8 | 42 | 30 |
| Open a bank account (English) | 2 | 1 | 12 | 14 | — |
| Business Bank Account (English) | 13 | 6 | 4 | — | — |
| Best Savings Account (English) | 3 | 7 | 17 | 13 | 41 |
Rankings on Google.nl (mobile): Top 5 banks for 10 keywords
| Search term | ING | ABN AMRO | Rabobank | bunq | ASN Bank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-Time Homebuyer Mortgage | 4 | 3 | 5 | — | 13 |
| Highest Savings Account Interest Rate | 17 | 26 | — | — | — |
| Getting Started with Investing | 7 | 10 | 1 | — | 5 |
| Switching to Another Bank | 13 | 9 | 2 | — | 5 |
| Change Banks | 11 | 14 | 1 | 41 | 5 |
| Cheapest checking account | 20 | — | 16 | — | 7 |
| Deposit Insurance System | — | 11 | 8 | 42 | 30 |
| Open a bank account (English) | 2 | 1 | — | 18 | — |
| Business Bank Account (English) | 2 | 5 | 7 | — | — |
| Best Savings Account (English) | 3 | 9 | 17 | 13 | 39 |
Ranking on Google.nl, nationwide. — = no ranking within the measured range. Ten out of thirteen measured keywords. The remaining three (“most sustainable bank,” “bank account blocked,” “which bank to choose”) had too few measured rankings for these five banks to make a meaningful comparison.
6. What stands out
Five Findings on Eighteen Questions
1
There is no hole. Among banks, 14 of the 216 responses did not name anyone. If you want to stand out here, you have to push a name to the forefront, not fill a void.
2
The referee is an arbitrator, not a bank. consumentenbond.nl is cited 126 times, far ahead of abnamro.nl (85) and rabobank.nl (64). banken.nl (66), bank.nl (54), and bankenvergelijking.nl (45) follow behind. The comparison site determines who is included in the answer.
3
bunq is the fourth name. 42% of the responses, ahead of ASN Bank (30%), Revolut (28%), and Triodos (25%). In response to the English questions, bunq is on par with ABN AMRO and ING. When considering the two savings interest rate questions together, the AI mentions bunq 21 out of 24 times and each major bank no more than 6 times. While the latter trend is evident, it is the only area where the major banks are left out of the results.
4
Mortgage advice is invisible. De Hypotheker, De Hypotheekshop, and Viisi do not appear in any of the 216 responses. In response to the mortgage question, the AI lists Rabobank (12 out of 12), ABN AMRO (10), ING (6), RegioBank (6), and Obvion (4)—all of which are banks, not advisors.
5
The engines differ greatly. Gemini mentions ING in 87% of its 54 responses, while ChatGPT mentions it in 39%. Gemini cites ing.nl as a source in 28% of its responses, while Claude cites it in 0%. Those who test only ChatGPT see a different picture than those who test Gemini.
ING mentioned per AI service, as a percentage of the 54 responses per service.
7. Method and Limitations
That’s how it was counted
- Eighteen questions—fourteen in Dutch and four in English—phrased just as a private individual, a newcomer, an entrepreneur, or an expat might type them, without any brand names. Each question was asked three times to ChatGPT (GPT-5.4 mini), Gemini 2.5 Flash, Perplexity Sonar, and Claude Haiku 4.5, with web search enabled. This took place on September 13, 2026, via EQwise LLM data. The model versions were fixed to ensure the measurement is reproducible.
- The ING brand serves as a proxy in this analysis: the tracker requires a single brand to operate. The result is a snapshot of the sector, not a report on ING. Every name on a list of 42 banks, brokers, comparison sites, and regulators was counted in each response, using common spellings.
- A name counts if it appears in the text of the answer; a source counts if the AI cites the domain as a reference. Domain counts are citations, not answers: a domain can be cited more than once in a single answer.
- Margin of error ± 1.96 × √(p(1−p)/n): for 216 responses, ± 5.3 percentage points at 20% and ± 2.9 at 5%. Per question (n = 12), ± 28 percentage points. A figure per question indicates a general trend. The pattern across 18 questions constitutes the finding. No statement in this report is based on a single response.
