Which Brands Does AI Recommend? Findings From 18 Industries
We asked AI 9,000 real buyer questions across 18 industries. Most answers named no brand at all. See who AI recommends, when and why, with October 2026 data.
Key Takeaways
5- Across 9,000 unbranded English questions in 18 industries, only 37.7% of AI answers named a brand from that industry at all.
- Even category leaders are named rarely. Outside business software and electronics, no industry leader appeared in more than 13% of answers.
- Most brand mentions happen while people compare options (61%), not when they first learn about a topic (14%).
- In regulated industries, AI explains how to choose instead of naming providers: insurance answers named a brand 14.6% of the time, private healthcare 12.2%.
- AI almost never speaks badly of a brand (0.9% of mentions were negative). The real risk is not bad press but not being mentioned.
When people ask AI for help with a purchase, most answers do not name a single brand. In October 2026 we asked AI 9,000 real buyer questions across 18 industries, from banking and insurance to fashion and food delivery. Only 37.7% of the answers mentioned a brand from the industry in question. The rest explained, compared criteria or gave general advice.
That changes how brands should think about AI visibility. The competition is not only against rivals; it is against an answer that names nobody. Below are the main findings, with links to the full results for each industry in the AI Sector Index.
How we measured
The AI Sector Index asks the same set of questions every month:
- 500 unbranded questions per industry, written the way people ask on forums, review sites and in search boxes. None of them names a brand.
- Three stages of the buying journey: 125 awareness questions (“what is a travel card?”), 250 consideration questions (“which type of account suits a freelancer?”) and 125 decision questions (“which card should I apply for?”).
- One model, without web search. This month every answer comes from Claude Opus 5.5 with no browsing, so the results reflect what the model itself knows and recommends. Other engines will be added one by one.
- No country given. The English questions do not name a market, so the answers show what AI recommends to anyone. A separate Turkish edition asks Turkish questions about the Turkish market.
A brand counts as visible when an answer names it. The visibility rate is the share of the industry’s 500 answers that name the brand, explained in our AI visibility score guide.
Finding 1: Most AI answers name no brand at all
Across all 18 industries, 62.3% of answers did not mention a single brand from the industry. How often an answer names any brand varies widely:
| Industry | Answers naming a brand |
|---|---|
| Business software | 71.8% |
| Fashion and apparel | 57.0% |
| Electronics and home appliances | 52.6% |
| Beauty and skincare | 50.4% |
| Education | 46.6% |
| Coffee and food | 46.2% |
| Mother and baby | 45.0% |
| Food delivery and restaurants | 44.4% |
| E-commerce and marketplaces | 38.4% |
| Airlines and travel | 34.6% |
| Hotels and holidays | 34.0% |
| Parcel delivery and logistics | 33.6% |
| Furniture and home decor | 27.2% |
| Automotive | 27.0% |
| Telecoms | 23.4% |
| Banking | 19.2% |
| Insurance | 14.6% |
| Private hospitals and health tourism | 12.2% |
Source: Brantial AI Sector Index, October 2026, global edition. 500 answers per industry.
Product categories where people ask “which one should I get?” sit at the top. Services where the answer depends on personal circumstances sit at the bottom.
Finding 2: Even the leaders are rarely named
When brands are named, attention is spread across many of them. The global fashion answers mentioned 341 different brands; business software answers mentioned 532. With that many names in play, even the most visible brand in most industries appears in only a small share of answers:
- Business software: Microsoft, 31.8% of answers
- Electronics: Apple, 20.2%
- Food delivery: Uber Eats, 13.0%
- Parcel delivery: UPS, 12.6%
- E-commerce: Amazon, 11.6%
- Beauty and skincare: La Roche-Posay, 11.6%
- Furniture: IKEA, 11.0%
- Banking: Revolut, 7.4%
- Insurance: Allianz, 2.0%
Outside business software and electronics, no industry leader passed 13%. For most brands, a visibility rate in the single digits is not a failure; it is what leadership looks like in a crowded category. The useful comparison is against competitors on the same questions, not against an absolute number.
