Which quality of earnings providers do ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI recommend? (October 2026)
When buyers ask AI engines who should do a quality of earnings report, they get long lists of accounting firms. BDO USA was named most often, in 34 of 60 answers (56.7%), followed by RSM US (32) and Grant Thornton (26). All 60 answers named at least one firm, and 141 different firms were named in total, 63 of them only once.
By Frederik Jakobsen, founder of Danish Lead Co and SourceRank AI. Measured 10 October 2026, published October 2026.
The firms AI named most often
Share of all 60 answers that named the firm as a provider, and how many answers on each engine named it. An answer counts once per firm however often it repeats the name.
100.0%
Answers that named at least one provider firm: 60 of 60. Every answer named firms.
141 firms
Distinct firms named across all 60 answers. 63 of them were named in only one answer.
14.5%
Share of all 633 firm mentions taken by the three most named firms, BDO USA, RSM US and Grant Thornton.
| # | Firm | Answers naming it | Engines | ChatGPT of 12 | Gemini of 12 | Copilot of 12 | AI Mode of 12 | AI Overviews of 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BDO USA | 34 of 60 56.7% | 5 of 5 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | RSM US | 32 of 60 53.3% | 5 of 5 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| 3 | Grant Thornton | 26 of 60 43.3% | 5 of 5 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Alvarez & Marsal | 22 of 60 36.7% | 5 of 5 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Deloitte | 22 of 60 36.7% | 5 of 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | CBIZ | 21 of 60 35.0% | 5 of 5 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 5 |
| 7 | EY | 21 of 60 35.0% | 5 of 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| 8 | PwC | 21 of 60 35.0% | 5 of 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 9 | KPMG | 21 of 60 35.0% | 5 of 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 10 | EisnerAmper | 18 of 60 30.0% | 4 of 5 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 11 | Plante Moran | 18 of 60 30.0% | 5 of 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| 12 | Forvis Mazars | 17 of 60 28.3% | 4 of 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| 13 | Riveron | 14 of 60 23.3% | 5 of 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 14 | Bedrock QoE | 14 of 60 23.3% | 5 of 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 15 | Marcum | 13 of 60 21.7% | 4 of 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
Top 15 of 141 firms. Engine columns show answers naming the firm out of that engine's measured answers. Firms with the same count are listed in the order the data was read.
What the answers show
- +No firm owns this category. The three most named took 14.5% of all 633 firm mentions, the lowest concentration of the ten categories measured on 10 October, because answers here list many firms at once.
- +Mid-tier national firms were named more than the Big Four: BDO USA (34), RSM US (32) and Grant Thornton (26) all ahead of Deloitte (22), EY (21), PwC (21) and KPMG (21).
- +Copilot went its own way. Its most named firm was Bedrock QoE, a quality of earnings specialist, in 4 of 12 answers, while BDO USA was the most named or joint most named firm on the other four engines.
- +The most cited domain was ctacquisitions.com, in 23 of 44 answers with sources, ahead of any accounting firm's own site. Directories were cited in 1.
What each engine named
The most named firm per engine.
| Engine | Answers | Named a provider | Distinct firms | Most named firm on that engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 12 | 12 of 12 100.0% | 59 | BDO USA, Grant Thornton (9 of 12) |
| Gemini | 12 | 12 of 12 100.0% | 79 | BDO USA, RSM US (10 of 12) |
| Microsoft Copilot | 12 | 12 of 12 100.0% | 53 | Bedrock QoE (4 of 12) |
| Google AI Mode | 12 | 12 of 12 100.0% | 47 | BDO USA, RSM US, CBIZ and 1 more tied (6 of 12) |
| Google AI Overviews | 12 | 12 of 12 100.0% | 62 | BDO USA (6 of 12) |
First-pick agreement: in 8 of the 12 questions where at least two engines named a firm, two or more engines named the same firm first. BDO USA was named by 5 of 5 engines.
The sources behind the recommendations
Most cited domains in the 44 answers that showed a source list. Deal blogs and guides outrank the firms' own sites.
| # | Cited domain | Kind | Answers citing it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ctacquisitions.com | A named firm's own website | 23 of 44 52.3% |
| 2 | thevisualcommunicationguy.com | Other (blogs, listicles, publishers, other vendors) | 14 of 44 31.8% |
| 3 | kmco.com | Other (blogs, listicles, publishers, other vendors) | 10 of 44 22.7% |
| 4 | duedilio.com | A named firm's own website | 8 of 44 18.2% |
| 5 | economy.ac | Other (blogs, listicles, publishers, other vendors) | 5 of 44 11.4% |
| 6 | eidebailly.com | A named firm's own website | 5 of 44 11.4% |
| 7 | etonvs.com | Other (blogs, listicles, publishers, other vendors) | 4 of 44 9.1% |
| 8 | bedrockqoe.com | A named firm's own website | 4 of 44 9.1% |
| 9 | tonnesenaccountingservices.com | A named firm's own website | 4 of 44 9.1% |
| 10 | worldmetrics.org | Other (blogs, listicles, publishers, other vendors) | 4 of 44 9.1% |
| 11 | bpm.com | A named firm's own website | 4 of 44 9.1% |
| 12 | coopercpagroup.com | A named firm's own website | 4 of 44 9.1% |
Out of the 44 answers that carried a source list (145 distinct domains). Sources per engine: ChatGPT 0 of 12, Gemini 9 of 12, Copilot 12 of 12, AI Mode 12 of 12, AI Overviews 11 of 12.
