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5W ranks how the world's leading brands get cited across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews.
5W is the AI Communications Firm and publisher of the 5W AI Visibility Index series. Through a dedicated Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) practice, 5W helps the world's leading brands earn citation authority across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — alongside the consumer, corporate, crisis, healthcare, technology, sports, lifestyle, and public affairs work that has made 5W a Top U.S. PR Agency by O'Dwyer's.
2026 Consumer Brand Series
The 2026 research series is live.
Read the nine-volume 5W AI Visibility Index series covering pet, video games, longevity, menopause, mental health, cannabis, EV, pickleball, and watches.
Monthly Research Drop
Get the next Index first.
New category drops monthly. Subscribers get the report 48 hours before public release, plus the underlying citation data.
AI Visibility Index Reports
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LATEST · INDEX
The Med Spa & Aesthetic Medicine AI Visibility Index 2026
New 5W AI Visibility Index: 25 brands control 95% of AI citation share in aesthetic medicine.
Botox 95 · RealSelf 86 · LaserAway 72 · 65 patient-intent prompts · 5 engines · June 2026
Read the index →INDEX
The Theme Parks AI Visibility Index 2026
Disney 58%. Universal 23%. Six Flags 13%. Three companies hold 94% of every AI theme-park answer.
25 destination parks · 5 engines · 50 traveler-intent prompts · Volume 65 · May 2026
Read the index →INDEX
The 5W AI Trust Map of America
The first national study of regional authority inside AI answer systems.
Five volumes across grocery, restaurants, banking, hotels, and healthcare
Explore the series →INDEX
How the Index Works
Prompt architecture, scoring, platform variance, and retrieval mapping.
Canonical methodology for the recurring series
Read the methodology →INDEX
May 2026 AI Visibility Release
Five new category indexes show how brands surface across AI answer engines.
Pharma, home services, health insurance, airlines and hotels, and fitness apps
Read the release →INDEX
The IPO AI Visibility Index
25 recent and pending U.S. IPO candidates ranked by AI Readiness Score — who controls the answer before the bell.
CoreWeave leads · Klarna and Figma are famous and defenseless · Directional modeled index · May 2026
Read the index →Category Indexes
INDEX
Flagship Edition 01 — Q1 2026
Banks
The branch network built the bank. The AI answer belongs to Ally.
Edition 01 — Q1 2026
Read the report →INDEX
B2B SaaS
Jira bills the enterprise. Linear owns the recommendation.
Edition 02 — Q2 2026
Read the report →INDEX
Flagship Edition 03 — Q3 2026
Beauty
Estee Lauder owns the counter. The Ordinary owns the chatbox.
Edition 03 — Q3 2026
Read the report →INDEX
Flagship Edition 04 — Q4 2026
Hotels
Wyndham owns the most properties. Aman owns the AI answer.
Edition 04 — Q4 2026
Read the report →INDEX
Flagship Edition 05 — Annual 2026
Airlines
American flies the most passengers. Delta is the only AI answer.
Edition 05 — Annual Flagship 2026
Read the report →INDEX
Week 01 Snapshot
Banks
Ally wins. Wells Fargo whiffs. The top 25 U.S. banks ranked by AI citation share.
Top cited: Ally Bank leads Week 01
Read the report →INDEX
The Pharma DTC vs. AI Citation Gap 2026
$4 billion in TV spend. AI still answers with molecules, not brands.
15 DTC brands · 5 engines · 75 patient-intent prompts · June 2026
Read the index →INDEX
Pharma & Rx
CVS wins pharmacy. Hims wins the prescription.
CVS · Hims · Walgreens · Ro · GoodRx
Read the report →INDEX
Home Services & Improvement
Thumbtack beats Angi. Roto-Rooter still owns emergency.
Thumbtack · Angi · Roto-Rooter · HomeAdvisor · TaskRabbit
Read the report →INDEX
Health Insurance
UnitedHealth owns the answer. Anthem barely exists.
UnitedHealthcare · Humana · Kaiser · Cigna · Anthem
Read the report →INDEX
May 2026 Combined Release
Airlines & Hotels
Travel brands compete for visibility where AI assistants plan trips.
May 2026 AI Visibility Index release
Read the report →INDEX
Fitness & Wellness Apps
Peloton owns the screen. Whoop owns the wrist. The legacy gyms lost the app.
