Sector measurement AI visibility · banks · September 2026
Which bank does the AI mention?
Eighteen questions that individuals, starters, entrepreneurs, and expats ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude about banks in the Netherlands. These cover business accounts, mortgages, savings rates, investing, sustainability, switching, costs, and the app. Each question was asked three times per engine, without using brand names in the query. These are the 216 answers, counted.
Measurement September 13, 2026 · 216 answers (18 questions × 4 engines × 3 repetitions) · 14 Dutch and 4 English questions · Google positions and speed: see Google on the same questions
216 answers, per question
Each row is a question, each dot an answer. An open dot mentions no bank at all; the position of a dot in the row says nothing about the engine or the repetition.
ABN AMRO mentioned
69%
Rabobank 65%, ING 62%. The three major banks appear in more than six out of ten answers.
bunq mentioned
42%
The fourth name, ahead of ASN Bank 30%, Revolut 28%, and Triodos 25%.
Consumentenbond as a source
126×
consumentenbond.nl is cited 126 times, far above abnamro.nl 85, rabobank.nl 64, and ing.nl 27.
Without any bank
14 out of 216
Answers that do not mention any bank. There is no empty answer to step into.
The premise
For banks, the answer is already filled in.
For banks, 14 out of 216 answers mentionMention A place where your business name is mentioned, with or without a link. no one. Anyone asking an AI assistantAI Assistant A chat program such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity that you can ask questions in natural language. about a bank gets names: almost always the three major banks, and in four out of ten cases, bunq as well. 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, but from the Consumentenbond and comparison sites.
1. What the AI literally answers
How AI talks about banks
Shortened only, without formatting or source numbers. They show how the AI reasons. It mentions the names it finds on a comparison site or in a guide, and it often states where it got them from. Mentioned banks are in bold.
Asked to Claude
How do I choose a bank in the Netherlands? What should I look for and which banks are eligible?
“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 an attractive interest rate, and ING for those who prefer the security of a large traditional bank. Other well-known options are ABN AMRO and Rabobank, and RegioBank was voted the best bank in the Netherlands according to the Consumentenbond.”
For this question, eleven out of twelve answers mention at least one bank. Most frequent: ING, Rabobank, and ABN AMRO each 9 out of 12, bunq 8, Knab 8, ASN Bank 7, Triodos 7. The Consumentenbond is mentioned by name in 7 out of 12 answers.
Asked to Perplexity
Which bank in the Netherlands is best for expats who just moved there, and how do I open an account?
“For most newly arrived expats, ING or ABN AMRO are the safest ‘main bank’ choices, while bunq is usually the easiest if you want to open an account before you have a BSN or want a fully digital setup.”
On this question: ABN AMRO 12 out of 12, bunq 12 out of 12, ING 11, Rabobank 9, followed by Revolut, N26, and Wise each 4. On the English questions, bunq ranks equal to 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 Fair Bank Guide update I found, Triodos Bank ranks at the top among Dutch banks, with an average policy score of 9.4. However: ‘the most sustainable bank’ cannot be determined absolutely, as it depends on which metric you use.”
On this question: ASN Bank 11 out of 12, Triodos 8, SNS 6, RegioBank 6; the three major banks each 2 to 3. The Fair Bank Guide is mentioned in 8 out of 12 answers. The referee determines the winner here.
2. Per question
Who is mentioned, and how often no one is
Twelve answers per question (four enginesEngine The system that generates answers or search results, such as Google or ChatGPT., three repetitions). 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 eighteen questions is the figure that counts. On seven questions, the most frequently mentioned name is not a major bank: savings rates (twice), investing, sustainability, switching, changing, and the deposit guarantee schemeDeposit guarantee scheme A scheme that protects your savings up to 100,000 euros per person per bank in the event of a bank failure.. Fourteen of the 216 answers mention no bank at all. These include four for switching and three for blocked accounts. When choosing a bank, it is one; for changing, two; and for the deposit guarantee scheme, four.
