Boat Insurance: AI Market Discovery Index

Tracking how AI platforms recommend boat insurance. This public AI Market Discovery Index is updated monthly since July 2026.

By Mark Huntley, J.D.Growth Strategist & AI Discovery Analyst

7 minutes read

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On this page

01Benchmark Summary
02Current Benchmark at a Glance
03Research Scope and Qualification
04Current Brand Standings
05How to Read the Standings
06Recommendation Coverage Movement
07Largest Increase: BoatUS (Geico)
08Largest Decline: Progressive
09Category Leader: USAA
10Significant Decliners: State Farm, USAA
11Stable Brands
12Watch Items

Benchmark Summary

USAA led the Boat Insurance benchmark in September 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 60.5%, down from 71.7% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand was 1.9 percentage points, as Travelers recorded 58.6% in September 2026.

The largest coverage increase belonged to BoatUS (Geico), which moved from 5.9% in July 2026 to 14.6% in September 2026, a gain of 8.7 points. The largest coverage decline was recorded by Progressive, falling from 67.4% in July 2026 to 50.3% in September 2026, a drop of 17.1 points. State Farm and USAA also declined beyond normal month-to-month variation across the series.

Four brands moved beyond normal month-to-month variation between July 2026 and September 2026. BoatUS (Geico) rose significantly. Progressive, State Farm, USAA, and Foremost each declined significantly, though the Foremost series reflects a tracking label transition to Foremost Insurance rather than a true collapse of the underlying carrier. Several leading brands, including Travelers, Nationwide, and Allstate, moved within normal month-to-month variation despite notable swings in individual months. Progressive's move reflects a brand-name tracking change to Progressive RV Insurance in August 2026, not a true disappearance from recommendations.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 157 qualified observations in September 2026 after qualification.

AI recommendation trend

valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Sep 2026

USAA60.5%
Travelers58.6%
State Farm54.1%
Progressive50.3%
Nationwide35.0%
Allstate31.9%
BoatUS (Geico)14.6%
National General5.1%
Foremost Insurance0.6%
Markel0.6%
Foremost0.0%
Progressive RV Insurance0.0%

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Measure	July 2026	September 2026	Movement
Qualified benchmark observations	187	157	Down 30
Tracked brands	10	10	No change
Qualified surface breadth	6	6	No change
Recommendation-shaped answer share	26.7%	26.8%	Up 0.1 points
Valid recommendation shortlist share	67.9%	59.9%	Down 8.0 points
Leader by valid recommendation coverage	USAA	USAA	No change

Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI surface families with at least one qualified observation. The six families tested are ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Boat Insurance

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark reports 157 qualified observations for September 2026. Brand-level percentages in this benchmark use these qualified observations as the denominator, not the raw collection universe. See the AI Market Discovery Methodology for detail on how observations are qualified for public reporting.

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Research stage	July 2026	September 2026	What it represents
Source prompt-surface observations	800	800	Raw prompt-surface collection universe
Unique questions	653	660	Distinct questions asked
Brand / competitor mentions	800	800	Prompts mentioning a brand or competitor
Relevant observations	227	206	Responses relevant to the vertical
Irrelevant observations	573	594	Responses not relevant to the vertical
Qualified benchmark observations	187	157	Public denominator after qualification

Current Brand Standings

Brand	Presence rate	Valid recommendation coverage	Top-three rate	Rank-one rate	Net sentiment
USAA	100.0%	60.5%	21.0%	12.1%	0.63
Travelers	95.5%	58.6%	22.3%	10.8%	0.63
State Farm	98.1%	54.1%	24.8%	14.6%	0.56
Progressive	99.4%	50.3%	19.8%	2.5%	0.51
Nationwide	67.5%	35.0%	3.8%	1.3%	0.54
Allstate	82.2%	31.9%	0.6%	0.0%	0.40
BoatUS (Geico)	21.0%	14.6%	11.5%	1.9%	0.70
National General	8.9%	5.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.57
Foremost Insurance	1.3%	0.6%	0.0%	0.0%	0.50
Markel	1.3%	0.6%	0.0%	0.0%	0.50

How to Read the Standings

Presence rate measures how often a brand appears in any capacity across qualified answers, whether recommended or simply mentioned. Valid recommendation coverage measures the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a recommendation shortlist. Top-three rate is the share where the brand appears among the top three recommended options, while rank-one rate is the share where the brand is the single first recommendation. Net sentiment reflects the balance of positive over negative mention tone, scored per answer.

For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions.

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Brand	July 2026	September 2026	Movement since baseline
Allstate	36.9%	31.9%	Down 5.0 points
BoatUS (Geico)	5.9%	14.6%	Up 8.7 points
Foremost	2.7%	0.0%	Down 2.7 points
Foremost Insurance	0.0%	0.6%	Up 0.6 points
Markel	3.2%	0.6%	Down 2.6 points
National General	7.0%	5.1%	Down 1.9 points
Nationwide	38.5%	35.0%	Down 3.5 points
Progressive	67.4%	50.3%	Down 17.1 points
Progressive RV Insurance	0.0%	0.0%	No change
State Farm	69.0%	54.1%	Down 14.9 points
Travelers	65.8%	58.6%	Down 7.2 points
USAA	71.7%	60.5%	Down 11.2 points

The August 2026 tracking-label artifact is visible in the Foremost and Progressive series. Foremost appeared under "Foremost" in July 2026 and shifted to "Foremost Insurance" from August 2026 onward. Similarly, Progressive appeared under "Progressive" in July 2026 and September 2026, but under "Progressive RV Insurance" in August 2026. These rows together tell the full story and do not represent a true collapse or emergence of the underlying carriers.

