{"citations":{"source_mix":{"company_owned":35,"independent":4,"unclear":0},"sources_referenced_by_questions":0,"support_mix":{"direct":26,"partial":13},"total_sources":39,"unique_domain_count":11},"claims":[{"claim_id":"claim-001","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-10-03","platform_support":["deepseek","google","grok","kimi","openai","perplexity"],"predicate":"platforms_analyzed","qualifier":"valid included platform responses","subject":"Best Ecommerce Platform for Selling Digital Products and Licensed Downloads","unit":"platforms","value":6},{"claim_id":"claim-002","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-10-03","platform_support":["google","kimi","openai","perplexity"],"predicate":"final_consensus_rank","qualifier":"selling digital products and downloads","subject":"Easy Digital Downloads","unit":"rank","value":4},{"claim_id":"claim-003","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-10-03","platform_support":["google","kimi","openai","perplexity"],"predicate":"platform_mentions","qualifier":"out of 6","subject":"Easy Digital Downloads","unit":"platforms","value":4},{"claim_id":"claim-004","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-10-03","platform_support":["openai","grok","perplexity","google"],"predicate":"fit_rating_count","qualifier":"strong","subject":"Easy Digital Downloads","unit":"platforms","value":4},{"claim_id":"claim-005","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-10-03","platform_support":["deepseek","kimi"],"predicate":"fit_rating_count","qualifier":"good","subject":"Easy Digital Downloads","unit":"platforms","value":2}],"content_scope":"aggregated facts, computed metrics, and retrieval summaries","entities":[{"average_rank":3.5,"best_rank":1,"entity_id":"entity-001","entity_type":"company","final_rank":4,"name":"Easy Digital Downloads","platform_mentions":4,"platform_share":0.6666666666666666}],"identity":{"dataset_url":"https://hostingconsensusindex.com/datasets/ecommerce-hosting-and-platforms/digital-products-and-downloads/easy-digital-downloads.json","page_url":"https://hostingconsensusindex.com/ecommerce-hosting-and-platforms/digital-products-and-downloads/easy-digital-downloads","report_type":"fit_review","study_id":"MCI-STUDY-8CF9E2AA151A","title":"Easy Digital Downloads Review for Selling Digital Products and Licensed Downloads"},"limitations":["Use the run researchdate as the study date. Platform-reported dates are provenance metadata and do not independently prove freshness.","All included platforms evaluated fit, but platformmentions counts only platforms that named the entity during ranking discovery.","Do not resolve conflicting product names, pricing, or capabilities by guessing; describe the conflict and tell buyers what to verify.","The supplied URLs were collected from platform responses and were not independently validated by the writer stage.","Company-owned citations materially outnumber independent citations; do not describe company claims as independently verified.","Platform-reported research dates differ from the authoritative run date; disclose this as a methodology limitation.","Citations are platform-reported evidence, not independently verified facts. No-search model claims require explicit verification before being described as current facts."],"methodology":{"fit_rating_contract":["strong","good","mixed","weak","uncertain"],"included_valid_platform_count":6,"maximum_finalists":10,"minimum_mentions":2,"name":"Hosting Consensus Index cross-platform AI consensus analysis","platforms_included":["deepseek","google","grok","kimi","openai","perplexity"],"platforms_queried":["openai","anthropic","deepseek","grok","perplexity","kimi","google"],"stages":["ranking_discovery","fit_assessment","normalization","editorial_synthesis"],"version":"alias-table-1"},"provenance":{"generated_at":"2026-10-03 11:31:24.723125+00","research_date":"2026-10-03","source_snapshot_sha256":"7a9966975cc9d66cbb844d1fdca45141d9d8fdff4de333abe3429aa4ddccfb73","verification_scope":"public_verification"},"ranking":{"candidates_evaluated":20,"qualified_finalists":10,"ranking_unit":"Ecommerce platform"},"schema_version":4,"summary":"Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is a strong fit for selling digital products and downloads if the buyer already runs, or is willing to operate, a self-hosted WordPress site. Four of the six included platforms named EDD during the ranking stage — Google, Kimi, OpenAI, and Perplexity — and it earned a best listed rank of 1. The strongest reason to consider it is the Software Licensing extension, which handles license key generation, activation limits, validation, renewals, upgrades, and update delivery. The main limitation is that EDD is a WordPress plugin, not a managed platform: the buyer owns…","target_buyer":"A digital creator or software seller with no physical inventory who needs secure delivery and license management instead of shipping logistics.","topic":{"base_category":"Ecommerce Hosting and Platforms","category_criteria":["secure file delivery","license key and access management","digital fulfillment automation","fraud and chargeback protection","payment processor integration"],"geography":"United States","slug":"best-ecommerce-platform-for-selling-digital-products-and-licensed-downloads","title":"Best Ecommerce Platform for Selling Digital Products and Licensed Downloads","use_case":"selling digital products and downloads"}}