Data
IPD-IA Portugal 2026 - the first national AI visibility index
50 Portuguese websites. 5 sectors. A simple question: are national companies prepared to be interpreted, cited and recommended by AI systems? The answer, sector by sector, is harsher than most assume.
What is IPD-IA Portugal 2026
The IPD-IA (Digital Readiness Index for Artificial Intelligence) is an independent framework that assesses the extent to which Portuguese company websites are structured to be understood, interpreted and recommended by generative AI systems - ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and similar.
It is not an academic or institutional study. It is a practical audit, built from real experience in GEO and technical SEO, applied to 50 real websites of companies and multinationals operating in Portugal.
O resultado mais consistente do estudo: In none of the 5 sectors analyzed, when we isolated only companies with Portuguese capital, did any reach the "AI-ready" level. The percentage of Portuguese companies fully prepared is 0% - in all sectors, without exception.
Como cada website foi avaliado
Each of the 50 websites was analyzed based on five dimensions, scored from 0 to 5 each, for a final score between 0 and 100.
- Technical Structure - robots.txt, sitemap, indexação, velocidade e acessibilidade do website.
- Semantic Structure - organização do conteúdo, headings e hierarquia de informação.
- AI Readiness - FAQ, conteúdo explicativo e sinais de orientação para modelos de linguagem.
- External Authority - backlinks, presença digital e citações fora do website.
- Strategy and Positioning - clareza da proposta de valor, profundidade de conteúdo e consistência editorial.
Complete methodology and classification by score band consultable in estudo original de Helder Mesquita, criador do índice.
Results by sector - when the filter is “only Portuguese companies”
The five sectors were analyzed in separate phases. In all cases, the filter for "only companies with Portuguese capital" reveals a more demanding scenario than the global sample (which includes multinationals operating in Portugal).
| Setor | Preparado | Parcial | Vulnerable | Not prepared |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consultants/Professional Services | 0% | 80% | 20% | — |
| Industry/Production | 0% | 30% | 70% | — |
| Commerce / Online Store | 0% | 30% | 30% | 40% |
| Health and Wellbeing | 0% | 20% | 70% | 10% |
| Local Services | 0% | 20% | 40% | 40% |
Isolated results only for companies with Portuguese capital, by sector. Source: IPD-IA Portugal 2026.
Sector 1 - Consultants / Professional Services
Publicado 25-03-2026. Consultores independentes, empresas portuguesas e grandes consultoras internacionais a operar em Portugal.
Sector 2 - Industry / Production
Published 02-04-2026. Industrial companies of different sizes, exporting organizations and groups with an international presence.
Sector 3 - Commerce / Online Store
Published 07-04-2026. Online stores and digital commerce projects, including exclusively digital businesses and direct sales operations.
Sector 4 - Health and Wellbeing
Published 15-04-2026. Private clinics, therapy spaces, specialized services and businesses focused on health.
Sector 5 - Local Services
Published 22-04-2026. Technical services, automotive, construction and remodeling, real estate, beauty and personal care.
What these numbers mean for your AI visibility
Health and Industry are the sectors with the highest concentration of vulnerability (70% each). Commerce and Local Services have the largest share of "unprepared" companies (40% each) - the bottom end of the scale, not just the middle.
The pattern common to the five sectors: none has a single Portuguese company in the "ready" band. This is not a specific failure of a sector - it is a structural characteristic of the Portuguese market at the moment.
- If you operate in Healthcare or Industry, your direct competition is, for the most part, vulnerable - correcting the technical and semantic fundamentals is a window of real competitive advantage.
- If you operate in Commerce or Local Services, the minimum bar for breaking out of the sector average is even lower - but the risk of total invisibility is also higher.
- Using the same type of dimensions assessed by IPD-IA (technical structure, semantics, AI readiness, authority and strategy) is the starting point for getting out of the “vulnerable” or “not ready” band.