Peloton · Whoop · Noom · Strava · MyFitnessPal
Read the report →INDEX
Functional Beverages
Olipop kills Poppi. Liquid Death owns energy. Celsius outscores Red Bull.
Olipop · Liquid Death · Celsius · Poppi · Red Bull
Read the report →INDEX
Sports Nutrition & Protein
Optimum Nutrition owns protein. Liquid I.V. owns hydration. The legacy brands lost the kids.
Optimum Nutrition · Liquid I.V. · Ghost · Celsius · Gatorade
Read the report →LUXURY AI VISIBILITY RESEARCH
The Watch Brand AI Names First.
The new 5W Luxury Watches AI Visibility Index reveals which watch brands AI engines cite when consumers ask what luxury watch to buy, which brands hold value and which alternatives to consider. Rolex leads the category, owning the default answer across AI-powered discovery.
Rolex · Omega · Patek Philippe · Audemars Piguet · Tudor · Grand Seiko
Read the report →INDEX
Home Security
The largest legacy home-security brand loses AI citation share to DIY brands built in the review economy.
May 2026 AI Visibility Index study
Read the report →INDEX
Luggage
Samsonite sells the most luggage, but AI recommendations favor DTC challengers.
Top cited: Away, Samsonite, Tumi
Read the report →INDEX
Non-Alcoholic Drinks
One brand owns NA beer while the rest of the alcohol-alternative answer fragments.
Top cited: Athletic Brewing and category-specific alternatives
Read the report →INDEX
Project Management & Work Tools
AI does not name one best tool; it names the best tool for the team and use case.
Top cited: Asana and use-case leaders
Read the report →INDEX
Website & E-commerce Platforms
WordPress powers the web, but AI shopping and builder queries recommend Shopify.
Top cited: Shopify, Squarespace, Wix
Read the report →INDEX
AI-Friendly Publications
5W scores the publications most likely to turn media coverage into AI citation value.
Top cited: Forbes — AI Citation Value 98
Read the report →INDEX
Pickleball
Selkirk and JOOLA own the answer. The legacy paddle brands are gone.
Selkirk · JOOLA · Paddletek · Engage · The Picklr
Read the report →INDEX
Grocery Retail
Walmart owns the AI answer. Kroger ranks behind Aldi.
Walmart · Whole Foods · Trader Joe's · Aldi · Costco
Read the report →INDEX
Entertainment & Streaming
Netflix gets cited 2x Disney+. Max is invisible.
Netflix · Disney+ · Amazon Prime · Hulu · Max
Read the report →INDEX
Sports Betting & Gaming
The duopoly's hold on citations is tighter than its hold on market share.
Top cited: FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM
Read the report →INDEX
Weight Loss & Metabolic Health
Eli Lilly owns the answer. Novo Nordisk is losing it.
Eli Lilly · Novo Nordisk · Zepbound · Wegovy · WeightWatchers
Read the report →INDEX
Dating Apps
Hinge wins the answer. Tinder is the punchline.
Hinge · Bumble · Match · Tinder · OkCupid
Read the report →INDEX
EdTech
Duolingo owns it. Khan second. Chegg is dead to AI.
Duolingo · Khan Academy · Coursera · Chegg · MagicSchool
Read the report →INDEX
Legal AI
Harvey wins associates. Westlaw still wins the question.
Harvey · Westlaw · LexisNexis · Clio · Thomson Reuters
Read the report →INDEX
The 2026 Dental AI Visibility Report
Dentists use AI to read X-rays, but directories own the patient discovery layer.
Top cited: Google Business Profile, Healthgrades, Zocdoc, Yelp, WebMD
Read the report →INDEX
Crypto & Digital Assets
Citation consolidation reshaping U.S. crypto.
Top cited: Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini
Read the report →INDEX
Full Banking Index — May 2026
Banking
JPMorgan dominates AI banking visibility while most regional banks are barely there.
Top cited: JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Chime
Read the report →INDEX
Neobanks Index — Volume V · June 2026
Neobanks
The world’s largest neobank disappears in the US AI answer. Eight markets, eight different leaders.
