Hotspot Shield vs Surfshark
AI visibility head-to-head, VPN Services — run #70 (2026-08-01). Surfshark leads with statistical confidence (non-overlapping 95% CIs).
Hotspot Shield
17.7
95% CI14.0–21.9
Industry rank#10
perplexity14.7
google-search13.6
openai-search13.9
openai17.7
anthropic13.4
google19.9
vs
Surfshark · leads
38.5
95% CI35.5–40.9
Industry rank#3
perplexity36.7
google-search42.2
openai-search31.6
openai38.2
anthropic30.1
google42.4
By question type
Share of answers mentioning each brand, split by the intent behind the question. The panel asks 10 prompts of each type, so a lead here shows where one brand wins — not just that it wins overall.
| Question type | Hotspot Shield | Surfshark |
|---|---|---|
| Recommendations “What's the best option for me?” | 1% | 71% |
| Comparisons “How do the top options stack up?” | 10% | 21% |
| Ready to buy “Which one should I actually get?” | 0% | 76% |
| Problem-solving “I have this problem — what fixes it?” | 0% | 17% |
| Informational “How does this kind of product work?” | 0% | 5% |
Bold marks the higher point estimate; the headline verdict above uses non-overlapping confidence intervals. Methodology
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