Human Pioneers
NEWS AGENCY

WACI:2026 World AI City Competitiveness Index

A city's future depends not only on what it builds, but also on where it stands in AI's "cognitive world."

When global users ask AI—"Which city is best for starting a business?" "Which city is Asia's tech hub?" "What are the world's most innovative cities?"—the answers AI provides are becoming new coordinates that influence capital flows, talent migration, and urban destinies.

The World AI City Competitiveness Index (WACI) was created precisely to measure these "new coordinates."

I. What Kind of Index Is This?

WACI is the world's first urban AI competitiveness assessment system based solely on real output data from AI large language models.

Unlike traditional city rankings, WACI does not rely on economic statistics or expert scoring. Instead, it directly "asks AI"—using standardized methods to query 15 major global AI large language models, recording how AI describes, evaluates, and recommends each city, and generating a competitiveness score for each city in AI's cognitive world.

In short: It's not humans evaluating cities, but how AI "sees" cities.

II. Four Dimensions to Understand a City's AI Cognitive Profile

WACI creates a three-dimensional "AI cognitive profile" for each city across four dimensions:

Cognitive Visibility — Does AI know this city?

Measures the breadth and scenario coverage of a city's mentions in multilingual, multi-model AI-generated content. The frequency with which a city is "seen" by AI determines its basic presence in global users' cognition.

Industry Labeling Power — What is this city known for according to AI?

Assesses the clarity and strength of industry cluster labels associated with a city in AI. Is it "Silicon Valley" or "Manufacturing Base"? "Financial Center" or "Cultural Tourism Destination"? The labels AI assigns become the city's "industry business card" in the digital world.

Recommendation Advantage — Under what circumstances does AI recommend this city?

In recommendation scenarios such as investment location selection, talent migration, and business activities, does AI prioritize this city? The recommendation ranking determines whether a city can make it onto decision-makers' "shortlist" at critical moments.

Cognitive Resilience — How stable is this city's AI image?

Facing AI model updates and sudden events, is the city's AI cognitive image stable? The stronger the resilience, the more risk-resistant the city's digital reputation assets.

III. Covering 200 Cities Worldwide, Listening to AI's "Urban Perspective"

WACI's assessment network covers:

• 200 major cities across six continents, spanning over 50 countries and regions
• 15 globally mainstream AI large language models, including representative models from China, the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the Middle East
• Seventy languages including Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean, ensuring objectivity in cross-lingual cognitive comparisons

From New York to Shenzhen, from London to Singapore, from Dubai to São Paulo—WACI presents a "global city cognitive map" as seen through AI's eyes.

IV. Who Is This Index For?

City Administrators: Diagnose a city's cognitive position in the AI world, identify strengths in being "seen" and weaknesses in being "overlooked," and provide data-driven decision-making for city branding strategies.

Investment Promotion Agencies: Understand the competitiveness of target cities in AI-recommended scenarios that attract global investors, supporting precise targeting for investment attraction.

International Organizations and Research Institutions: Obtain first-hand data on the distribution of global cities' discourse power in the AI era, supporting regional development policy research.

V. How WACI Can Be Used

Scenario 1: City AI Cognitive Health Check

Through WACI's four-dimensional radar chart, city administrators can see at a glance: Is the city widely recognized but with vague industry labels, or does it have distinctive industry characteristics but insufficient international visibility? Each dimension's score corresponds to a type of improvement direction.

Scenario 2: Benchmarking Against Competitor Cities

Select benchmark cities for multi-dimensional comparative analysis. Why is Shenzhen's industry labeling power leading? Why is Hefei's cognitive rise so remarkable? Benchmarking analysis helps cities find breakthroughs for differentiated competition.

Scenario 3: City Brand GEO Strategy Formulation

Based on diagnostic results, develop targeted city AI cognitive building plans—from authoritative source layout to industry white paper releases, from multilingual content supply to hosting international forums—enhancing the city's weight in the AI knowledge system throughout the entire process.

Scenario 4: WACI Listing Operations

Following the WACI operational guide, cities can systematically complete the entire process from diagnosis registration, strategic planning, professional execution to official listing, striving to achieve the deserved cognitive ranking in the global list.

VI. Inaugural Chinese City List Unveiled

The first WACI Chinese city screening has been released, covering approximately 60 Chinese cities. Based on comprehensive scores, cities are divided into six tiers: AI Super First-Tier Cities (Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou), AI First-Tier Cities (8 cities including Hefei, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Wuhan), AI New First-Tier Cities, AI Characteristic Cities, AI Potential Cities, and AI Observer Cities.    Note: Please check the full list and detailed scores through official channels.

VII. Beyond Comprehensive Rankings—Specialty City Lists

In addition to comprehensive rankings, WACI also offers multi-dimensional specialty lists, giving every city a chance to stand out in its area of strength:

• Top 50 Industry Labeling Power: Cities with the strongest AI industry cognitive advantages
• Top 50 Recommendation Advantage: AI's most recommended destinations for investment and relocation
• Top 50 Cognitive Resilience: Cities with the most stable AI image and strongest risk resistance
• Top 30 Emerging Cities: Cities with the fastest rising AI recognition

VIII. How to Access More Data?

• The WACI annual overall ranking and regional/specialized sub-rankings are publicly released on the official index website.
• Participating cities can apply for customized diagnostic reports through official channels.
• Quarterly dynamic monitoring briefings are sent to subscribed users.

"The clarity of a city's industry labels and its recommendation ranking within the AI knowledge system are becoming core variables of its global competitiveness."

—— Pang Pei, Chief Designer of the AI Cognitive Index (AICI) Evaluation System

Publishing Organizations

• World Intelligence Organization (WIO) / AI Index Research Institute (a global non-profit organization registered with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, holding U.S. federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status)
• GEO Research Institute of China Screen New Media Internet TV (a company jointly invested by China Central Television's Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio Group)
• WICOWEB Global AI Cognitive Research Center
• Beijing Northern Future Vocational Skills Certification Center (holding a nationwide foreign-related survey license issued by the National Bureau of Statistics)
• JingTV