| Question (shortened) | 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 |
| Taking out a mortgage as a starter | Rabobank 12 ABN AMRO 10, ING 6, RegioBank 6, Obvion 4 |
| Highest savings rate, instant access | bunq 10 Trade Republic 6, Rabobank 5, Openbank 5, Raisin 5 |
| Starting to invest 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, and which bank makes it easiest | Consumentenbond 8 Rabobank 7, ABN AMRO 5, ASN Bank 5 4 out of 12 without a bank |
| Private banking, from what level of wealth | ABN AMRO 12 Rabobank 11, ING 10, Van Lanschot Kempen 9, Triodos 6 |
| Account blocked, who resolves it fastest | Rabobank 9, ABN AMRO 9 ING 7, ASN Bank 5 3 out of 12 without a bank |
| How to 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 changing, who do people recommend | ASN Bank 9 ING 8, Consumentenbond 7, ABN AMRO 7, Triodos 7 2 out of 12 without a bank |
| What does a checking account cost, who is the cheapest | ABN AMRO 12 ING 10, Rabobank 10, Revolut 9, N26 9 |
| Deposit guarantee scheme, at which banks | DNB 12 Rabobank 8, ABN AMRO 8, ING 6 4 out of 12 without a bank |
| Bank account for a child or teenager | 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 on a savings account (English) | bunq 11 Raisin 10, Trade Republic 10, Revolut 9; major banks 1 each |
On the two questions regarding savings rates combined, 24 answers, the AI mentions bunq 21 times and each major bank at most 6 times. This is a trend, not a fact, but it is the only place in the measurement where the major banks drop out of the answer.
3. The map
Who is mentioned across all 216 answers
Counted by name, including common spellings. A name counts once per answer, regardless of how often it appears. Regulators, comparison sites, and media are listed separately under the referees. The bar represents the percentage of the 216 answers.
Mentioned in percent of 216 answers
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 the number of answers. Nationale-Nederlanden, Saxo Bank, NIBC, Obvion, and Brand New Day: 2 to 3% (4 to 6 answers). BUX and Florius: 1%. Meesman, Aegon, De Hypotheker, De Hypotheekshop, Viisi, and Sparen.nl: 0%, they are on the counting list but appear in no answers.
Margin of error over 216 answers: ± 5.3 percentage points at 20%, ± 2.9 at 5%. Per question (n = 12), the margin increases to ± 28 percentage points; a figure per question is a trend, not a fact.
4. The referees
Which sources the AI cites
When the AI provides 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, over 216 answers:
The thick line represents the route the AI takes most often. Per stack, the three most cited domains; the full lists are below.
Comparison sites, regulators, 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 answers (19%). DNB is mentioned in 21 answers (10%) and the Eerlijke Bankwijzer in 11.
One comparison site is cited more often than the best-cited bank, and three smaller comparison sites together account for another 165 citations. The AI gets its names from the party that compares, not the party being compared. For the English questions, these are the expat guides: dutchreview.com, expatica.com, and godutch.com, totaling 121 times.
5. Google on the same questions
How banks score in regular Google search results
In addition to the AI answers above, we also looked at how ING scores 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 measurement, so it cannot be directly compared with the AI figures above, but it provides a second look at the same questions.
On average, ING ranks at positionPosition The location where your website appears in search results, for example, spot 3. 10 in Google: not bad, but 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 is at position 2, very easy to find. For ‘highest savings rate’, ING only ranks at position 18. With over 12,000 searches per month, that term is the most popular in this study. ING is therefore far out of sight on exactly the topic most people are searching for.
It is also striking that ING is frequently mentioned in the AI answers above, among the three most popular names. A good Google position and a good AI mention do not necessarily go hand in hand.
Finally, ING’s website is on the slow side on mobile phones, with a load time of over 4 seconds. Google itself uses 4 seconds as a limit. Speed on desktop is good. Incidentally, a faster website did not result in a higher position in this entire sector. For none of the eleven bank sites studied was speed related to position. Brand awareness and website size likely carry more weight here than technical performance.
Average Google position desktop, national (lower is better)
n = number of the 13 keywords with a measured position for that domain. With a small n (SNS Bank n=1, Knab and RegioBank n=2), the average is not stable. The dot shows the trend, not a precise number.
