Which Pakistani Banks Win in AI Search in 2026?

When someone searches “best credit card in Pakistan” or “best Islamic bank,” they are no longer just browsing a list of blue links. AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews now deliver direct answers that name specific banks and products. If a bank is not appearing in those answers, it is losing consideration before the user ever visits a website.

ClickTraces designed this study to measure that new form of visibility: AI Share of Voice. We ran 13 targeted queries across 9 platforms and tracked which Pakistani banks surfaced, how often, and in which categories.

Key Findings

1. Meezan Bank and Bank Alfalah are effectively tied at the top with 80 and 79 mentions respectively, far ahead of every other bank.
2. HBL scores 69 mentions but is missing from the top of any single category, suggesting broad but shallow AI visibility.
3. Credit cards are the most competitive category. Standard Chartered and Bank Alfalah both score 33, and HBL scores 32 in credit card mentions alone.
4. Islamic banking is dominated by Meezan Bank (18) and Bank Islami (9). Most conventional banks score near zero here, a gap that smaller Islamic banks could exploit.
5. 9 of the 26 banks tracked scored zero total mentions. They are completely absent from AI-generated answers across all 9 platforms.
6. Roshan Digital Account queries are thinly contested. Meezan Bank leads with 17 mentions, but the category remains underpenetrated by most banks.

Methodology

ClickTraces manually entered 13 search queries across 9 platforms and recorded which banks were named in the AI-generated response. Queries were divided into four categories:

Digital Banking: 4 queries covering mobile apps, online account opening, and freelancer banking

Credit Cards: 4 queries covering the best cards, cashback, lounge access, and online shopping

Islamic Banking: 3 queries covering Islamic banks, savings, and halal investment accounts

Roshan Digital: 2 queries covering non-resident Pakistanis opening accounts from abroad

The 9 platforms tested were:

• Google AI Overview
• Google Organic
• ChatGPT
• Gemini
• Perplexity
• Claude
• Grok
• DeepSeek
• Bing Copilot

Each bank mentioned in a platform’s response counted as one point. The maximum possible score per bank was 117 (13 queries x 9 platforms). Scores were totaled per category and overall.

Overall Rankings

The table below shows total AI mentions across all platforms and all query categories. Only banks with at least one mention are listed.

Bank	Digital Banking	Credit Cards	Islamic Banking	Roshan Digital	Total
Meezan Bank	25	20	18	17	80
Bank Alfalah	26	33	6	14	79
HBL	17	32	5	15	69
Standard Chartered	14	33	5	8	60
UBL	22	17	4	13	56
Allied Bank	14	4	2	9	29
MCB Bank	2	10	6	2	20
JS Bank	4	7	2	6	19
Faysal Bank	4	8	5	1	18
Mashreq Pakistan	10	0	4	0	14
Bank Al Habib	2	0	3	6	11
Bank Islami	0	0	9	0	9
Askari Bank	3	3	2	0	8
Bank of Punjab	1	2	0	2	5
Habib Metro	4	0	1	0	5
National Bank	0	0	4	0	4
Al Baraka Bank	0	0	3	0	3
Dubai Islamic Bank	0	0	2	1	3

 

AI Mention Score by Bank

Total mentions across all 9 platforms and 13 queries. Top 10 banks shown.

Results by Category

All 13 most searched banking queries were divided into 4 categories. Here are the results of each category.

1. Digital Banking

Queries: best digital bank in Pakistan | best mobile banking app in Pakistan | open bank account online Pakistan | best bank account for freelancers Pakistan

This is the AI Overview for the “Best Digital Bank in Pakistan” query

Results: Bank Alfalah leads digital banking mentions with 26, edging out Meezan Bank’s 25. UBL comes in third at 22, and HBL fourth at 17. This is the most evenly contested category at the top. Notably, Mashreq Pakistan scores 10 here despite a near-zero profile everywhere else, suggesting some AI platforms reference it for neobanking comparisons.

2. Credit Cards

Queries: best credit card in Pakistan | best cashback credit card Pakistan | credit card with lounge access Pakistan | best credit card for online shopping Pakistan

This is the Perplexity response for the “Best Cashback Credit Card Pakistan” query

Results: Credit cards produced the highest raw scores of any category. Bank Alfalah and Standard Chartered both scored 33 mentions, with HBL close behind at 32. UBL and JS Bank also appear regularly. This category is where premium product reputation and SEO authority most clearly translate into AI visibility. Allied Bank’s low credit card score (4) versus its digital banking score (14) highlights a real product perception gap.