Top cited: Chime (US), Monzo (UK), Revolut (EU), Nubank (LATAM)
Read the report →INDEX
AI Visibility Index Debt
Debt relief, lending, and credit brands compete for AI answer visibility.
Top cited: SoFi, National Debt Relief, Freedom Debt Relief
Read the report →INDEX
Venture Capital
Andreessen Horowitz dominates the VC answer layer.
Top cited: a16z, Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator
Read the report →INDEX
AI Companies
Every major AI assistant shows self-citation lift except one.
Top cited: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind
Read the report →INDEX
Defense & Aerospace
Defense-tech challengers outperform the legacy primes in AI citation share.
Top cited: Anduril, Palantir, SpaceX
Read the report →INDEX
Cannabis
How AI engines price, rank, and cite cannabis brands across 10 U.S. markets.
Top cited: Cookies, STIIIZY, Jungle Boys
Read the report →INDEX
Deep-Dive Index 2026
Beauty
The ingredient-transparency moat.
Top cited: The Ordinary, CeraVe, Sephora
Read the report →INDEX
Local Services
78% of local-services brands are invisible to AI.
Top cited: national chains and platform aggregators
Read the report →INDEX
Wedding Industry
73% citation duopoly post-ChatGPT app launch.
Top cited: The Knot, Zola, WeddingWire
Read the report →INDEX
HVAC & Plumbing
87% contractor invisibility gap.
Top cited: ServiceTitan, Roto-Rooter
Read the report →INDEX
Cigar & Pipe
The family-controlled premium cigar moat.
Top cited: Padron, Arturo Fuente, Davidoff
Read the report →INDEX
Pool & Spa
The $21B backyard category.
Top cited: Leslie's, Pinch A Penny, Pentair
Read the report →INDEX
Credit Cards
Publisher domains dominate the AI answer surface for cards and issuers.
Top cited: cards, issuers, and publisher recommendation surfaces
Read the report →INDEX
Car Wash
Mister Car Wash, Tommy's Express, Quick Quack — and the Zips bankruptcy fallout.
Top cited: Mister Car Wash, Tommy's Express, Quick Quack
Read the report →INDEX
Funeral & End-of-Life Services
88% independent funeral home invisibility.
Top cited: SCI / Dignity Memorial, Trust & Will, Eterneva
Read the report →INDEX
Supplements
The AI answer surface where scientific authority beats revenue rank.
Top cited: Thorne, Nature Made, Optimum Nutrition
Read the report →INDEX
June 2026
The AI Luxury 25
Hermès 98.6. Rolex: the only perfect score. Aman is the fastest-rising modern house.
In partnership with Haute Living · 25 houses · 5 engines
Read the report →INDEX
Luxury Island
How AI engines recommend prestigious island destinations to affluent travelers.
Joint Haute Living Black and 5W AI Visibility Intelligence report
Read the report →INDEX
Online Universities
WGU leads at 14%; seven schools are functionally invisible.
Top cited: WGU, SNHU, ASU Online
Read the report →INDEX
Veterinary
Corporate veterinary groups dominate AI citation surfaces.
Top cited: Mars Petcare, Banfield, VCA
Read the report →INDEX
Restaurants & Chains
Chicken, coffee, and Mediterranean brands reshape AI citations.
Top cited: McDonald's, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A
Read the report →INDEX
Pet Industry
Premium and retail pet brands lead AI-mediated consumer research.
Top cited: Chewy, The Farmer's Dog, Purina
Read the report →INDEX
Cybersecurity
A Q2 2026 pilot study across high-intent buyer queries.
Top cited: category vendors ranked by citation share
Read the report →Trust Indexes
TRUST INDEX
Stablecoin Trust
AI engines sort stablecoins into regulated, hedged, and warned after the GENIUS Act.
Top scored: USDC and compliance-first stablecoins
Read the report →TRUST INDEX
Crypto Trust
5W scores which crypto exchanges and brands AI engines recommend, hedge on, or warn against.
Top cited: Coinbase leads the AI Trust Score
Read the report →TRUST INDEX
Online Banks Trust
5W scores how AI engines describe online banks and neobanks when consumers ask whether their money is safe.
Top cited: Ally Bank leads the AI Trust Score
Read the report →Special Studies & Audits
STUDY
June 2026
Creator Documentation Index
Why AI casts athletes and actors, not influencers — and the two creators who beat the reach trap by building the record.
