Subcategory · AI Citation Index
Who AI is citing in Headless CMS
No brand owns AI shortlists in headless CMS; Netlify and Prismic tie at 72 in featured mentions, but zero dominant placements across 17 prompts.
Brands tracked
28
Avg AEO score
60/100
Citation coverage
0%
of brands cited at least once
Dominant brands
0
cited > 50% of queries
Discovery stage
The shortlist
When buyers ask AI for the best Headless CMS software
No discovery-stage prompts have been scored against this category yet — once the shortlist cron runs, this section will surface which brands AI cites most.
Evaluation stage
The battleground
How brands fare on comparison queries · category median 41/100
In direct comparisons, Sanity leads evaluation queries with an average score of 48, followed by Acoustic Content at 46 and Ghost at 43. The median evaluation score sits at 41. Contentful and Storyblok — often considered incumbents — score 40 and 41 respectively, below Sanity and Acoustic in head-to-head contexts.
Each brand's evaluation score averages how AI responds to head-to-head comparison queries that mention them. Above-median brands win their comparisons more often than they lose.
Trends
Over the last 12 months
Too few audits to establish a trend. Data spans only two months (March–April 2026) with category average scores moving from 57 to 58. Acoustic Content shows the strongest upward movement with a delta of +12 points in that window.
Editorial picks
Brands worth watching
Sanity
Sanity tops evaluation queries at 48, outperforming Contentful and Storyblok in side-by-side comparisons. It appears in 4 comparison audits and scores 63 in featured candidate placement.
Read brand profile →Acoustic Content
Acoustic Content posted a +12 delta between March and April 2026, the largest single-brand swing in the category. Despite that momentum, it scores 46 in evaluations and lands last among featured candidates at 46.
Read brand profile →Netlify
Netlify ties for the highest featured-candidate score at 72, yet scores only 41 in direct comparisons. The gap suggests strong brand recognition in general queries but weaker positioning when models compare features.
Read brand profile →Contentful
Contentful appears in 6 comparison queries (tied for most in the category) and scores 40 on evaluation — below the 41 median. Featured-candidate score of 66 reflects sustained visibility despite middling head-to-head performance.
Read brand profile →Ghost
Ghost scores 43 in evaluations, third-best in the category, and 63 in featured placement. It appears in 4 comparison queries, matching Sanity and Netlify for audit coverage.
Read brand profile →FAQ
Headless CMS questions, answered
Which headless CMS does AI recommend most often?+
How does Contentful compare to Sanity in AI evaluations?+
What is the average AI citation score for headless CMS tools?+
Is any headless CMS gaining momentum in AI citations?+
Why do Netlify and Prismic score highest in featured candidates but lower in evaluations?+
Which headless CMS platforms appear most often in AI comparison queries?+
Related
More in Content & Knowledge
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