3. Islamic Banking

Queries: best Islamic bank in Pakistan | Islamic savings account Pakistan | halal investment account Pakistan

This is the ChatGPT response for the “Islamic Savings Account Pakistan” query

Results: Meezan Bank scores 18 in Islamic banking, more than double the next competitor. Bank Islami (9), MCB Islamic Bank (6), and Faysal Bank (5) follow. Most conventional banks score zero or one here. This represents a meaningful opportunity for Islamic banking specialists to capture AI mindshare that larger banks are not competing for.

4. Roshan Digital

Queries: best bank for Roshan Digital Account | open Pakistani bank account from abroad

This is the Gemini response for the “Best Bank for Roshan Digital Account” query

Results: Roshan Digital Account queries returned relatively low mention counts across all banks, suggesting AI platforms have not yet built strong associations between individual banks and RDA products. Meezan leads with 17, followed by UBL (13) and HBL (15). Banks that proactively publish RDA-focused content have a clear window to own this niche before it becomes competitive.

Category Breakdown for Top 6 Banks

Stacked mentions by query category. Shows where each bank’s AI visibility is concentrated.

The Invisible Banks

Nine banks in our study received zero mentions across all 9 platforms and all 13 queries. These include HugoBank, Bank Makramah, ICBC Pakistan, Bank of China Pakistan, First Women Bank, and Apna Microfinance Bank.

Their absence is not necessarily due to poor products. AI platforms draw from publicly available text on the web. Banks that have thin digital footprints, limited English-language content, or no presence on review sites, comparison tools, or news coverage will not appear in AI answers regardless of their actual services.

Expert Analysis

After finalizing the results, here is what our AI SEO experts think about this analysis:

The Gap Between Rank 3 and Rank 6 is Enormous

The difference between Meezan (80), Bank Alfalah (79), and HBL (69) versus Allied Bank (29) at rank 6 is stark. The top three are not just slightly more visible; they are 2 to 3 times more present in AI answers. This compounding effect means the top banks get recommended more, users trust them more based on AI citations, and their advantage grows over time without additional effort.

Category Specialization Creates Defensible AI Visibility

Meezan Bank’s Islamic banking score of 18 against Bank Islami’s 9 shows that being the recognized leader in a specific niche creates durable AI visibility. AI platforms consistently surface Meezan for Islamic queries because the volume of content associated with Islamic finance is overwhelming. Banks looking to break into the top tier do not need to compete across all four categories. Owning one deeply is enough to build momentum.

Credit Cards are the Highest-Leverage Category

Credit card queries returned the most mentions in aggregate. Banks with strong credit card products that are not yet appearing in AI answers are leaving their most commercially valuable product line unrepresented. The comparison content for credit cards is heavily consumed by users who are actively ready to apply. Missing here has a direct revenue consequence.

Roshan Digital is Wide Open

The Roshan Digital Account category is underserved in AI content. Even Meezan’s leading score of 17 is modest. This is a category with a high-value customer base: overseas Pakistanis with disposable income looking for trusted banking relationships. Banks that publish clear, well-optimized RDA content now will likely see outsized AI visibility gains before the space becomes crowded.

Recommendations

Based on the data, here is what different groups of banks should prioritize:

For top banks (score 50+): Defend category leadership. Produce structured comparison content that makes AI platforms default to naming you. Track your mention scores quarterly.

For mid-tier banks (score 5 to 49): Pick one category and go deep. Publish detailed, factual, frequently updated content about your flagship product in that niche before the leaders lock it in.

For invisible banks (score 0): Start with the basics. Get listed on banking comparison sites, publish English-language product pages, and earn press coverage. AI needs source material to cite you.

Final Thoughts

AI platforms are now a first-touch channel for banking decisions in Pakistan. When a user asks ChatGPT which bank is best for freelancers or which credit card offers lounge access, they receive a short list of names. If your bank is not on that list, you have lost consideration before the customer even searches for you directly.

The data from this study shows a clear two-tier market. Meezan Bank and Bank Alfalah have built a genuine AI share of voice. HBL and Standard Chartered are close behind. Everyone else, including large institutions like the National Bank of Pakistan, is operating at a fraction of its potential AI visibility.

But AI visibility is not opaque or locked in. It is content-driven and auditable. Banks that invest in structured digital content, comparison coverage, and niche category authority now will compound that advantage as AI usage in Pakistan continues to grow.

For detailed research data, screenshots, and source references, please refer to the accompanying Excel file.