Is your company visible
in AI Search?
See how France's top 40 startups (Next40) rank when customers ask ChatGPT, Gemini,
Perplexity and Mistral Medium for recommendations—and discover what's costing you visibility.
About This Study
Study conducted by: Les Echos x Mint • Timeframe: July 2025 • Coverage: All 40 Next40 companies
Key Study Findings
When your customers ask AI for recommendations, are you even in the conversation?
Complete Next40 AI Search Rankings 2025
See Your AI Search Potential
What You Need to Do Now
Understand what LLMs say — and why
Fix what you control
Own your category
What Mint Delivers
- AI visibility & perception audit across top models (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.)
- Source intelligence: which domains influence answers in your industry
- Concrete content-level optimizations to improve AI extractability
- Strategic roadmap to own your core topic in AI search
- Monitoring tools to track progress and model evolution
Frequently Asked Questions
This study was conducted by Mint in partnership with Les Echos, France's leading business publication. Les Echos has been covering French business and economic news for over 100 years and is the authoritative source for Next40 analysis. The methodology was reviewed to ensure journalistic standards and objectivity.
The study was conducted between June and July 2025. We analyzed 4,500 AI responses across 4 major models (ChatGPT 4o, Gemini Flash 2.0, Mistral Medium, Perplexity Sonar Pro). For each Next40 company, we ran 100 specific queries: 25 queries per model testing both visibility and perception using industry-relevant prompts. Over 25,000 unique sources were consulted by the AI models, spanning 3,000 unique domains.
The Visibility Score represents how often each company was mentioned in AI responses to relevant industry queries. We calculated this as the number of mentions divided by 100 total queries (0-100%). For example, if a company appeared in 95 out of 100 AI responses about their industry, they scored 95% visibility.
The Visibility Score represents how often each company was mentioned in AI responses to relevant industry queries. We calculated this as the number of mentions divided by 100 total queries (0-100%). For example, if a company appeared in 95 out of 100 AI responses about their industry, they scored 95% visibility.
The Content Score evaluates how well each company's website content is optimized for AI extraction across 11 parameters in 3 categories: Technical (structured data, clean HTML), Content Structure (freshness, headings, meta descriptions), and Content Depth (citing sources, comparison content, in-depth guides). We analyzed 100 random pages per company and scored them on their AI-readiness.
The Overall Score is our proprietary "Mint Global Score" that combines Visibility, Perception, and Content scores with weighted importance based on their impact on AI search performance. Companies with higher overall scores are more likely to be recommended when customers ask AI for solutions in their industry.
GEO is the practice of becoming visible in AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity to generate more business through AI recommendations of your products and services. Unlike traditional SEO that focuses on Google rankings, GEO ensures your company appears when customers ask AI for solutions in your industry. Mint is the leader and most advanced platform for GEO optimization.
Mint is the leading platform for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). We help companies become visible in AI search by providing analysis, optimization tools, and strategic guidance to ensure your brand appears when customers ask ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI models for recommendations in your industry.
Yes. Mint provides a complete 3-step approach:
1. Place the sensors:
We test your current brand visibility using calibrated prompts that force AI to cite recommended brands without directly asking (e.g., "What solution do you recommend for managing accounting?"). This critical step requires careful calibration to ask the right questions.
2. Understand the sources:
LLMs rely on sources we classify into three categories:
• Your own assets (website, social media) that you control
• Influence content (blogs, comparison sites, specialized media) where you can take action
• Competitor sources that are out of reach but useful for positioning
This analysis identifies the right action levers.
3. Take action:
Optimize your content on two levels:
• Technically (structure, readability, crawlability for LLMs)
• Strategically (create or publish content in the right influence zones, with writing designed for AI)
Mint provides tools and guidance for all these steps. Start now for free.