21 names scored · 5W × Talent Resources · June 2026
Read the report →STUDY
Creators & AI Visibility
How AI engines cite the creator economy.
Audit: 15 buyer-intent queries, five verticals, 109 citations coded
Read the audit →STUDY
In Tune With AI
The public figures most visible in the AI era.
Top cited: celebrities, athletes, founders, and creators
Read the report →STUDY
Israel AI Visibility
Startup Nation visibility across AI answer engines.
Top cited: Israeli technology and innovation leaders
Read the report →STUDY
DTC Graveyard
What AI remembers when direct-to-consumer brands disappear.
Focus: defunct, distressed, and forgotten DTC brands
Read the report →STUDY
AI Video Citation
Long-form, transcript-anchored video is the new institutional citation asset.
Top cited: YouTube, long-form explainers, structured transcripts
Read the report →STUDY
Golf Equipment
Recommendation share is becoming the new market share.
Top cited: PING, TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist
Read the study →AUDIT
Hallucination Index
A standardized framework for measuring brand-risk errors in AI answers.
Fashion pilot: accuracy, drift, and brand hallucination risk
Read the report →AUDIT
Wealth AI Audit
A joint 5W and Haute Wealth audit of UHNW wealth answers in AI engines.
Focus: premium financing, PPLI, ILITs, estate liquidity
Read the audit →Work with 5W
License an Index
Quote, cite, and distribute 5W's proprietary AI Visibility Index data inside your reports, decks, and earned media.
License termsCommission a Custom Index
5W will build an AI Visibility Index for your category, your competitive set, or your geography. Branded or co-branded.
Start a custom IndexGeneral inquiries — [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 5W AI Visibility Index Series?
The 5W AI Visibility Index Series is a research franchise published by 5W, the AI Communications Firm. Each Index ranks the top brands in a single consumer or B2B category by citation share across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. The series is the most extensive body of multi-engine Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) research produced by a U.S. communications firm.
How does the AI Visibility Index measure brand citations?
5W runs a standardized prompt set across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews, captures every brand mentioned in generated answers, and calculates each brand's share of total citations within the category. Each Index publishes its methodology and version date.
Which AI engines does the Index track?
The 5W AI Visibility Index tracks five engines: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. These represent the dominant generative answer surfaces shaping consumer and B2B discovery in 2026.
What categories does the Index Series cover?
The Series covers 39+ categories including Pickleball, Crypto & Digital Assets, Beauty, Banking, Venture Capital, Defense & Aerospace, AI Companies, Cannabis, Wedding Industry, HVAC & Plumbing, Pool & Spa, Funeral Services, Supplements, Online Universities, Restaurants & Chains, Pet Industry, Cybersecurity, Health Insurance, and Veterinary. A new category Index publishes monthly.
How often does 5W publish new Indexes?
A new category Index publishes monthly. Existing Indexes are refreshed on a published cadence — AI engine citation behavior can shift month to month, and the version date on each report reflects the most recent measurement.
What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of earning citation authority inside AI answer engines — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. GEO combines schema, structured content, earned media, and source-mix engineering to make a brand readable, trustable, and citable by large language models. 5W operates a dedicated GEO practice for B2C and B2B clients.
How is GEO different from SEO?
SEO optimizes for ranked links inside a Google search results page. GEO optimizes for brand inclusion inside the AI-generated answer itself. Different ranking signals, different citation surfaces, different competitive sets. More than a third of consumers now begin product research with AI, not Google — making citation share inside AI answers a separate channel from organic search.
Can 5W build a custom AI Visibility Index for my brand or category?
Yes. 5W builds custom, branded, or co-branded AI Visibility Indexes for clients across consumer and B2B categories. The same methodology used in the published Index Series is applied to a client-defined competitive set, geography, or product line.
What is a GEO audit and what does it deliver?
A 5W GEO audit benchmarks a brand's current citation share across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews against a defined competitive set, identifies citation gaps and source-mix weaknesses, and delivers a prioritized GEO roadmap. Audits deliver in 10 business days.
Why does citation share matter for marketing and PR?
Brands cited inside AI-generated answers enter the buyer's consideration set earlier. Brands invisible to AI engines are excluded
