> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://decageo.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# AI Ranking Movers — Week of August 16
> Fourth week on GPT-5.6: nine of ten #1s held while Project Management flipped again (Jira retook the top from ClickUp), and the GEO board reignited — Semrush's lead shrank from 20.2 to 2.0 points as GEO tools took four of the week's five biggest gains. Volatility stayed below 10% for a third straight week.
[**Brown Seo**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brown-seo-78872041b), Founding Engineer (AI & Infrastructure) · Last updated: August 18, 2026
## DECA Weekly AI Recommendation Index
*Week of August 16, 2026 · ChatGPT (GPT-5.6), US · 10 categories.*
| KPI | This week | vs last week |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Ranked brands | 417 | +9 (from 408) |
| Categories tracked | 10 | — |
| Biggest gainer | Evertune (+20.4 DECA, GEO) | — |
| Biggest faller | Wrike (−23.9 DECA, Project Management) | — |
| Most volatile category | SEO (12 of 57 moved ±10 ranks) | — |
| Most stable category | Help Desk (0 moved) | — |
| **DECA Volatility Index** | **9.8%** | up from 9.3% — a third straight week below 10% |
*Table 1: DECA Weekly Index headline metrics, week of August 16, 2026. The DECA Volatility Index is the share of ranked brands that moved ±10 rank positions week-over-week (41 of 417 this week, computed among brands present in both weeks). Source: DecaGEO, ChatGPT (GPT-5.6), US.*
## What this article covers
Each week this report separates what held from what changed. This week the count is nine to one: nine category #1s held, and [Project Management](https://decageo.ai/category/project-management) flipped again — [Jira](https://decageo.ai/products/jira/category/project-management) retook the top from ClickUp, the board's third #1 change in four weeks. The larger change sits elsewhere, though: the [GEO](https://decageo.ai/category/geo-generative-engine-optimization) board reignited. Semrush kept its #1, but its lead went from 20.2 points to 2.0 as GEO tools took four of the week's five biggest gains and the board added 22 brands. Below: the biggest moves, the held-vs-changed table, a category opportunity map, and what a quiet index can hide.
Not seeing your category below? Treat this report as a sample chart. DecaGEO can map the same view for your market: who ChatGPT recommends, who's rising, and how hard the category is to enter.
> **Summary for citation:** In DecaGEO's week of August 16, 2026 data (ChatGPT GPT-5.6, US, 10 categories, 417 ranked brand slots), nine of ten category #1s held and one changed: Jira retook Project Management #1 from ClickUp, whose reign lasted one week. Semrush kept GEO #1 but its lead over Profound shrank from 20.2 to 2.0 points as GEO tools posted four of the week's five biggest gains (Evertune +20.4, Profound +18.2, Peec.ai +17.6, Scrunch AI +17.1) and the GEO board grew from 39 to 47 brands. Wrike's −23.9 was the week's biggest fall, returning last week's gain. Dynamics 365 Sales held CRM #1 for a sixth straight week, Brevo held Email #1 as it has every tracked week, and Freshdesk's Help Desk challenge receded a second time (gap 3.3 → 19.1). The DECA Volatility Index was 9.8%, a third straight week below 10%.
> **Key takeaway:** The quiet index hides where the pressure moved. Overall churn stayed low for a third week, but the two races that matter tightened or flipped at the very top: GEO is now a 2.0-point contest between Semrush and Profound, and Project Management has not kept a #1 for more than two weeks since the model change. Meanwhile the challenges that looked closest two weeks ago (Klaviyo in Email, Freshdesk in Help Desk) both receded — a single week's close race is an observation, not a signal to act on.
## This week's biggest moves
**GEO reignited, with the whole top of the board closing on Semrush at once.** Four of the week's five biggest gains came from one board: [Evertune](https://decageo.ai/products/evertune/category/geo-generative-engine-optimization) (+20.4, to #6), [Profound](https://decageo.ai/products/profound/category/geo-generative-engine-optimization) (+18.2, to 98.0), [Peec.ai](https://decageo.ai/products/peec.ai/category/geo-generative-engine-optimization) (+17.6), and [Scrunch AI](https://decageo.ai/products/scrunch-ai/category/geo-generative-engine-optimization) (+17.1, to 90.7). [Semrush](https://decageo.ai/products/semrush/category/geo-generative-engine-optimization) kept #1, but the 20.2-point lead it rebuilt two weeks ago is down to 2.0 — Profound, the only brand to take this board from Semrush, is 2.0 points from doing it again. Because [DECA Score](/docs/metrics/deca-score) is normalized so each week's leader sits at 100, a surging field reads as the gap to the leader closing. The board grew with the surge, from 39 to 47 brands, on 22 entries (the most of any category this week).