- Not measured: AI summaries, location settings (all responses are nationwide), and whether a mentioned bank is actually gaining customers. A mention indicates visibility; it is not a recommendation from us. Google rankings, Google AI Mode, and page load speed for 13 of these keywords are listed on Google under the same search queries.
- The survey was conducted by EQwise without being commissioned by any of the parties mentioned. No judgment is made regarding any of the parties. The figures represent the responses provided by the AI systems on that day.
Which comparison site holds that position in your industry?
The AI retrieves names from the comparison site, not from the provider. EQwise measures whether your name appears in the results for each question, each search engine, and each language. We also track how often your name comes up in the questions that precede the selection. You’ll receive a task list that your team can carry out on its own. The first, limited scan is free.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about this industry survey
Can EQwise also measure this for my sector or my brand?
Yes. The method is the same for every sector: a set of questions as customers actually ask them. These are measured across multiple AI enginesEngine The system that generates answers or search results, such as Google or ChatGPT. and repeated for reliability, plus the corresponding Google positionPosition The location where your website appears in search results, for example, spot 3. and speed. The initial, limited scan is free. Request it below.
How reliable are these figures?
Across all 216 responses combined, the margin of errorMargin of Error The degree to which a measured figure may deviate from reality. is ± 5.3 percentage pointsPercentage Point The difference between two percentages, calculated by simple subtraction. at a 20% level. For individual questions (12 responses), this margin increases to ± 28 percentage points: a figure per question serves as an indication, not an exact fact. The conclusions in this report are based on patterns across multiple questions, never on a single answer.
Is this a report about ING?
No. For the purposes of this measurement, ING serves as a proxy brandProxy brand A brand that serves as a measurement point in a study, without the study being about that specific brand.. The AI trackerAI Tracker A measurement tool that tracks how often a brand appears in AI-generated responses. requires a single brand to function. The Google position measurement for these same questions uses that same brand to align with the same topics. The result is a map of the entire sector, not an assessment of ING.
What is the difference between this measurement and a standard SEO check?
A standard SEOSEO Everything you do to improve your visibility in Google without paying for advertisements. check measures your positionPosition The location where your website appears in search results, for example, spot 3. in Google. This measurement does that as well (see Google for the same questions), but it also looks at something new: how AI assistantsAI Assistant A chat program such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity that you can ask questions in natural language. like ChatGPTChatGPT OpenAI's AI assistant, which allows you to ask questions and receive answers in natural language., GeminiGemini Google's AI assistant and language model., PerplexityPerplexity An AI search engine that provides answers with numbered citations., and ClaudeClaude The AI assistant from Anthropic. respond when someone asks them a question directly, without mentioning a brand name. This is called GEOGEO Ensuring that AI assistants like ChatGPT recognize, mention, and recommend your business when someone asks them for advice.. It is a separate metric: a good Google position and a good AI mentionMention A place where your business name is mentioned, with or without a link. do not necessarily go hand in hand, as this measurement shows.
Why is a GEO measurement important?
GEOGEO Ensuring that AI assistants like ChatGPT recognize, mention, and recommend your business when someone asks them for advice. stands for generative engine optimization: being visible in the answers provided by ChatGPTChatGPT OpenAI's AI assistant, which allows you to ask questions and receive answers in natural language., GeminiGemini Google's AI assistant and language model., PerplexityPerplexity An AI search engine that provides answers with numbered citations., and ClaudeClaude The AI assistant from Anthropic.. Those who pose a choice-based question to such an assistant do not receive a list of ten links, but rather a handful of names. If you are not among them, you are not even considered for comparison.
A standard SEOSEO Everything you do to improve your visibility in Google without paying for advertisements. measurement does not capture this. A high Google rankingPosition The location where your website appears in search results, for example, spot 3. and an AI mentionMention A place where your business name is mentioned, with or without a link. do not necessarily go hand in hand. This banking sector analysis demonstrates this. A GEO measurement shows per question, per engineEngine The system that generates answers or search results, such as Google or ChatGPT., and per language whether you are mentioned, how often, and which source the AIAI Computer programs that perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as writing text or answering questions. uses for that information. For banks, this is the comparison site, not the bank itself. That is exactly where you can take action.