| Source kind | Answers citing at least one |
|---|---|
| Other (blogs, listicles, publishers, other vendors) | 41 of 44 93.2% |
| A named firm's own website | 37 of 44 84.1% |
| Social and video | 6 of 44 13.6% |
| Government or education | 1 of 44 2.3% |
| Directory, review or analyst site | 1 of 44 2.3% |
An answer can cite several kinds, so the rows do not sum to the total. "A named firm's own website" means the domain matches the name of a firm named in this category.
How a firm in this category gets named
Being named depends on what the engines read. In this category, of the 44 answers that showed their sources, 37 cited a named firm's own website and 1 cited a directory, review or analyst site. Bedrock QoE, a specialist, was named in 14 answers and its own site was cited in 4. For a firm below the national names, a page per situation (SBA deals, search funds, add-ons, healthcare) and inclusion in the deal blogs the engines cite are the realistic routes in. This is the work SourceRank AI does, described on the services page. The free site readiness check shows whether your site is structurally ready to be cited; it checks your site, it does not measure answers like the ones on this page. To see where your own firm stands in these answers, book a call.
Exactly what was measured
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Date | 10 October 2026, one run |
| Buyer questions | 12, each phrased as a buyer asking for a provider, varied by size, budget, situation and switching. Full list below |
| Answer engines | 5: ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews |
| Engine cells | 60. One question on one engine |
| Answers measured | 60 of 60. The denominator for every share on this page |
| Market | United States, English. Google AI Mode and AI Overviews were queried with a US location. ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot were not given a location, the same as in our client measurement runs; Copilot answers that assumed a buyer abroad are excluded |
| Sources | Cited sources come from Gemini, Copilot, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews. ChatGPT's answers in this run came back without a machine-readable source list, so ChatGPT is not in the source tables |
| Firm extraction | One language model call per answer listed the firms the answer named as providers, excluding directories, publications, citation labels and tools. Names were normalised and aliases merged. A hand check of 20 answers across the study is reported on the hub page |
| Not measured | Location personalisation for the chat engines, logged-in or personalised sessions, run-to-run variation (this is a single run, and the same question asked again can return different firms), and model versions, which change without notice |
All 12 buyer questions
- Best quality of earnings providers for lower middle market deals
- Which firm should a private equity buyer use for a quality of earnings report on a $10 million EBITDA company?
- Top financial due diligence firms for private equity add-on acquisitions
- Which accounting firms do sell-side quality of earnings reports for founder-owned businesses?
- Best QoE firm for a search fund or independent sponsor acquisition
- Affordable quality of earnings providers for small business acquisitions under $5 million
- Which firms are best for buy-side financial due diligence in the US middle market?
- Recommend a quality of earnings firm for an SBA-financed acquisition
- Top transaction advisory services firms for private equity in the United States
- Which QoE providers are fastest for a deal that needs to close in 45 days?
- Best alternatives to Big Four firms for quality of earnings reports
- Which firms provide quality of earnings for healthcare services acquisitions?
Cite this research
Journalists, analysts and writers are welcome to quote, chart and republish the figures on this page. Please credit SourceRank AI and link to this page as the source. For the underlying data, a comment from Frederik Jakobsen or a category we have not covered, see the press page.
Suggested citation
SourceRank AI (2026). Which quality of earnings providers do ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI recommend? Measured 10 October 2026. https://sourcerankai.com/research/who-ai-recommends/quality-of-earnings-providers/
Link to copy
<a href="https://sourcerankai.com/research/who-ai-recommends/quality-of-earnings-providers/">Which quality of earnings providers do ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI recommend? (SourceRank AI, October 2026)</a>Where to go next
All 22 category studies
Who AI recommends across 22 B2B categories, with the cross-category findings and the full method.
What AI engines cite by industry
The source mix behind AI answers in ten industries, from our September 2026 measurement runs.
AEO for this industry
What we do for firms in this space, and the questions their buyers ask AI.
Common questions
Which quality of earnings providers does ChatGPT recommend?
In this October 2026 run ChatGPT named BDO USA and Grant Thornton most often, in 9 of its 12 answers each. Across all five engines the most named were BDO USA (34 of 60 answers), RSM US (32) and Grant Thornton (26).
Do ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI recommend the same quality of earnings providers?
Partly. BDO USA was named by 5 of the 5 engines, and in 8 of the 12 questions at least two engines named the same firm first. Below the top few names the lists diverge: 63 of the 141 firms were named in only one answer.
How was this measured?
12 buyer questions asking for quality of earnings providers were put once to ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews on 10 October 2026, from a US English context. 60 answers were measured, and the firms each answer named as providers were extracted and counted once per answer. It is a single run, and the same question asked again can return different firms.