How AI Assistants Decide Which Dev Tool to Recommend (and How to Be the One They Pick)

Description and use

<p>Think about the last time you picked a library. There's a good chance you didn't Google "best Node.js queue library." You asked ChatGPT, Claude or your editor's assistant, got three names, and tried the first one.</p> <p>That moment, when an assistant chooses which three names to list, is now one of the most important distribution channels for developer tools. And most maintainers have never looked at it.</p> <p>This post covers where those recommendations come from, how to measure yours with a ~40-line script, and the changes that actually move them.</p> <h2> Two kinds of answer, two sourc

Problem

<p>Think about the last time you picked a library. There's a good chance you didn't Google "best Node.js queue library." You asked ChatGPT, Claude or your editor's assistant, got three names, and tried the first one.</p> <p>That moment, when an assistant chooses which three names to list, is now one of the most important distribution channels for developer tools. And most maintainers have never looked at it.</p> <p>This post covers where those recommendations come from, how to measure yours with a ~40-line script, and the changes that actually move them.</p> <h2> Two kinds of answer, two sourc

Outcome

<p>Think about the last time you picked a library. There's a good chance you didn't Google "best Node.js queue library." You asked ChatGPT, Claude or your editor's assistant, got three names, and tried the first one.</p> <p>That moment, when an assistant chooses which three names to list, is now one of the most important distribution channels for developer tools. And most maintainers have never looked at it.</p> <p>This post covers where those recommendations come from, how to measure yours with a ~40-line script, and the changes that actually move them.</p> <h2> Two kinds of answer, two sourc

Evidence

How AI Assistants Decide Which Dev Tool to Recommend (and How to Be the One They Pick)

Source