In Q3 2026, we analyzed 7,460 ChatGPT recommendations across 16 food and beverage categories to compile the EMARKETER AI Visibility Index. Our index tracks how often brands are mentioned, how they rank against competitors, and how those rankings have shifted since the previous month. This article will be updated quarterly to highlight our key takeaways for the food and beverage industry’s performance.

Overall AI Visibility Leaderboard: Q3 2026

Great Value retained the No. 1 position in the overall rankings, reflecting Walmart’s scale in US grocery. The Walmart-owned brand had a mention rate of 5% in July, supported by a broad product portfolio spanning multiple food and beverage categories. Whole Foods Market followed closely at 4%, an impressive showing given its smaller retail footprint, far outranking other retailer-owned brands in the index, including Trader Joe’s, Kroger, Kirkland Signature, and Target’s Good & Gather.

Quaker was the highest-ranked manufacturer brand, placing third overall with a 4% mention rate. Its recommendations spanned the breakfast and cereal, savory snack, and granola and snack bar categories.

No brand established a meaningful lead over the wider food and beverage market. The top 10 brands achieved mention rates between just 3% and 5%. Spread across 16 categories with many distinct brands in each, overall visibility was thin and evenly distributed.

Category AI Visibility Leaderboard: Savory Snacks

Key Movements

No brand established a clear lead in savory snacks. Lundberg Family Farms climbed to the top of the rankings with a 13% brand mention rate, marginally ahead of Quaker in one of the most competitive food and beverage categories in the AI Visibility Index.

Brand Mention Rate vs. Share of No. 1 Mentions

Lundberg Family Farms and Snyder’s of Hanover combined high mention rates with a high share of No. 1 recommendations. Kettle Brand and Lay’s also scored above average across both metrics, while Great Value had a lower mention rate but stood out for appearing first in 83% of its mentions—the highest of any brand in the category.

Source Citation Rate

Walmart was by far the most frequently cited source for savory snack recommendations. It accounted for more than 1 in 5 cited domains, comfortably ahead of Consumer Reports and Whole Foods Market. Beyond the top three, ChatGPT drew on a mix of retailer and publisher content in July, with Bon Appétit, Healthline, Food Network, and Sporked joining H-E-B, Kroger, and Target among the top 10 most cited sources.

FAQ: Food and Beverage

Which food and beverage brands were mentioned the most in AI-generated recommendations?

Great Value was the most mentioned food and beverage brand overall, appearing in 5% of ChatGPT recommendations in July 2026. Whole Foods Market and Quaker followed at 4% each. Overall visibility remained highly fragmented: The top 10 brands posted mention rates of just 3% to 5%, reflecting competition across 16 categories with different category leaders.

Why does ChatGPT recommend some food and beverage brands more than others?

ChatGPT visibility reflects both brand presence and the source ecosystem supporting product recommendations. Retailer listings, brand-owned content, trusted publishers, expert organizations, and review sites can all shape the information available to AI models. Brands can strengthen visibility by maintaining complete product information, building credible third-party coverage, and aligning content with relevant shopping occasions, dietary needs, and product comparisons.

Which food and beverage categories are most competitive in AI-generated recommendations?

Savory snacks was one of the most tightly contested categories for AI visibility in Q3 2026: Only 4 percentage points separated the top 10 brands, making small visibility shifts consequential for rankings. Protein and nutrition bar brands posted the highest mention rates, with RXBAR (56%) and Quest Nutrition (52%) battling for the top spot.

Why is AI visibility important for food and beverage brands?

AI visibility is important for food and beverage brands because consumers increasingly use AI to discover products, compare options, and receive recommendations. Mention rate alone does not capture performance: Brands frequently mentioned by ChatGPT may still be less likely to appear as the first recommendation. Tracking both brand mention rate and share of No. 1 recommendations helps brands identify where competitors have stronger visibility or placement.

What were the biggest AI visibility trends for food and beverage this quarter?

Food and beverage AI visibility remained fragmented while ChatGPT’s source mix narrowed and shifted. Retailer-owned brands led the overall rankings, but no brand achieved more than a 5% overall mention rate. After the transition from GPT-5.5 to GPT-5.6, the number of unique brands mentioned fell just 2%, but the number of unique domains cited dropped 17%, showing that brand visibility remained broadly stable despite a smaller source pool.

FAQ: EMARKETER’s AI Visibility Index

How is the food and beverage AI Visibility Index measured?

EMARKETER’s AI Visibility Index is based on a structured analysis of ChatGPT recommendations in response to US-based interactions across 16 food and beverage categories: savory snacks, condiments and sauces, dairy and dairy alternatives, beer and hard seltzer, coffee and tea, energy and sports drinks, bottled and enhanced water, protein and nutrition bars, baby and toddler food, juice and juice drinks, carbonated soft drinks, nut butters and spreads, cookies and crackers, breakfast and cereal, frozen foods, and granola and snack bars. Each interaction asks ChatGPT for product recommendations using standardized prompts (e.g., “best chocolate chip cookies,” “peanut butter for snacking,” “organic baby food pouches”). Prompts vary by product type, product attribute, consumer need, target audience, and price tier to capture a representative range of real-world consumer questions for each category.

How does EMARKETER choose the prompts?

Prompts are built with EMARKETER analysts and researchers who cover each industry, then validated and prioritized using consumer search volume data. Prompts reflect the language consumers actually use.

What is “brand mention rate”?

Brand mention rate is the percentage of ChatGPT recommendations that mention a given brand.

What is “No. 1 mention rate”?

No. 1 mention rate is the number of ChatGPT recommendations that mention a given brand first as a percentage of all ChatGPT recommendations that mention the brand.

How can I improve my brand’s AI visibility?

Brands strengthen how often AI assistants recommend them by sharpening their generative engine optimization (GEO) strategy and building the trust signals AI models weigh. EMARKETER’s AI Visibility Index shows where a brand stands today and how that position moves month over month—the baseline for any optimization effort. To learn more about how the index can help your brand, including custom-scoped advisory insights, visit our AI Visibility Index hub.

What do EMARKETER PRO and PRO+ subscribers get?

EMARKETER PRO subscribers get in-depth quarterly reports featuring further category breakouts, data cuts, and analysis. PRO+ subscribers can access the AI Visibility Index’s complete data set, including monthly updates across every category cut, in the live dashboard.