CiteLadder asked Claude Sonnet 5.5 20 buyer questions about video editing software, three times each, in three conditions. From memory, DaVinci Resolve was the brand Claude named most often. When told to search first, Adobe moved to the top. This page reports what Claude said through the Anthropic API. It is not a ranking of which product is better, and the Claude apps can answer differently.
What we asked Claude
The 20 prompts covered five kinds of buyer intent: general picks, specific buyers or use cases, budget or free options, feature-led questions, and comparison shortlists. Each prompt ran three times in each condition, giving 60 answers per condition.
Examples of the prompts:
- "What's the best video editing software right now?"
- "Best video editor for a complete beginner making family videos"
- "Shortlist of video editors that support real-time collaboration with remote editors"
Other prompts asked about TikTok and Instagram Reels, older low-spec laptops, open-source editors for Linux, AI auto-captions and color grading. The requests gave no current date. Another model listed the brands in each answer, and code did the counting. Brands are counted as Claude wrote them, so Adobe, Apple, Final Cut Pro and iMovie can appear as separate entries, as can Blackmagic Design and DaVinci Resolve.
What Claude named from memory
With no tools, Claude named 82 distinct brands across 60 answers, an average of 6.6 per answer. The top three brands took 27.3% of all mentions.
- DaVinci Resolve appeared in 65% of answers and was named first 18 times.
- Adobe appeared in 63.3% and was named first 14 times, with the lowest average position at 2.1.
- Apple appeared in 51.7%.
- CapCut appeared in 48.3%.
- Shotcut and Kdenlive each appeared in 25%.
Consistency across the three runs was moderate. Run agreement was 54%. Adobe was named in every run for 12 prompts, CapCut for 9 and DaVinci Resolve for 8. Final Cut Pro appeared in 20% of answers but was not named in every run for any prompt.
When search was only available
When web search was available but not required, Claude did not search at all. Answers with search: 0. Total searches: 0.
These answers still differed from the first set, which shows normal run-to-run variation. Claude named 96 distinct brands, 7.5 per answer, with run agreement of 65.7%. Apple appeared in 68.3% of answers, Adobe in 60%, CapCut in 50% and DaVinci Resolve in 46.7%. For this category, a brand's position when search is merely offered still comes from what the model already knows.
What changed when Claude was told to search
When the system prompt told Claude to search before answering, all 60 answers used search. Claude named 72 distinct brands, 6.2 per answer. Run agreement fell to 49.1%.
- Adobe became the most-named brand at 55% of answers, and was named first 12 times.
- Apple appeared in 45%.
- DaVinci Resolve and CapCut each appeared in 43.3%. DaVinci Resolve was still named first most often, 14 times.
- Blackmagic Design entered the top five, rising from 23.3% to 30%.
- Shotcut left the top five, moving from 25% to 21.7%.
DaVinci Resolve, Adobe, Apple and CapCut stayed in the top five in both conditions. Final Cut Pro rose to 23.3%, and Canva appeared in the top ten at 20%. The leader changed from DaVinci Resolve from memory to Adobe when told to search.
What Claude searched for
Claude ran 227 searches in this condition. 56.3% of queries contained the word "best", and 52% contained a year. 118 queries named 2025 and 1 named 2026, even though the requests gave no date.
Examples of the queries:
- "best video editing software for color grading 2025"
- "Premiere Pro vs DaVinci Resolve vs Final Cut Pro for YouTube long videos"
- "DaVinci Resolve Studio price free version limitations"
Many queries compared named products head to head or asked about pricing and free-version limits. None of the answers contained inline citations.
Which sites the searches returned
The sites below are the hosts that appeared most often in search results, counted by how many answers' searches returned them.
- miracamp.com: 29 answers, 48.3%
- techradar.com: 28 answers, 46.7%
- en.wikipedia.org: 27 answers, 45%
- toolradar.com: 21 answers, 35%
- davinciresolveclub.com and softsnoop.com: 18 answers each, 30%
- filmora.wondershare.com, subclip.app and thepostflow.com: 17 answers each, 28.3%
- tech.yahoo.com: 16 answers, 26.7%
The mix is review and roundup sites, Wikipedia, a community site focused on one product, and pages published by software makers themselves.
What a video editing brand can take from this
From memory, a small set of names dominated. If your product is outside that set, Claude's training data is where the gap starts, and search only helps when Claude is pushed to use it. In this study, Claude never searched on its own.
When Claude did search, its queries looked like buyer comparisons: "best" lists, product-versus-product pages and pricing questions, often tagged with 2025. Pages that answer those exact questions, with a current year and clear pricing and free-tier details, match what Claude looked for.
The returned sites were a mix of review roundups, Wikipedia and vendor blogs such as filmora.wondershare.com and subclip.app. Being covered accurately on the roundup sites, and publishing your own comparison and use-case pages, are both ways to show up in what Claude reads. CiteLadder tracks these mentions and sources over time so you can see whether changes move your share.