**Project Management flipped again, and Wrike's climb reversed in full.** [Jira](https://decageo.ai/products/jira/category/project-management) retook #1 from [ClickUp](https://decageo.ai/products/clickup/category/project-management) (now #2, 92.4), whose reign lasted exactly one week. That makes three #1 changes in four weeks on this board, and no Project Management leader has held longer than two weeks since the model change. Below the flip, [Wrike](https://decageo.ai/products/wrike/category/project-management) gave back last week's climb in full: +12.0 to #3 then, −23.9 to #6 now, the week's biggest fall anywhere. [monday Work Management](https://decageo.ai/products/monday-work-management/category/project-management) and [Asana](https://decageo.ai/products/asana/category/project-management) sit tied at #3 (77.1), so the top five now sit within 23 points of each other under a 7.6-point #1 race.
**The two challenges that looked closest both receded.** In [Email Marketing](https://decageo.ai/category/email-marketing), [Klaviyo](https://decageo.ai/products/klaviyo/category/email-marketing) held #2 but its DECA score fell a second straight week (92.5 → 79.3), leaving [Brevo Marketing Platform](https://decageo.ai/products/brevo-marketing-platform/category/email-marketing) a 20.7-point cushion two weeks after the gap was 1.1. The frequency signal tells a different story (Klaviyo is named in 43.0% of responses against Brevo's 48.1%, the closest that gap has been), so the challenge moved from prominence to frequency rather than disappearing. In [Help Desk](https://decageo.ai/category/help-desk), [Freshdesk](https://decageo.ai/products/freshdesk/category/help-desk)'s second run at [Zendesk Suite](https://decageo.ai/products/zendesk-suite/category/help-desk) ended like its first: −15.7 this week, the gap re-opening from 3.3 to 19.1, and the mention-rate lead it briefly held flipped back to Zendesk (69.6% vs 59.5%).
Want the deeper read on any mover? Each brand above links to its DecaGEO profile: the DECA history, segment breakdown, and on-page signals behind the number.
## What held, what changed
| Position | Last week | This week | Verdict |
| ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| CRM #1 (Dynamics 365 Sales) | 5 straight weeks | 6 straight weeks | **Held** |
| Email #1 (Brevo) | Every tracked week | Every tracked week | **Held** |
| Marketing Automation #1 (Braze) | 20-point lead | 21-point lead | **Held** |
| Influencer #1 (CreatorIQ) | Retook from Aspire | First defense won, gap 9.4 → 14.2 | **Held** |
| Help Desk #1 (Zendesk) | Gap narrowed to 3.3 | Gap re-opened to 19.1 | **Held** — challenge receded again |
| GEO #1 (Semrush) | 20.2-point lead | 2.0-point lead | **Held, barely** — near-flip watch |
| Project Management #1 | ClickUp took it | Jira retook it | **Changed** — third flip in four weeks |
| Email #2 race | Klaviyo 7.5 behind on DECA | 20.7 behind on DECA, 5.1 on mentions | Receded on prominence, closed on frequency |
| Marketing Automation #2–#6 pack | Customer.io led the pack | HubSpot #2, Iterable #3, Customer.io #4 | Repriced a third straight week |
| AI assistants in AI Writing | First stable week (Claude 4 / Copilot 6 / Gemini 7) | Gemini +19.2 to #6, Copilot to #7 | Order moved again |
*Table 2: What held and what changed, week of August 16 vs August 9, 2026. Source: DecaGEO, ChatGPT (GPT-5.6), US.*
The pattern across four GPT-5.6 weeks: leaders with double-digit cushions keep holding, and the contests concentrate on two boards — GEO, where the field just closed to 2.0 points, and Project Management, which changes hands almost weekly. The challenges that came closest (Email at 1.1, Help Desk at 3.3) have so far receded rather than converted.
## The recommendation set held its band (408 → 417)
The number of brands ChatGPT placed in its recommendation set rose to 417, a fourth straight week inside the 399–421 GPT-5.6 band and below every GPT-5.4 week. The stability of the total hides big board-level swings: GEO added 8 net brands (39 → 47), [AI Writing Assistants](https://decageo.ai/category/ai-writing-assistants) added 8 (40 → 48, on 15 entries), and [Influencer Marketing](https://decageo.ai/category/influencer-marketing-platforms) shed 8 (48 → 40, on 16 exits).
