How the study was done
- Engines: Perplexity and Brave AI (Brave Search’s AI summary), queried on September 27 from Panama, without signing in.
- Questions: five in Spanish and five in English per engine, the ones a buyer asks: which SUV to buy, which Chinese brands sell most, whether JETOUR is reliable, which plug-in hybrid to choose and which seven-seat SUV to buy.
- Record: every brand mentioned and the sources each engine cited were logged. AI answers change over time; this is a snapshot of one date.
Results
| Question | Perplexity (ES) | Perplexity (EN) | Brave AI (ES) | Brave AI (EN) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Which SUV to buy in Panama? | Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-60 | Toyota RAV4, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Toyota Fortuner | Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Toyota Corolla Cross, Mazda CX-5 | Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Toyota Prado |
| Which Chinese brands sell most? | Geely, JETOUR, Changan | Geely, JETOUR, Changan | Geely, JETOUR, Changan, Forthing, GAC | Geely, Changan, JETOUR, Dongfeng, GAC |
| Is JETOUR reliable? | Yes, with 7-year warranty and workshops; check reviews | Value option; young brand, little long-term evidence | Yes; second Chinese brand, Petromotors, X70, X50 and T2 | Yes; +92% in February, X70 Plus in the top 10, J.D. Power |
| Which plug-in hybrid? | BYD Song Plus, GAC GS9, Lynk & Co 08 | BYD Song Plus, Changan CS55, Jaecoo J7, JETOUR T2, GAC GS9 | Toyota RAV4, Changan Deepal G318, Honda CR-V | BYD Tang, BYD Shark, Toyota RAV4 |
| Which seven-seat SUV? | Kia Sorento, Toyota Fortuner, JETOUR X70 FL, SOUEAST S07 | Kia Sorento, Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Montero Sport, GAC GS9 | Mitsubishi Outlander, Suzuki XL7, SOUEAST S07, Montero Sport | Toyota Fortuner, Land Cruiser, Prado |
Brands in the order each engine cites them. Full record of the 20 answers held by Radar Panamá.
What it shows
The generic question is still Japanese and Korean
Asked “which SUV to buy in Panama”, all four engines answer Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda or Subaru. Brave AI in English even advises against “many Chinese brands” over parts and service, citing forums. That is the space Chinese brands do not yet occupy.
The warranty is what AI repeats
In all four answers about JETOUR‘s reliability, the engines cite the 7-year or 200,000-kilometre warranty and Petromotors’ workshop network. It is the fact published most often, and so the one AI extracts.
The sources are media and the distributor’s website
Perplexity cited La Prensa, Infobae, Deagencia, Best Selling Cars Blog and petromotors.com. Brave AI cited La Prensa, Deagencia, Reddit and petromotors.com. What a media outlet publishes with figures ends up in the answer.
AI repeats mistakes too
Perplexity in English called the distributor “Petroautos” and gave 7-year or 150,000-kilometre coverage, different from what Petromotors publishes. It is an example of why a brand needs its facts to appear identically across several sources.
The verbatim quotes
SOUEAST, Petromotors’ other brand
In the seven-seat SUV questions, the SOUEAST S07 appeared in two of the four answers, in Perplexity and Brave AI in Spanish, both citing the model page on petromotors.com and its seven-year warranty. It is the only Chinese seven-seater the engines mention alongside Kia, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Suzuki.
Frequently asked questions
Which SUV does artificial intelligence recommend in Panama?
For a generic question, Perplexity and Brave AI recommend Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson and Creta, Kia Sportage and Seltos, Mazda CX-5 and Subaru Forester. No Chinese brand appears in that question.
Does AI recommend JETOUR in Panama?
Yes, when the question mentions Chinese brands or the brand itself: JETOUR appears in 10 of 20 answers, always with its 7-year or 200,000-kilometre warranty and its distributor Petromotors. In the generic question about which SUV to buy it does not appear.
Which Chinese brands does AI say sell most in Panama?
Geely, JETOUR and Changan, in all four engines and in that order, citing ADAP data published by La Prensa and Infobae.
Which sources does AI cite about cars in Panama?
La Prensa, Infobae, Deagencia, Octanos Media, Best Selling Cars Blog, Reddit and distributors’ websites such as petromotors.com.
Related articles
- Best-selling car brands in Panama: the ADAP ranking
- Radar AI: which immigration lawyers AI recommends in Panama
- What GEO and AEO are and why they matter in Panama
Sources
- Perplexity, ten queries made on September 27.
- Brave Search, AI summary, ten queries made on September 27.
- Petromotors, distributor of JETOUR and SOUEAST, published warranty.
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