Personally, the main reason why I classify the Genoveses as being the most influential was that the other families would always use the Genoveses as their liaison with the Commission. Gambino may have been first among equals and maybe even Castellano and Gotti afterwards, but they were just individuals. For the most part, the Genoveses as a whole were looked at with more respect by the non-NY families.

But like you said, it's mainly just a matter of personal opinion.