Brand shares in each condition
Share of the 60 answers (20 prompts, three runs) that named each brand. "Prompts named in every run" counts the prompts where the brand appeared in all three runs from memory.
| Brand | From memory | Prompts named in every run | Told to search |
|---|---|---|---|
| DaVinci Resolve | 65% | 8 | 43.3% |
| Adobe | 63.3% | 12 | 55% |
| Apple | 51.7% | 3 | 45% |
| CapCut | 48.3% | 9 | 43.3% |
| Shotcut | 25% | 4 | 21.7% |
| Kdenlive | 25% | 4 | 21.7% |
| Blackmagic Design | 23.3% | 2 | 30% |
| Final Cut Pro | 20% | 0 | 23.3% |
| Descript | 18.3% | 3 | 18.3% |
| iMovie | 18.3% | 1 | not in top 15 |
| Canva | not in top 15 | 20% |
Sites Claude's searches returned
When told to search. Share of answers whose searches returned at least one page from the site.
| Site | Answers | Share of searched answers |
|---|---|---|
| miracamp.com | 29 | 48.3% |
| techradar.com | 28 | 46.7% |
| en.wikipedia.org | 27 | 45% |
| toolradar.com | 21 | 35% |
| davinciresolveclub.com | 18 | 30% |
| softsnoop.com | 18 | 30% |
| filmora.wondershare.com | 17 | 28.3% |
| subclip.app | 17 | 28.3% |
| thepostflow.com | 17 | 28.3% |
| tech.yahoo.com | 16 | 26.7% |
The 20 prompts
- What's the best video editing software right now? (best overall)
- Which video editor do most professional editors actually use? (best overall)
- Top-rated video editing programs for Windows and Mac? (best overall)
- What video editing app would you recommend for someone serious about improving? (best overall)
- Best video editor for a complete beginner making family videos (for a specific buyer or use case)
- What editing software should I use for TikTok and Instagram Reels? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Best video editing software for indie filmmakers shooting a short film (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Which video editor works well on an older, low-spec laptop? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Good video editing tool for a small marketing team making ads (for a specific buyer or use case)
- What do wedding videographers use to edit their footage? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Best video editing app for editing on an iPad (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Easiest editor for teachers making lesson videos and tutorials (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Best free video editing software with no watermark (budget or free)
- Cheap video editor that's a one-time purchase, not a subscription? (budget or free)
- Any good open-source video editors for Linux? (budget or free)
- Which video editors have the best AI auto-captions and transcription? (feature-led)
- Video editing software with the best color grading tools (feature-led)
- Which editor handles 4K and 8K footage smoothly without proxies? (feature-led)
- Compare the top three professional video editors for long-form YouTube content (comparison shortlist)
- Shortlist of video editors that support real-time collaboration with remote editors (comparison shortlist)
Frequently asked questions
Which video editing brand did Claude name most often?
From memory, DaVinci Resolve, in 65% of answers, with Adobe close behind at 63.3%. When told to search, Adobe was named most often, in 55% of answers. This reflects what Claude said, not which product is better.
Does Claude search the web for video editing questions on its own?
Not in this study. With search available but not required, Claude ran 0 searches across 60 answers. It searched in all 60 answers only when the system prompt told it to.
Why do the queries mention 2025?
The requests gave no current date, so Claude added a year on its own. 118 queries named 2025 and 1 named 2026. Pages that are clearly dated and current fit the queries Claude wrote.
Will the Claude app give the same answers?
Not necessarily. These results come from Claude Sonnet 5.5 through the Anthropic API at low effort. The Claude apps can use different settings and tools, so their answers can differ.
Track how often Claude names your brand
CiteLadder tracks whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews mention your video editing brand, where you appear in each answer, and which competitors are named alongside you. Every result is tied to the recorded answer, so you can check what was actually said.
Visibility over time
| Series | 8 Sep | 15 Sep | 22 Sep | 29 Sep | 6 Oct | 13 Oct | 20 Oct | 27 Oct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acme Analytics | 27.9% | 29.6% | 30.2% | 31.8% | 32.5% | 33.1% | 34.2% | 38.4% |
| Northwind | 46.0% | 45.2% | 45.8% | 44.6% | 44.1% | 43.5% | 42.9% | 41.7% |
| Lumen | 30.4% | 31.0% | 29.8% | 30.6% | 29.9% | 29.2% | 28.8% | 27.5% |
412 answers to 120 prompts across 4 engines, week of 27 Oct – 2 Nov 2026
Brands
| Brand | Visibility | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Northwind | 41.7% | down 1.2 pts |
| Acme Analytics | 38.4% | up 4.2 pts |
| Lumen | 27.5% | down 1.3 pts |
| Fathom Labs | 16.9% | down 0.2 pts |
Acme Analytics by engine