Which eSIM Does ChatGPT Recommend? 455 Answers, 2026

Before a trip, more travellers now ask ChatGPT which eSIM to buy instead of searching for one. On 5 October 2026, Uncompromised Travel recorded ChatGPT’s answers to 311 questions that people ask before they buy a travel eSIM, 455 answers in all, and noted every company it named and every website it cited. The full figures are in What ChatGPT tells eSIM buyers: Q3 2026. These are the findings most useful to anyone about to buy one.

Airalo is the name ChatGPT reaches for first

ChatGPT named Airalo in 270 of the 380 answers that counted it (71%), more than any other eSIM company. Holafly was named in 218 of 426 and Nomad in 207 of 420, followed by Ubigi (158) and Saily (150). Between them, those five took 87% of all the times a tracked eSIM company was named. No other company appeared in more than 24 answers.

Airalo was also ChatGPT’s first choice most often, in 61 answers. When ChatGPT explained a recommendation, it most often said Airalo suits “most travelers”, and it called it “best overall” in 29 answers. Uncompromised Travel’s review of Airalo looks at whether that holds up.

Named often is not the same as picked first

Holafly was named in 218 answers and picked first in 26 of them (12%). When the question named companies directly, such as “Airalo vs Holafly: which eSIM is better?”, Holafly appeared in 64 answers and was first choice in none.

Ubigi shows the opposite pattern. It was named less often, in 158 answers, but picked first in 54 of them (34%), the highest rate among the seven companies named in 20 or more answers.

What ChatGPT says each one is best for

ChatGPT tends to give each company a role. These are the phrases it used most, counted across every answer that named the company, including answers to questions about that company:

• Airalo: best for “most travelers” (24 answers), and called “best overall” in 29.
• Holafly: best for “heavy data use” (28) and described with the words “unlimited data” (37). It was also called “usually more expensive” in 6.
• Nomad: “best value” (22) and “best overall value” (11).
• Saily: its “security features” (8) and “polished app” (8).
• Ubigi: “best overall” (14) and “best value” (13), and “particularly strong in Japan” (3).

For a side-by-side look at four of them on price, data and coverage, see Airalo vs Yesim vs Holafly vs Saily.

The answer changes with the destination and the traveller

On the core questions, the fixed set an eSIM company would most want to win, ChatGPT’s first choice depended on where the buyer was going. It picked Airalo for Europe, Spain and the USA; Ubigi for Japan, the UK and Italy; Nomad for Turkey, China, Canada and Australia; Holafly for Mexico; and Orange Travel, the travel eSIM of the French network Orange, for France.

Who is travelling matters too. For a family with four phones, and for someone who has never used an eSIM, ChatGPT picked Saily. For a cruise passenger it picked GigSky, and for a digital nomad moving country every month, Roamless.

Uncompromised Travel’s own guides cover the most asked destinations: eSIMs for Japan, eSIMs for Europe and the best eSIM for the USA.

Whose pages ChatGPT reads before it answers

Most of what ChatGPT cited came from the eSIM companies themselves. When buyers asked which eSIM is best, 281 of the 402 citations among the 25 most cited websites (70%) went to companies’ own sites. airalo.com alone was cited in 185 of the 455 answers, and Holafly’s site in 103.

Review sites appear later in the search. Trustpilot was cited in 33 of the 230 answers to questions about named companies. Uncompromised Travel was cited in 58 of the 455 answers, and on questions asking which eSIM is best it was the most cited website not run by an eSIM company.

For a buyer, this is useful context. A recommendation built mainly from a company’s own pages tells you what that company says about itself. Before paying, check the plan terms on the provider’s site and recent reviews on Trustpilot or the app stores. How to choose an eSIM sets out what to compare.

How the reading was taken

ChatGPT was asked with web search on, from the United States, on 5 October 2026. 239 questions were asked once and 72 three times; every answer counts once. A question that names a company is left out of that company’s own count. ChatGPT’s answers change from one run to the next, so a gap of a few answers between two companies means little, and the answers were read by software.

Every company named, all 36 core questions with ChatGPT’s first choice on each, and every website cited are in the full Q3 2026 eSIM report, with the company data available to download.

Nomad is a partner of Uncompromised Travel and is counted the same way as every other company. No company paid to appear in the report. eSIM companies that want their own figures can start on the For Brands page.