Finding 3: Brands come up when people compare, not when they first ask
We split every brand mention by the stage of the question that produced it:
| Stage of the question | Share of questions | Share of brand mentions |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | 25% | 14.3% |
| Consideration | 50% | 60.9% |
| Decision | 25% | 24.8% |
When someone asks what something is or how it works, AI explains the concept and rarely names a provider. Brands enter the conversation when people start comparing options: “which type”, “what’s the difference”, “which is better for”. That is where most of the competition for visibility actually happens.
Finding 4: In regulated industries, AI explains how to choose
Insurance, private healthcare and banking had the lowest brand rates. Even at the decision stage, the answers usually listed what to check rather than whom to choose. Real examples from the index where no provider was named:
- “What info do I need ready to get a car insurance quote?”
- “What should I check in the small print before applying for a credit card?”
- “How do I ask a private hospital for a written cost estimate?”
For brands in these industries, the opportunity is less in being the named recommendation and more in being the source behind the advice: the guide, the checklist or the comparison the answer is built from.
Finding 5: AI is almost never negative about brands
Of all the brand mentions in the global edition, 56.3% were positive, 42.8% neutral and only 0.9% negative. The Turkish edition was similar: 0.3% negative.
That does not mean every description is accurate or flattering; neutral descriptions can still be outdated or incomplete, which is why brand perception is worth checking. But it does mean the most common problem is not being criticised. It is not being mentioned.
Finding 6: Local markets tell a different story
The Turkish edition asks Turkish questions about the Turkish market, and its leaders look very different. Local brands dominate where they have long been the default choice:
| Industry | Most visible brand, global | Most visible brand, Türkiye |
|---|---|---|
| Telecoms | Starlink, 3.0% | Türk Telekom, 19.4% |
| Airlines | Google Flights, 7.4% | Turkish Airlines, 19.0% |
| Parcel delivery | UPS, 12.6% | PTT, 16.0% |
| E-commerce | Amazon, 11.6% | Trendyol, 9.4% |
| Banking | Revolut, 7.4% | İş Bankası, 10.0% |
| Private hospitals | Bumrungrad, 1.2% | Acıbadem, 11.2% |
A brand’s AI visibility is not one number. It depends on the language and market of the question, which is why brands selling in several countries need to measure each one, as covered in our multilingual AI visibility guide.
What this means for brands
- Measure against the real alternative. In most industries the alternative to being named is not a competitor but an answer with no brand. Track how often answers name anyone, not just your share among brands.
- Focus on comparison questions. Six in ten brand mentions came from consideration-stage questions. Make sure your brand is present in the comparisons, reviews and guides that answer them.
- In regulated industries, aim to be the source. If AI gives advice instead of names, be the page that advice comes from.
- Check each market separately. The leader in English answers may be absent from Turkish ones, and the reverse.
- Look at absence before reputation. With negative mentions under 1%, the first question is whether you appear at all.
Results by industry
Each industry page shows the full ranking, the brands named most often, example questions and how answers break down by stage:
- Banking · Insurance · Telecoms
- E-commerce · Fashion · Beauty and skincare
- Electronics · Furniture · Mother and baby
- Automotive · Airlines and travel · Hotels and holidays
- Coffee and food · Food delivery · Parcel delivery
- Business software · Education · Private healthcare
Frequently asked questions
Which brands does AI recommend most?
It depends on the industry. In October 2026 the most visible brands were Microsoft in business software (31.8% of answers), Apple in electronics (20.2%), Uber Eats in food delivery (13.0%) and UPS in parcel delivery (12.6%). In most other industries the leader appeared in under 12% of answers.
Why does AI often not name any brand?
Many questions, especially early in the buying journey or in regulated industries, are better answered with explanations and criteria than with names. AI tends to name brands when the question asks it to compare or choose.
Which AI model was used for this study?
This edition uses Claude Opus 5.5 without web search, with 500 questions per industry. Results with web search and other engines can differ, which is why other engines are being added to the index over time.
How often is the AI Sector Index updated?
Every month, with the same questions, so changes in the ranking reflect changes in the answers rather than in the questions.
Can I see this data for my own brand?
The index covers broad industry questions. For your own brand, products and competitors, the same method can be run on your customers’ questions; see how to audit your brand’s AI visibility.