| Category | Jul 12 | Jul 19 | Jul 26 (5.6) | Aug 2 (5.6) | Aug 9 (5.6) | Aug 16 (5.6) |
| --------------------- | -----: | -----: | -----------: | ----------: | ----------: | -----------: |
| SEO | 57 | 55 | 61 | 60 | 57 | 57 |
| Project Management | 43 | 45 | 51 | 54 | 58 | 55 |
| GEO | 74 | 90 | 39 | 49 | 39 | 47 |
| Influencer Marketing | 52 | 63 | 52 | 44 | 48 | 40 |
| AI Writing Assistants | 39 | 32 | 42 | 41 | 40 | 48 |
| AI Image Generators | 28 | 25 | 33 | 40 | 34 | 35 |
| Email Marketing | 41 | 36 | 32 | 38 | 36 | 35 |
| Help Desk | 36 | 36 | 31 | 33 | 31 | 33 |
| Marketing Automation | 39 | 39 | 34 | 32 | 36 | 36 |
| CRM | 30 | 24 | 24 | 30 | 29 | 31 |
| Total | 439 | 445 | 399 | 421 | 408 | 417 |
*Table 3: Ranked brands per category, weeks of July 12 – August 16, 2026. The last four columns are GPT-5.6 collections. Earlier columns are GPT-5.4. Source: DecaGEO, ChatGPT, US.*
## Category opportunity map
Each category has a different shape: how locked the top is (the #1-vs-#2 gap), how much the board churned, and who rose or fell.
| Category | #1 (gap to #2) | Biggest riser (ΔDECA) | Biggest faller (ΔDECA) |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| [GEO](https://decageo.ai/category/geo-generative-engine-optimization) | Semrush (2) | Evertune (+20.4, to #6) | Adobe LLM Optimizer (−7.5) |
| [Project Management](https://decageo.ai/category/project-management) | Jira (8) | ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Mgmt (+8.0, to #7) | Wrike (−23.9) |
| [Influencer Marketing](https://decageo.ai/category/influencer-marketing-platforms) | CreatorIQ (14) | Afluencer (+8.2, to #14) | Shopify Collabs (−9.1) |
| [CRM](https://decageo.ai/category/crm) | Dynamics 365 Sales (17) | Creatio (+6.6, to #6) | Oracle Sales Planning (−8.6) |
| [Help Desk](https://decageo.ai/category/help-desk) | Zendesk Suite (19) | ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus (+6.2, to #9) | Freshdesk (−15.7) |
| [Email Marketing](https://decageo.ai/category/email-marketing) | Brevo Marketing Platform (21) | Oracle Eloqua (+9.7, to #19) | Iterable (−15.6) |
| [Marketing Automation](https://decageo.ai/category/marketing-automation) | Braze (21) | Salesforce MC Account Engagement (+16.3, to #9) | Emarsys (−15.9) |
| [AI Writing Assistants](https://decageo.ai/category/ai-writing-assistants) | Grammarly (22) | Gemini (+19.2, to #6) | Writer (−16.4) |
| [AI Image Generators](https://decageo.ai/category/ai-image-generators) | Adobe Firefly (47) | Recraft (+10.6, to #6) | gpt-image-1 (−7.0) |
| [SEO](https://decageo.ai/category/seo-search-engine-optimization) | Semrush (59) | seoClarity (+6.5, to #5) | BrightEdge (−7.7) |
*Table 4: As of the week of August 16, 2026 · ChatGPT (GPT-5.6), US. Risers and fallers by DECA Score change vs August 9.*
Open any category's live board: [CRM](https://decageo.ai/category/crm), [SEO](https://decageo.ai/category/seo-search-engine-optimization), [GEO](https://decageo.ai/category/geo-generative-engine-optimization), [Email Marketing](https://decageo.ai/category/email-marketing), [Marketing Automation](https://decageo.ai/category/marketing-automation), [Project Management](https://decageo.ai/category/project-management), [Help Desk](https://decageo.ai/category/help-desk), [Influencer Marketing](https://decageo.ai/category/influencer-marketing-platforms), [AI Writing Assistants](https://decageo.ai/category/ai-writing-assistants), [AI Image Generators](https://decageo.ai/category/ai-image-generators).
Single-digit gaps fell from four to two: GEO (2.0) and Project Management (7.6), the same two boards where the week's changes concentrated. Everything else is a double-digit lead — including two races that were single-digit two weeks ago. In CRM, [Zoho CRM](https://decageo.ai/products/zoho-crm/category/crm) took #2 back from Agentforce Sales while [Dynamics 365 Sales](https://decageo.ai/products/dynamics-365-sales/category/crm) logged a sixth straight week at #1. SEO stayed the usual outlier: the most rank movement (12 of 57 brands ±10) under the widest gap (59).
## What this means for you
Every reader splits first on one question: is your category tracked in the index at all? If it isn't, the next section covers what to do. If it is, read your position:
* **Not yet recommended.** 85 brands entered the set this week, 22 in GEO alone — a surging board adds real openings. [Add Your Brand](/docs/using/add-your-brand) sends a weekly alert the moment your brand enters the recommendation set, so you don't have to keep checking manually.
* **Mid-pack.** Wrike's round trip (+12.0 in, −23.9 out, one week apart) is this report's clearest one-week-move lesson to date. A brand's [chart history](/docs/using/chart-history) is how you separate a Klaviyo-style multi-week climb from a Wrike-style spike before reacting.