Position in Google.nl (desktop), top 5 banks for 10 keywords
| Keyword | ING | ABN AMRO | Rabobank | bunq | ASN Bank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mortgage starter | 8 | 2 | 5 | — | 12 |
| Highest savings rate | 18 | 43 | 16 | — | 33 |
| Starting with investing | 7 | 10 | 1 | — | 5 |
| Switching to another bank | 10 | 12 | 1 | — | 5 |
| Changing banks | 10 | 14 | 1 | 41 | 5 |
| Cheapest checking account | 20 | — | 17 | — | 6 |
| Deposit guarantee scheme | — | 11 | 8 | 42 | 30 |
| Open bank account (English) | 2 | 1 | 12 | 14 | — |
| Business bank account (English) | 13 | 6 | 4 | — | — |
| Best savings account (English) | 3 | 7 | 17 | 13 | 41 |
Position in Google.nl (mobile), top 5 banks for 10 keywords
| Keyword | ING | ABN AMRO | Rabobank | bunq | ASN Bank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mortgage starter | 4 | 3 | 5 | — | 13 |
| Highest savings rate | 17 | 26 | — | — | — |
| Starting with investing | 7 | 10 | 1 | — | 5 |
| Switching to another bank | 13 | 9 | 2 | — | 5 |
| Changing banks | 11 | 14 | 1 | 41 | 5 |
| Cheapest checking account | 20 | — | 16 | — | 7 |
| Deposit guarantee scheme | — | 11 | 8 | 42 | 30 |
| Open bank account (English) | 2 | 1 | — | 18 | — |
| Business bank account (English) | 2 | 5 | 7 | — | — |
| Best savings account (English) | 3 | 9 | 17 | 13 | 39 |
Position on Google.nl, national. — = no position within the measured range. Ten of the thirteen measured keywords. The other three (most sustainable bank, bank account blocked, which bank to choose) had too few measured positions for these five banks to make a meaningful comparison.
6. What stands out
Five findings across eighteen questions
1
There is no gap. For banks, 14 out of 216 answers mention no one. Anyone wanting to stand out here must displace a name, not fill a void.
2
The referee is a comparison site, not a bank. consumentenbond.nl is cited 126 times, far above abnamro.nl (85) and rabobank.nl (64). banken.nl (66), bank.nl (54), and bankenvergelijking.nl (45) follow behind. The comparison site determines who appears in the answer.
3
bunq is the fourth name. 42% of the answers, ahead of ASN Bank (30%), Revolut (28%), and Triodos (25%). On the English questions, bunq ranks equal to ABN AMRO and ING. On the two savings rate questions combined, the AI mentions bunq 21 out of 24 times and each major bank at most 6 times. The latter is a trend, but it is the only place where the major banks drop out of the answer.
4
Mortgage advice is invisible. De Hypotheker, De Hypotheekshop, and Viisi appear in none of the 216 answers. On the mortgage question, the AI mentions Rabobank (12 out of 12), ABN AMRO (10), ING (6), RegioBank (6), and Obvion (4): banks, not advisors.
5
The engines differ significantly. Gemini mentions ING in 87% of its 54 answers, ChatGPT in 39%. Gemini cites ing.nl as a source in 28% of its answers, Claude in 0%. Those who only test ChatGPT see a different picture than those who test Gemini.
ING mentioned per AI service, as a percentage of the 54 answers per service.
7. Method and limitations
This is how the counting was done
- Eighteen questions, fourteen in Dutch and four in English, formulated as an individual, starter, entrepreneur, or expat would type them, without 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. Model versions are fixed so that the measurement is repeatable.
- The ING brand is a proxy in this measurement: the tracker needs one brand to run. The result is the map of the sector, not a report on ING. Every name on a list of 42 banks, brokers, comparison sites, and regulators was counted in every answer, including common spellings.
- A name counts if it is in the text of the answer; a source counts if the AI provides the domain as a reference. Domain figures 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): over 216 answers ± 5.3 percentage points at 20% and ± 2.9 at 5%; per question (n = 12) ± 28 percentage points. A figure per question is a trend; the pattern across eighteen questions is the finding. No claim in this report rests on a single answer.
- Not measured: AI Overviews, location settings (all answers national), and whether a mentioned bank actually wins customers. A mention is visibility, not a recommendation from us. Google positions, Google AI Mode, and load speed for 13 of these keywords can be found under Google on the same questions.
- The measurement was carried out by EQwise without commission from any of the mentioned parties. No judgment is passed on any party; the figures are what the AI systems answered on this day.
Which comparison site occupies that spot in your sector?
The AI gets its names from the comparison site, not the provider. EQwise measures per question, per engine, and per language whether you are included. We also measure how often your name appears in the questions preceding the choice. You receive a task list that your team can execute themselves. The first, limited scan is free.
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Frequently asked questions
Questions about this sector measurement
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.
