Category · AI Citation Index
Design
Figma is the consensus pick — surfaces in 92% of buyer queries about design tools across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, and wins most head-to-head comparisons. Adobe and Canva trail close behind in discovery share (84% and 77%), but neither appears in enough evaluation-stage comparisons to score. Sketch holds visibility across all engines and wins half its matchups; Miro surfaces less often but edges ahead in head-to-heads. The category is consolidated at the top — Figma owns share of AI attention — but a long tail of niche players (Mural, Aha, Whimsical, Zeroheight) rack up comparison volume without breaking into the top-of-funnel shortlist.
275 discovery queries · 125 head-to-heads · refreshed May 1, 2026
Discovery stage
The shortlist
Across 275 buyer-style "Design" queries
Figma shows up across all four engines in 92% of buyer queries about design tools, with Adobe close behind at 84% and Canva at 77%. Sketch surfaces in 69% of discovery prompts and appears on every engine. Miro lands in half of queries, while handoff.ai and default.com each capture 62% and 42% of discovery share respectively, all visible across the full engine set.
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Signal by intent
By topic
Top 5 most-cited brands per intent cluster. Brands with zero citations in a topic are not shown.
Evaluation stage
Head-to-head
How often AI cites each brand across uniform category evaluation prompts · median 55/100
When buyers ask AI to compare design tools head-to-head, Figma wins most matchups (average score 79 across four comparisons). Miro edges ahead with a 75 average across six head-to-heads. Maze and Aha each appear in a dozen comparison queries but lose more often than they win (65 and 63 respectively). Sketch, Zeroheight, and Whimsical all fall below the category median in evaluation scores despite appearing in 11-14 head-to-heads each.
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Each brand's score is the share of category evaluation prompts where AI cited them across all four engines — the same prompt pool for every brand. Brands above the median citation rate have stronger presence in evaluation-stage queries.
Brands to know
In this category
Figma
Consensus pickBrowser-based UI design and prototyping platform
Read brand profile →Miro
Collaborative whiteboard for design workshops
Read brand profile →Sketch
Mac-native vector design for UI screens
Read brand profile →Mural
KingmakerVisual workspace for distributed design teams
Read brand profile →Aha
KingmakerRoadmapping and product design planning suite
Read brand profile →Citation sources
Where AI pulls citations from
997 citations captured across Design prompt runs.
Vendor pages
187Product, help, and marketing pages from tracked vendors
Independent sources
204Reviews, encyclopedias, forums, press — not vendor-owned
Buyer questions
What AI cites for top Design questions
Most queries are top-of-funnel exploration — buyers ask AI for the latest trends in prototyping tools, which design software enhances team collaboration, and what platforms aid in video thumbnail creation. A smaller slice digs into evaluation mechanics: how to assess mobile capabilities, compatibility with existing tools, and common licensing models. Trust queries focus on SOC 2 compliance and user-review ratings, while conversion questions probe ROI considerations and hidden costs.
Discovery
Buyers exploring the category- Cultural Heritage Imaging | Photogrammetryculturalheritageimaging.org
Evaluation
Buyers comparing optionsTrust
Buyers checking credibility- Best web design software of 2025techradar.com
Drill down
Subcategories
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