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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “gemini”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “gemini”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 6 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

RankReady – AI SEO, Schema, llms.txt, AEO and GEO for ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – The Chatbot, AI Framework & MCP for WordPress places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 865 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (372) wp.org #1 2 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1258) wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too low 3 LocoAI – Auto Translate for Loco Translate 70K+ · 4.9★ (638) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7506) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 AI WP Writer – SEO content generator, chatGPT, Gemini, Claude 3K+ · 4.9★ (22) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 AI Bud – AI Content Generator, AI Chatbot, ChatGPT, Gemini, GPT-4o 2K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3213) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5209) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9 AI Engine – The Chatbot, AI Framework & MCP for WordPress 90K+ · 4.9★ (865) wp.org #21 ↓5 12 too low 10 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (681) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Social Media Feather 10K+ · 4.6★ (506) wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 AI Puffer – Chat. Create. Automate. (formerly AI Power) 10K+ · 4.6★ (165) wp.org #18 ↓5 4 too low 15 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI providers 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↓1 10 too high 16 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (123) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 ThinkRank AI SEO – AI SEO Plugin for WordPress: Schema, XML Sitemaps, Meta Tags, Search Console & Local SEO 10K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #16 ↑3 2 too high 19 BotWriter – AI Writer & SEO Content Generator 2K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Flex MCP – Connect ChatGPT, Claude and AI agents with MCP, Undo, Abilities and Tools. 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 Opace AI Scribe: SEO Content Creator & Humanizer for OpenAI, Anthropic & Gemini 100+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 RankReady – AI SEO, Schema, llms.txt, AEO and GEO for ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 EZY.ai – AEO & AI SEO for ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini 100+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 PurePen AI – AI Content Generator with Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini & More 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.