AI answers data · Cloud storage
Who AI recommends for cloud storage
On November 6, 2026, we asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode the same 5 buyer questions about cloud storage. Out of 25 answers, Google Drive was named in 21, Microsoft OneDrive in 20 and Proton Drive in 19.
Data collected by Howseen AI on November 6, 2026 · no affiliation with the brands namedThe short answer
Which cloud storage brands do AI engines name?
When a US buyer asks AI engines for the best cloud storage, a small group of brands comes back in most answers. Here is what the 25 answers we collected on November 6, 2026 said, counted, not judged.
- →Google Drive was named in 21 of 25 answers (84 %).
- →Microsoft OneDrive was named in 20 of 25 answers (80 %).
- →Proton Drive was named in 19 of 25 answers (76 %).
- →9 brands appeared at least once on every one of the 5 engines: Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Proton Drive, MEGA, Sync.com, pCloud, Dropbox, Google Photos, IDrive.
- →The brand named first most often was Google Drive (first brand in 6 of 25 answers).
- →An answer named 6.4 of these brands on average.
The data
Brands named in AI answers about cloud storage
Each row counts the answers that name the brand at least once. The engine columns read « answers naming it / answers collected on that engine ». « Named first » counts the answers where it was the first of these brands to appear.
| Brand | Answers | Named first | ChatGPT | Gemini | Perplexity | Google AI Overviews | Google AI Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | 21/25 | 6 | 4/5 | 5/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 5/5 |
| Microsoft OneDrive | 20/25 | 5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 5/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| Proton Drive | 19/25 | 5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| MEGA | 14/25 | 3 | 2/5 | 4/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Sync.com | 14/25 | 0 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 2/5 |
| pCloud | 13/25 | 1 | 1/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| Dropbox | 12/25 | 0 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Google Photos | 10/25 | 3 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| IDrive | 10/25 | 1 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| iCloud | 10/25 | 1 | 2/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 0/5 | 1/5 |
| Box | 4/25 | 0 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 |
| Internxt | 4/25 | 0 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 |
| Tresorit | 4/25 | 0 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 |
| Amazon Photos | 3/25 | 0 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 1/5 |
| Backblaze | 1/25 | 0 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 |
Also named in fewer answers: Icedrive (1).
By engine
Does each AI engine name the same brands?
Each engine reads different pages and writes its own answer. Here are the three brands each one named most often on these questions.
| Engine | Answers | Most named (answers) |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 5 | Google Drive (4), Microsoft OneDrive (4), Proton Drive (4) |
| Gemini | 5 | Google Drive (5), Microsoft OneDrive (4), Proton Drive (4) |
| Perplexity | 5 | Microsoft OneDrive (5), Google Drive (3), Proton Drive (3) |
| Google AI Overviews | 5 | Google Drive (4), Proton Drive (4), Sync.com (4) |
| Google AI Mode | 5 | Google Drive (5), Microsoft OneDrive (4), Proton Drive (4) |
The engines do not always agree. iCloud was named in 4 of 5 Gemini answers and in 0 of 5 Google AI Overviews answers.
Sources
The sites AI reads for cloud storage
25 of the 25 answers listed their sources. These are the sites cited in the most answers. They show where the engines look before naming a brand.
| Site | Answers citing it | Engines |
|---|---|---|
| zapier.com | 13/25 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity |
| pcmag.com | 11/25 | Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity |
| youtube.com | 8/25 | Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews |
| tomsguide.com | 6/25 | ChatGPT, Perplexity |
| cloudwards.net | 6/25 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity |
| gizmodo.com | 6/25 | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity |
| experte.com | 5/25 | Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity |
| blog.mega.io | 5/25 | Gemini, Perplexity |
| techradar.com | 5/25 | Google AI Mode, Perplexity |
| sync.com | 4/25 | ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews |
Method
The questions we asked, and how we counted
Every number on this page comes from these 5 questions, asked on November 6, 2026.
Published November 6, 2026. Updated November 6, 2026. How these engines build an answer, in their makers’ words: Google on AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity on how it searches; on why being named matters, see Pew Research Center on clicks when an AI summary appears and the GEO research paper (Princeton, KDD 2024).
“As with Search overall, the AI features AI Overviews and AI Mode surface relevant links to help people find the information they’re looking for quickly and reliably, as well as to help them explore content they may not have discovered before.”Google Search Central, AI features and your website
- What is the best cloud storage service?
- What is the best cloud storage for a small business?
- What is the most secure cloud storage?
- What is the best free cloud storage?
- What is the best cloud storage for storing photos and videos?
- →Date: all answers were collected on November 6, 2026 (UTC), in one run.
- →Engines: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, queried through DataForSEO's AI answer APIs, location United States, language English. ChatGPT was run with web search on, Perplexity with its Sonar model.
- →Questions: 5 generic buyer questions written by us, the same for every engine, with no brand in them. They start from the US search « best cloud storage » (2,900 searches a month on Google in the US, Google Ads data).
- →Counting: a brand counts when its name appears in the visible text of the answer (images, image captions and URLs are not counted). Each answer counts once per brand, however many times the name appears.
- →Limits: AI answers change from one day and one person to the next. This is a dated snapshot of 25 answers, not a ranking and not a review of the products.
- →Data: only our own scans of public questions. No data from Howseen customers is used on this page.
About this page
No affiliation, no endorsement
Howseen AI has no affiliation with, and receives no endorsement or payment from, any brand named on this page. Brand names are used only to report what AI engines answered on a given date. We make no judgment on the quality of any product.
Represent a brand named here, or one that should be? Write to raphael@howseen.ai to request a correction or add a response, and we will reply.
Questions about this data
Short answers to the questions people ask most about this topic, each one based on the sources cited on this page.
Which cloud storage brand does AI recommend most?+
In our scan of 25 AI answers on November 6, 2026, Google Drive was named most often (21 of 25 answers), followed by Microsoft OneDrive (20) and Proton Drive (19). This counts mentions; it is not a quality ranking.
Do ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity recommend the same cloud storage?+
Partly. 9 brands were named at least once on all five engines (Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Proton Drive, MEGA, Sync.com, pCloud, Dropbox, Google Photos, IDrive). Others vary: iCloud was named in 4 of 5 Gemini answers and 0 of 5 Google AI Overviews answers.
Which websites does AI use to answer questions about cloud storage?+
The sites cited in the most answers were zapier.com, pcmag.com, youtube.com, tomsguide.com, cloudwards.net. 25 of the 25 answers listed sources.
How was this measured?+
We asked 5 generic questions, the same on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, from the United States in English on November 6, 2026, and counted the answers that name each brand in their visible text. The questions are listed on this page.
Is my brand mentioned when AI answers questions about my market?+
These questions cover one category on one date. Howseen tracks the questions your own buyers ask, on up to six AI engines, every 3 days or daily on Business, and shows which brands and sources are named instead of you.
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