AI visibility ranking of Spanish universities

Search has changed hands

For twenty years, getting informed meant searching on Google: you typed, ten blue links appeared and you chose. Today, more and more people don’t search, they ask — they talk to ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity the way you’d consult an expert — and the AI doesn’t return ten options: it returns one answer with three or four names.

For institutions it’s a seismic shift. On Google you could sit in eighth place and still get clicks; in an AI answer, if you’re not in that shortlist, you simply don’t exist for whoever is asking. Optimizing to show up there has a name: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), the successor to SEO. But before you optimize you have to measure: this analyzes 51 institutions across 4 AI models, and it’s updated every month.

AI Visibility Index

One number per university: the AI Visibility Index — how much the AI recommends it today. The columns on the right break that visibility down model by model, from a broad study across student topics — degrees, master's, MBA, online, bootcamps — with 200 real queries to the models. Nobody reaches 100 — not even the leader, so you can see how much room there still is, and how steeply it drops right after the top.

#	University	AI Index	ChatGPT	Gemini	Claude	Perplexity
1	Universitat de Barcelonapresencial	83	89	77	90	76
2	Complutense de Madridpresencial	78	74	76	80	81
3	Universidad Europeapresencial	69	51	86	65	74
4	UNIRonline	65	62	76	45	78
5	Universidad de Navarrapresencial	65	59	58	68	74
6	Universidad de Granadapresencial	62	66	75	40	66
7	Universitat Autònoma de Barcelonapresencial	62	61	60	63	65
8	Universidad Carlos IIIpresencial	60	64	54	53	70
9	Politécnica de Madridpresencial	57	60	58	43	68
10	Universitat de Valènciapresencial	54	65	62	30	57
11	Universidad de Sevillapresencial	52	65	55	30	58
12	Universidad de Málagapresencial	52	58	60	40	50
13	Universidad de Salamancapresencial	51	62	59	25	57
14	IE Universitynegocio	50	50	69	30	51
15	Universidad Autónoma de Madridpresencial	50	59	46	40	55
16	Universitat Pompeu Fabrapresencial	50	52	49	40	58
17	UOConline	49	55	51	30	61
18	Universitat Politècnica de Valènciapresencial	49	59	49	28	59
19	Universitat Politècnica de Catalunyapresencial	48	61	50	28	52
20	Universidad Pontificia Comillaspresencial	47	53	41	43	49
21	UNEDonline	46	52	45	33	54
22	VIU (Internacional de Valencia)online	41	41	47	23	51
23	Universidad de Zaragozapresencial	41	56	50	7	50
24	CEUpresencial	40	45	53	23	40
25	ESIC Business Schoolnegocio	39	44	47	13	51
26	ESADEnegocio	39	46	44	20	45
27	Universidad de Murciapresencial	39	41	43	13	58
28	Universidad del País Vasco (EHU)presencial	38	44	38	28	40
29	Universidad Alfonso Xpresencial	38	39	53	7	51
30	Universidad Francisco de Vitoriapresencial	37	35	51	10	50
31	IESE Business Schoolnegocio	37	46	43	15	42
32	Universidad de Valladolidpresencial	35	53	35	3	48
33	Universidad Isabel Ionline	31	30	37	13	42
34	EAE Business Schoolnegocio	29	35	36	5	38
35	Universidad de Deustopresencial	27	28	26	18	36
36	OBS Business Schoolnegocio	26	31	33	3	36
37	Universidad Camilo José Celapresencial	26	23	37	10	35
38	UDIMAonline	25	25	29	13	33
39	Universidad Nebrijapresencial	25	21	32	13	32
40	UCAMpresencial	25	35	30	3	31
41	UNIE Universidadpresencial	24	22	37	5	32
42	UTAMEDonline	23	23	28	5	37
43	Universidad Loyolapresencial	23	20	32	7	32
44	Universitat Ramon Llullpresencial	23	29	14	28	20
45	TECH Universidadonline	18	26	18	0	27
46	EOInegocio	18	24	17	0	30
47	Universidad Villanuevapresencial	17	21	21	0	24
48	Mondragon Unibertsitateapresencial	17	21	24	0	24
49	CUNEF Universidadnegocio	13	19	11	5	17
50	U. Intercontinental de la Empresapresencial	12	11	18	0	19
51	EADA Business Schoolnegocio	11	19	6	10	10

← swipe to see every model →

AI Index — how much it recommends you todaymore lava = more visible in that model

How to read it. The Index (0–100) blends two things into one number: recommendation — whether the AI recommends the school when a student asks a real decision question (e.g. “which are the best coding bootcamps in Spain?”), from our study of 200 queries across the 4 models — and presence, how much the school is mentioned across AI overall. We weight presence a little more, and each per-model column already blends both for that model.

Compare two universities

Pick two institutions and pit them against each other in detail, model by model.

