How visitor votes are counted
Battle pages ask visitors which brand they would choose. This page explains, without formulas, how those votes are counted. The exact rules are fixed in advance in a sealed pre-registration (ACM-1.1-votes) and described in the methodology, section A10.
Open online poll of Pickbench visitors, not a representative survey.
What the number is
The visitors' share is an open online poll of Pickbench visitors, not a representative survey. It describes the visitors who chose to vote, never people in general. It is shown next to the AI result for comparison and never enters an AI number, a tier or a paid product.
Vote first, then see the AI result
On a first visit, a battle page shows the two options without the AI result. The result appears after a vote or a skip. The headline counts only votes cast before the AI result was shown; votes cast after it are reported separately, so the AI result cannot sway the headline. A tab opened before the result was shown in another tab still counts its vote as cast before.
One vote per browser, with a bot check
Each vote passes a Cloudflare Turnstile bot check. Only votes that pass it count. A browser has one counted vote per battle: its latest one. Daily limits per browser and per network stop floods; they never decide which votes count.
When a share appears
The number of visitors who voted is shown from the first vote. A share is shown only once a battle has at least 50 decided votes from at least 20 network blocks and 10 network providers.
When a share is withheld
A share is withheld and marked "under review", with the vote count still shown, when more than half of the votes come from one network provider or one network block, or when leaving out the largest one would flip the lean from one brand to the other. When leaving it out only moves the result, or turns a lean into too close to call, the share is shown as too close to call with the note "the result varies by network".
Voting surges
A sudden hour of votes that fails the same test is set aside and reviewed blind: the reviewer sees counts and network traits, never which brand the votes favour. A surge is excluded (and the page says so, with the figure including it) or counted as usual. A surge not reviewed within 7 days is counted and labelled.
Where visitors came from
A vote records only the kind of site a visitor arrived from, never the page address. It never changes how votes count. When one site brought most of the votes, the page says so and makes no claim that visitors disagree with the AI.
Known limits
An attack spread over many network providers can get past the network rules; the bot check, one vote per browser and the daily limits are what bound it. On a battle with many votes, a smaller one-network attack can move the share without flipping the lean; it is then shown as too close to call with the network note.