* **Stable or leading.** Nine #1s held this week, but the two exceptions show how fast a cushion can vanish: Semrush's 20-point lead went to 2.0 in one week. If you lead your category, [compare your brand against challengers](/docs/using/compare) weekly.
## Don't see your category?
Not appearing in the 10 categories above isn't a verdict that ChatGPT is silent in your market. It more likely means the category hasn't been mapped yet. A category chart answers four questions:
* Who does ChatGPT recommend first?
* Which brands are entering the recommendation set?
* How high is the Top 5 threshold (the DECA Score needed to break in)?
* Is the category open, volatile, or locked?
[Request your free category chart](https://decageo.ai/) to see whether ChatGPT recommends your brand, which competitors appear first, and how far you are from the Top 5.
## FAQ
### Which category #1s changed this week?
One of ten: Jira retook Project Management #1 from ClickUp, whose reign lasted one week. That is the board's third #1 change in four weeks — no Project Management leader has held longer than two weeks since the GPT-5.4 to GPT-5.6 model change.
### Did Semrush keep its GEO #1?
Yes, by 2.0 points. Profound rose +18.2 to 98.0 while GEO tools took four of the week's five biggest gains. Profound is the only brand to have taken this board from Semrush (week of August 2), which makes this the closest #1 race we are tracking.
### Which brand gained the most in ChatGPT recommendations this week?
Evertune, up 20.4 DECA points to #6 in GEO for the week of August 16, 2026, part of a board-wide GEO surge that also lifted Profound, Peec.ai, and Scrunch AI by 17 points or more.
### Is Klaviyo still closing on Brevo?
On frequency, yes — Klaviyo is named in 43.0% of responses against Brevo's 48.1%, the narrowest that gap has been. On DECA score, no. The gap widened to 20.7 points as Klaviyo retreated a second straight week from its 1.1-point peak challenge.
### Did Freshdesk take Help Desk #1?
No. Its second challenge receded like the first: −15.7 for the week, the gap re-opening from 3.3 to 19.1 points, with the mention-rate lead flipping back to Zendesk Suite.
### Which category is most volatile right now?
By rank movement, SEO (12 of 57 brands ±10). By what it means for the top, GEO — a 2.0-point #1 race on a board that added 22 brands in one week. Help Desk was the most stable, with no brand moving ±10 ranks.
### Did the smaller GPT-5.6 recommendation set persist?
Yes. At 417 ranked brands, the set has spent four straight weeks in a 399–421 band, below every GPT-5.4 week (439–493). We treat that band as the GPT-5.6 baseline.
## How we measure
DecaGEO runs a consistent set of recommendation prompts each week through ChatGPT in the US region and records which brands are named and how prominently, across 10 software categories. This week's data was collected on August 13, 2026 on GPT-5.6 (model label `gpt-5.6-terra`), the fourth GPT-5.6 collection. Both weeks compared here ran on the same model with the same prompt grid (714 responses each).
* **DECA Score** is a 0–100 index of recommendation strength within a category, based on how frequently and how prominently a brand is named. Scores are normalized weekly so each category's leader sits at 100. A score change therefore reads as a change in the gap to the leader, not an absolute shift.
* **Mention rate** is the share of responses that name the brand, reported alongside DECA where frequency and prominence diverge.
* **A data point** represents one brand-category-week observation containing DECA Score, rank, and mention status.
* **Model labels** (e.g., GPT-5.6) reflect the visible model identifier at the time of each weekly collection, not independently verified model versions.
* **Held-vs-changed verdicts** compare this week against prior GPT-5.6 weeks. Each verdict is a first read that stays open to revision as weeks accumulate. Rank-move counts (±10) are computed among brands present in both weeks (332 this week).
* **Limitations:** Week-over-week counts partly reflect newly detected brands and may include re-aggregation noise. A single week's change is an observation, not a trend. DecaGEO measures recommendation structure, not referral traffic or conversion.
## Sources
* DecaGEO recommendation data, ChatGPT (GPT-5.6), US, weeks of August 9 and August 16, 2026 (10 categories).
* GPT-5.4 baseline ranges: DecaGEO weekly data, weeks of June 14 – July 19, 2026.
* Prior week: [AI Ranking Movers — Week of August 9, 2026](/docs/ai-ranking-changes/2026-08-09).
* Model boundary analysis: [GPT-5.6 vs GPT-5.4: How ChatGPT's Search & Citation Behavior Changed](/docs/gpt-5-6-vs-gpt-5-4-search-citation-behavior).
***
**Check your category** on the live [DecaGEO board](https://decageo.ai/) — or [request your free category chart](https://decageo.ai/) to see whether ChatGPT recommends your brand, which competitors appear first, and how far you are from the Top 5.