Competitive intelligence · 8 to 9 Aug 2026

MerchantHQ vs Merchant Advice Service: who AI actually names

What this is

Three separate sets of prompts, each run through the OpenAI API (ChatGPT, model gpt-4o, live web search forced on). Every prompt is a randomly generated, realistic UK buyer question, not hand-picked to favour either brand. Each set was scanned afterwards for who the AI actually names in its answer.

The three sets test three different markets:

  1. The main payments market: the whole UK card-payments and merchant-services space, the ground every provider competes on.
  2. MerchantHQ’s own target market: only the specific verticals and trades MerchantHQ has actually built pages for.
  3. Merchant Advice Service’s own target market: only the prompts matching Merchant Advice Service’s own stated specialisms.

Each column below shows the top 3 most-named providers in that set, plus MerchantHQ and Merchant Advice Service pinned underneath with their own actual rate, even when neither makes the top 3.

MerchantHQ Merchant Advice Service everyone else
Column 1
The main payments market
542 prompts · card machines, high-risk, EPOS, gateways, compliance, broker framing, brand comparisons, incl. generic head-terms
12.2%
MerchantHQ named
(66 of 542)
2.0%
Merchant Advice Service, any hit
(11 of 542)
Top named providers
Square34.9%
SumUp28.0%
Stripe17.2%
MerchantHQ · ranked #612.2%
Merchant Advice Service · ranked #191.3%
Real prompts where a brand got shown
MerchantHQCheapest card machine for a small business UK
MerchantHQBest value card reader for a new business UK
Both namedMerchant Advice Service vs MerchantHQ, which is better for a small business
Both namedIs MerchantHQ or Merchant Advice Service better for high risk businesses
Merchant Advice ServiceWho should I trust for unbiased merchant account advice UK
Full per-prompt detail: 542-prompt dashboard
Column 2
MerchantHQ’s own target market
682 prompts · scoped tight to what MerchantHQ actually built: 34 high-risk verticals, 55 trades, faith and community, EPOS, compliance, switching. No generic head-terms.
15.0%
MerchantHQ cited as source
(102 of 682)
0.0%
Merchant Advice Service, any hit
(0 of 682)
Top named providers
Square22.6%
SumUp19.1%
MerchantHQ · ranked #315.0%
Merchant Advice Service · not present0.0%
Real prompts where MerchantHQ got shown
MerchantHQMy acquirer has terminated my merchant account with 30 days notice, can I switch before it closes?
MerchantHQBest card machine for an independent bookshop with low average transaction values?
MerchantHQWhat card terminal do mobile music tutors use for student fee collections?
MerchantHQWhat card terminal do independent vinyl record shops use for counter transactions?
MerchantHQBest card machine for a cash-and-carry wholesaler with large basket values?
Merchant Advice Service does not appear anywhere in this dataset, 0 of 682 raw AI responses mention it.
Column 3
Merchant Advice Service’s own target market
245-prompt subset of column 1 · only prompts matching Merchant Advice Service’s own stated specialisms: high-risk, EPOS, payment gateways, broker and matchmaking positioning
2.9%
Merchant Advice Service, cited as source
(7 of 245)
6.1%
MerchantHQ named
(15 of 245)
Top named providers (illustrative, same subset filter)
Square≈27%
Stripe≈24%
Epos Now≈13%
MerchantHQ6.1%
Merchant Advice Service2.9%
Real prompts where a brand got shown
MerchantHQBest unbiased card machine comparison site UK
MerchantHQIs CBD legal to sell online with card payments in the UK
MerchantHQWhat is the best independent broker for comparing card payment providers UK
Merchant Advice ServiceIs Merchant Advice Service trustworthy for comparing payment providers
Both namedIs MerchantHQ or Merchant Advice Service better for high risk businesses
MerchantHQ still leads roughly 2x even on Merchant Advice Service’s own best-promoted ground, though its rate drops from column 1’s 12.2% since this subset leans EPOS, gateway and broker-framing prompts rather than MerchantHQ’s strongest high-risk and trade pages.
Who each brand helps get cited
Beyond being named itself, does either brand show up as the AI’s backing source behind a claim about a DIFFERENT company or product? Checked across the 542-prompt main market dataset.
23 products/brands
merchanthq.co.uk cited as the backing source for, 47 instances total
SumUp Solo 9×
Dojo Go 6×
Square Terminal 4×
Tide Card Reader 2×
Zettle Reader 2 2×
0 products/brands
merchantadviceservice.co.uk cited as the backing source for, real named products or brands
No genuine product or brand backing found. The 6 raw hits in this dataset are non-entity noise (generic words like “API” and “overview” picked up by the bold-text extraction pass, not real named companies).
Full methodology

Column 1 is the full combined Merchant Advice Service-scoped audit (217 prompts round 1, 8 Aug, plus 325 round 2, 9 Aug), scoped to payments broadly (card machines, high-risk, EPOS, gateways, compliance, broker framing, brand comparisons, including generic head-terms neither brand specifically owns). Column 2 is MerchantHQ’s own separate audit (682 prompts, run 8 Aug), scoped tight to what MerchantHQ actually built, deliberately excluding generic head-terms. Column 3 is not a new prompt run: it is a keyword-classified subset pulled from column 1’s 542 prompts, keeping only the ones matching Merchant Advice Service’s specific stated specialisms (high-risk merchant accounts, EPOS, payment gateways, and broker or matchmaking positioning), excluding plain card-machine-picking and brand-vs-brand prompts which stay column-1-only. Column 3’s headline numbers (245 total, Merchant Advice Service 7 of 245 cited as source and 7 of 245 named as option, MerchantHQ 15 of 245 named) are the exact figures from that classification pass; the top-3 bars are from a close reproduction of the same filter run afterward for this page and are illustrative, not re-verified to the exact prompt.

All three sets: ChatGPT (OpenAI Responses API, gpt-4o, web_search_preview tool forced on, GB location), scanned against the same whitelist of real UK acquirer, terminal and gateway brands. A separate incremental slice covering business banking, cash advance and merchant finance, direct debits, open banking and loyalty was drafted and then not used, this page stays payments-only throughout.