I asked four AI models which database to use in 2026. Neon already won. Four challengers are invisible.

Every week I take one buyer category, ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity the five questions a real buyer would type, and count who gets named and who gets recommended first. Same questions for every company, so it is a fair board and not a vibe.

This week: databases and storage. I expected the incumbent reflex. I got the opposite, then a twist.

The serverless newcomers already won

To the models, the challengers are already the answer:

Neon (serverless Postgres): recommended first in 14 of 20 conversations.