This report is part of the EMARKETER AI Visibility Index, our proprietary offering that tracks how leading brands appear in AI-generated recommendations across key consumer and B2B industries. As AI becomes an increasingly important tool for discovering products and comparing options, these rankings reveal which retail store brands have the greatest visibility in AI-driven recommendations.

This edition analyzes ChatGPT and Google Gemini recommendations across 23 retail store categories, measuring which brands AI recommends, how they rank against competitors, and how visibility changes over time. PRO+ subscribers can access the complete data set, including monthly updates and category-level breakouts, through the live dashboard.

The AI Visibility Index tracks 14 industries, each supported by a quarterly report. To learn more about how the AI Visibility Index can help your brand—including advisory insights that identify what’s driving your visibility—visit our AI Visibility Index hub.

Key Question: Which US retail store had the highest AI mention rate in September 2026?

Key Stat: Target was mentioned in 31% of US retail store recommendations in September, leading the overall leaderboard.