Siavak Analytics

Case study · Fitness equipment · United States

Leading the shelf, losing the title

We looked at what AI assistants say when a buyer in the United States asks for one kind of home fitness product, and at what they say by name about a fitness equipment brand that sells one.

CategoryHome fitness equipment
MarketUnited States
Where we lookedAI assistants, from memory and after a web search
FieldworkSeptember 2026
80%of answers named them when a buyer asked for the productMore than any other brand
40%of those answers put another brand firstThe lead is shared, not held
70%of answers about them by name raised the same criticismAcross every assistant, from memory and after a search

01What we found

Named most. First in half.
And the one title they earned is credited to others.

Finding 1

When a buyer asked for the product, they were in 80% of the answers, and the first pick in half. The assistants named the brand more than any other, in every phrasing of the question and for every kind of buyer we asked as. In the other half of the answers, the buyer was pointed first to one of four rivals.

Who the assistants name for the product

Share of answers naming each brand

The brand80%
Rival A60%
Rival B55%
Rival C35%
Rival D35%
An answer can name several brands. Brands named only rarely are not shown.

Source: study data, September 2026

60%

of the time they came first against three rivals

After one assistant searched the web first, 20%.

Finding 2

Compared with three rivals, they came first 60% of the time. After one assistant's search, 20%. From memory, the rival closest behind them was Rival B. When the assistants searched the web first, it was Rival C: most of the answers naming Rival C came after a search, and the assistant that always searches put Rival C first in half of its rankings. The comparisons the brand lost were about build quality and value for money.

How often the brand was ranked first

Share of rankings that put the brand first, by how the assistant answered

From memory70%
After a search, one assistant70%
After a search, another assistant20%
The assistant that searches before every answer is the one that prefers a rival. In its rankings, Rival C came first in 50% and the brand in 20%.

Source: study data, September 2026

Finding 3

Independent reviewers gave the product plpkibblpb. From memory, the assistants gave it to two other brands. Asked which product holds that title, the assistants answering from memory named Rival B and a fifth brand, Rival E. Only after a search did they name the brand. Asked from memory for the best product on the same measure, they placed the brand second.

Two answers to one question

The one thing reviewers say the product does best is credited to rivals in the answers buyers get from memory.

Finding 4

Asked about them by name, the assistants raised at least one criticism in 95% of answers, and the same one in 70%. It came up in every assistant, from memory and after a search, often in the same sentence as the praise. Across every answer, 7% of the checkable statements the assistants made about the brand were wrong, most of them in answers from memory.

The criticisms, and how often each appeared

Share of answers about the brand by name that raised each point

epaahheglz70%
wotjaeinwl40%
yxgjhlqdwf30%
An answer can raise more than one point. The subject of each criticism is withheld.

Source: study data, September 2026

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