Winner

Universitat de BarcelonaComplutense de MadridUniversidad EuropeaUNIRUniversidad de NavarraUniversidad de GranadaUniversitat Autònoma de BarcelonaUniversidad Carlos IIIPolitécnica de MadridUniversitat de ValènciaUniversidad de SevillaUniversidad de MálagaUniversidad de SalamancaIE UniversityUniversidad Autónoma de MadridUniversitat Pompeu FabraUOCUniversitat Politècnica de ValènciaUniversitat Politècnica de CatalunyaUniversidad Pontificia ComillasUNEDVIU (Internacional de Valencia)Universidad de ZaragozaCEUESIC Business SchoolESADEUniversidad de MurciaUniversidad del País Vasco (EHU)Universidad Alfonso XUniversidad Francisco de VitoriaIESE Business SchoolUniversidad de ValladolidUniversidad Isabel IEAE Business SchoolUniversidad de DeustoOBS Business SchoolUniversidad Camilo José CelaUDIMAUniversidad NebrijaUCAMUNIE UniversidadUTAMEDUniversidad LoyolaUniversitat Ramon LlullTECH UniversidadEOIUniversidad VillanuevaMondragon UnibertsitateaCUNEF UniversidadU. Intercontinental de la EmpresaEADA Business School

83AI Index

VS

Universitat de BarcelonaComplutense de MadridUniversidad EuropeaUNIRUniversidad de NavarraUniversidad de GranadaUniversitat Autònoma de BarcelonaUniversidad Carlos IIIPolitécnica de MadridUniversitat de ValènciaUniversidad de SevillaUniversidad de MálagaUniversidad de SalamancaIE UniversityUniversidad Autónoma de MadridUniversitat Pompeu FabraUOCUniversitat Politècnica de ValènciaUniversitat Politècnica de CatalunyaUniversidad Pontificia ComillasUNEDVIU (Internacional de Valencia)Universidad de ZaragozaCEUESIC Business SchoolESADEUniversidad de MurciaUniversidad del País Vasco (EHU)Universidad Alfonso XUniversidad Francisco de VitoriaIESE Business SchoolUniversidad de ValladolidUniversidad Isabel IEAE Business SchoolUniversidad de DeustoOBS Business SchoolUniversidad Camilo José CelaUDIMAUniversidad NebrijaUCAMUNIE UniversidadUTAMEDUniversidad LoyolaUniversitat Ramon LlullTECH UniversidadEOIUniversidad VillanuevaMondragon UnibertsitateaCUNEF UniversidadU. Intercontinental de la EmpresaEADA Business School

78AI Index

89

ChatGPT

74

77

Gemini

76

90

Claude

80

76

Perplexity

81

Universitat de Barcelona wins by 5 AI Index points.

Who leads each field

The first thing every institution wants to know: how it’s doing in its own field.

How the Index is calculated

The Index combines two signals, both measured with real data on how AI responds: how much you show up in AI answers and how much it recommends you. The result is a single 0–100 number that sums up both.

Each AI recommends differently

There isn’t one AI: there are four, each with its own sources and biases. Being on top in Gemini doesn’t guarantee showing up in ChatGPT. Knowing which model your problem is in is what separates a headline from a useful diagnosis.

ChatGPT

Research-focused public and prestige private universities

Its favorites in the study: Universitat de Barcelona, Navarra and Carlos III.

Official websites · education portals

Gemini

Those that are strong on Google

Closely tied to classic SEO. Its top picks: UB, Universidad Europea, Complutense and Deusto.

Google's search index

Claude

Historic, prestigious institutions

More conservative; leans on track record. Its top picks: UB, Complutense and Carlos III.

Prestige sources and rankings

Perplexity

Those that appear in citable rankings

Rewards verifiable data. Its top picks: Carlos III, Navarra, UB and ESADE.

Cites explicit sources in the answer

How students search

Depending on what the student is looking for, the AI spreads names wider or concentrates them more — and what makes you win changes.

How the AI treats you

It’s not the same for the AI to mention you in passing as to recommend you, and each institution carries certain attributes in the model’s «mind». We show a selection of institutions.

Mention or recommend?

Out of every time the AI names it: how many times does it truly recommend it, and how many does it just mention it in passing?

RecommendsOnly mentions

UNED

73%27%

UOC

71%29%

Universidad Carlos III

64%36%

Universitat de Barcelona

62%38%

UNIR

35%65%

Universidad Europea

13%87%

Attributes the AI assigns it

The words the AI uses to describe each institution. Green = in favor · red = against.

UNIR

100% onlineeducational innovationpersonal tutorsfee-paying (private)

Universidad Europea

internationalhands-onemployabilityfee-paying (private)

Complutense de Madrid

historicacademic prestigebroad cataloghigh entry cutoff

Universidad de Navarra

prestigiousresearchinternationalhigh cost

IE University

international prestigeemployabilityinnovativeexpensive (~€26k/yr)

ESADE

international prestigeleadershipnetworkingexpensive

Where the AI gets its information

This is the most actionable GEO metric of all: which sources the AI cites when it talks about universities. It leans on education portals and comparison sites, media rankings (El Mundo, CYD) and the universities' own pages — that’s where you need to be, not just on your own website.

Tthe university's own websiteOfficial

21%

gradomania.comEducation portal

9%

mastermania.comMaster's portal

8%

uniscopio.comEducation portal

7%

dondeestudiar.euEducation portal

6%

fundacioncyd.org (CYD ranking)University ranking

4%

elmundo.esMedia

3%

elpais.comMedia

2%

lavanguardia.comMedia

2%

OOther sources (portals & media)Long tail

38%

% of the sector’s citations each source captures.

What people ask the AI

The sector’s highest-volume queries on Google (Spain). When the AI answers these, the question is whether you show up.

Gaps with no clear winner

“online master's in sustainability”“best university for a second degree”“cheap distance psychology degree”“recognized online higher vocational training”

Strong on Google, weak in AI

ESIC Business SchoolESADEVIUUNED

How to improve your AI visibility

AI visibility responds to concrete signals. These are the ones that weigh most:

AI visibility will be decided over the next two academic years

Traditional search engines took years to lock in their winners; the AI is doing it in months, and positions are still moving. Whoever understands now how that visibility is won will hold an advantage that’s hard to claw back once the market matures. And we’ll say it again because it matters: the drop-off right after the leader is brutal. There’s room for everyone — and the first step is always the same, knowing where you stand.