Investing.com -- Citi analysts are putting their money on the platforms that own the data. The broker argues that leading platforms benefit from owning inventory, transaction and reputation data, particularly in high-value categories where recommendation accuracy matters most.
While AI agents could eventually become the primary discovery interface, Citi says it is too early to conclude that. Its top picks are Scout24 and Trustpilot, both rated "buy."
Scout24
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Citi sees online property classifieds as the lowest-risk corner of the sector, and Scout24 as the standout. The broker points to the company's early optimisation for AI agents as a key reason for its confidence.
Citi's broader evidence supports the case: users continue to favour specialist AI tools embedded within category leaders, and engagement with platform-native AI functionality is increasing, while traffic from leading LLMs remains negligible.
Trustpilot
Citi's case for Trustpilot rests on its review dataset, which the bank says is increasingly important for LLM recommendation quality. That fits the broker's central argument that reputation data is a valuable asset, and that the value may accrue to the owner of the data rather than to the AI layer built on top of it.
Original Article
Citi backs data owners over AI layer, naming two top picks as the safest bets
