What AI tools answer when someone looks for a study-abroad agency

Two agencies occupy almost all the space

STB appears in 74 of 100 responses and CI Intercâmbio in 73. Each was cited in 24 of the 25 questions: no destination, program type or traveller profile leaves both out at the same time. From fourth place down, an agency appears in fewer than half of responses.

Appearing is one thing; being named first is another

AI almost never answers with just one agency: it averages 3.4 agencies per response. That is why where a name appears matters as much as appearing at all. STB is named first most often, with an average position of 2.0. IE Intercâmbio is at the other extreme: it appears in 17 responses and averages position 4.1, after the reader has already seen other names.

For agencies in the middle of the table, this is where the difference lies between being considered and merely mentioned. A list has a beginning, and anyone arriving at its end competes with names the reader has already seen.

Each tool has its own ranking

The same agency’s visibility changes depending on which tool is asked. Egali is the strongest case: it appears in 68% of Google responses and 0% of Claude responses. For anyone outside the top positions, this means there are tools where they can compete and tools where they cannot.

Being read by AI almost guarantees being cited by it

In 65 of 100 responses, it is possible to see which sites the tool consulted. There were 109 different sites, and the most used is stb.com.br, STB’s site, in 24 of 65. Among the ten most used, 6 are sites of the agencies measured and 4 are outside sites, such as br.my-best.com and eurodicas.com.br.

What the tool reads also appears in what it writes: when the agency’s site was consulted, its name appeared in the response 95% of the time. When it was not consulted, the name appeared in 23%. It is important to distinguish two things: Reclame Aqui, cited in 38 responses, and mybest, cited in 12, appear frequently in response TEXT because questions are about trust; that is not the same as being a source the tool read.

Changing destination or program has little effect at the top

The 25 questions were written in five categories: general recommendations, destination, program type, service provided by the agency and traveller profile. The top two names recur in almost all of them.

What changes between categories happens in the middle of the table, not at the top. For agencies outside the top two, this is where there is an opening: a destination or program type in which AI already cites other names.

How we measure

• We asked the 25 questions in 4 tools, once each, in September 2026, yielding 100 responses. Each question was asked in a clean window, temporary conversation without history, from an IP in Brazil. We saved every screenshot.
• No question names an agency. All ask for recommendations, as someone asks before booking travel.
• We count only when AI writes the agency’s name in the response. When the name appears only in the list of sites consulted, it does not enter this count: that is something else, measured separately in section 04.
• We count only what the tool wrote. Site cards, videos and map listings around the response are excluded because AI is not choosing the name there.
• The names in the table came from the responses themselves. We did not begin with a ready-made list, so no outside agency ‘should’ be there: if it was not cited once, it does not appear.
• STB and ‘Student Travel Bureau’ are the same company and count together because that is how AI writes them. The same applies to CI and ‘CI Exchange and Travel’. BELTA, the sector association, was measured but remains outside the table because it does not sell study-abroad programs.

What this study does not say

• Nothing about service quality. What is measured is what AI tools answer, not who serves customers best or delivers what it promises.
• Nothing about how much each thing is searched. The 25 questions reflect how someone asks, not a sample weighted by search volume.
• Nothing about what AI answers for you. Responses vary with the preceding conversation, region and day. This is a September 2026 snapshot in a clean window.
• Nothing about how to change this result. This material measures; it is not an action plan.

The 25 questions, in full

Original Portuguese research evidence, preserved as recorded.

1. 01melhor agencia de intercambio
2. 02qual agencia de intercambio e mais confiavel
3. 03me indique uma agencia de intercambio boa
4. 04qual a melhor agencia para fazer intercambio em 2026
5. 05agencia de intercambio que vale a pena contratar
6. 06qual empresa de intercambio tem o melhor custo beneficio
7. 07melhor agencia de intercambio para o canada
8. 08qual agencia indicar para intercambio na irlanda
9. 09melhor agencia para intercambio na australia
10. 10qual agencia de intercambio para malta
11. 11melhor agencia para estudar nos estados unidos
12. 12qual agencia para intercambio em portugal
13. 13melhor agencia para high school no exterior
14. 14qual agencia indicar para programa au pair
15. 15melhor agencia para work and study no exterior
16. 16qual agencia para curso de ingles no exterior com trabalho
17. 17melhor agencia para pos graduacao ou mba no exterior
18. 18qual agencia de intercambio cuida do visto e da moradia
19. 19qual agencia de intercambio tem melhor suporte no destino
20. 20melhor agencia de intercambio para quem tem pouco dinheiro
21. 21qual agencia de intercambio parcela em mais vezes
22. 22melhor agencia de intercambio para menor de idade
23. 23qual agencia indicar para familia que vai levar filho
24. 24melhor agencia para quem quer imigrar e nao so estudar
25. 25qual agencia de intercambio para quem vai viajar sozinho aos 18 anos