Within the last month, Travelers rose from 49.5% in August 2026 to 58.6% in September 2026, a gain of 9.1 points, and Nationwide rose from 30.1% to 35.0%, up 4.9 points. Progressive RV Insurance recorded 17.9% in August 2026 and returned to no measurable coverage in September 2026.

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Largest Increase: BoatUS (Geico)

BoatUS (Geico) rose from 5.9% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 14.6% in September 2026, a gain of 8.7 points, beyond normal month-to-month variation. The brand climbed in each of the two months since July 2026. Presence rose from 6.4% to 21.0% over the same period, and the top-three rate moved from 0.0% to 11.5%. These are small counts: 23 valid recommendation observations in September 2026 alongside the percentage movement.

Largest Decline: Progressive

Progressive fell from 67.4% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 50.3% in September 2026, a decline of 17.1 points, beyond normal variation. The August 2026 figure of 0.0% reflected a tracking shift to Progressive RV Insurance, which recorded 17.9% that month. Presence held essentially flat at 99.4% in September 2026 versus 99.5% in July 2026, with the top-three rate easing from 20.9% to 19.8% and the rank-one rate from 5.9% to 2.5%. Progressive's near-universal presence combined with weakening recommendation placement suggests the issue is conversion, not discoverability.

Category Leader: USAA

USAA retained the top position with 60.5% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026, down from 71.7% in July 2026. The decline of 11.2 points is beyond normal month-to-month variation. USAA's presence rate rose to 100.0% in September 2026 from 96.3% in July 2026, while its top-three rate declined from 28.9% to 21.0% and its rank-one rate from 13.9% to 12.1% across the series.

Significant Decliners: State Farm, USAA

State Farm's coverage fell from 69.0% in July 2026 to 54.1% in September 2026, a decline of 14.9 points. Its presence rate was nearly steady at 98.1% in September 2026 versus 99.5% in July 2026. USAA's movement is detailed in the Category Leader subsection above. Both brands declined in the August 2026 month and partially recovered in September 2026, yet remained below their July 2026 baselines.

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Stable Brands

Allstate, Foremost Insurance, Markel, National General, Nationwide, Progressive RV Insurance, and Travelers moved within normal month-to-month variation across the series. Allstate declined from 36.9% in July 2026 to 26.0% in August 2026, then rose to 31.9% in September 2026. Markel slipped from 3.2% to 0.6% between July 2026 and September 2026. National General eased from 7.0% in July 2026 to 5.1% in September 2026, a decline of 1.9 points, after briefly rising to 8.2% in August 2026. Progressive RV Insurance's 17.9% figure in August 2026 was a single-month tracking artifact.

Watch Items

Foremost's series declined from 2.7% in July 2026 to no measurable coverage in September 2026, a drop of 2.7 points, but this coincided with the emergence of the Foremost Insurance label. This is not yet a trend given the tracking-label transition and very small observation count of 1.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the leaders in September 2026, placement varied meaningfully. State Farm held the highest rank-one rate at 14.6%, while USAA led coverage at 60.5% but posted a lower rank-one rate of 12.1%. Travelers, the runner-up on coverage, posted a rank-one rate of 10.8%.

Brand	September 2026 top-three rate	September 2026 rank-one rate	July 2026 top-three rate	July 2026 rank-one rate
USAA	21.0%	12.1%	28.9%	13.9%
State Farm	24.8%	14.6%	23.0%	11.8%
Travelers	22.3%	10.8%	27.8%	14.4%

Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates. State Farm trailed USAA on coverage by 6.4 points in September 2026, yet State Farm led the first-position rate at 14.6% versus USAA's 12.1%. First-choice preference is much more competitive than overall coverage suggests.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in this benchmark fell into the brand recommendation class, meaning the public series measures answers where a specific brand is recommended as a discovery outcome.

Buyer-intent class	July 2026	September 2026
Brand Recommendation	187	157
Pricing & Value	0	0
Multi-Brand Comparison	0	0
Total qualified observations	187	157

The current public series measures brand recommendation discovery only and does not yet contain qualified observations in the pricing or comparison classes.

Historical Measurement Record

This is an evergreen benchmark URL. New measurements are added to the same report.

Measurement	Qualified observations	Coverage leader	Leader coverage	Largest coverage movement
July 2026	187	USAA	71.7%	Not applicable (first tracked month in this series)
August 2026	196	USAA	55.1%	Progressive RV Insurance, up 17.9 points
September 2026	157	USAA	60.5%	BoatUS (Geico), up 8.7 points from baseline

Evidence and Source Layer

The benchmark is built from prompt-level observations that retain the query, AI/search surface, answer, brand outcome, recommendation placement, sentiment, and, where exposed, citations or attributable evidence sources. Source presence is evidence about the information environment. It is not automatically proof that the source caused the recommendation.

Scope Boundaries

This public benchmark does not measure market share, attributable sales, every possible AI response, organic-search ranking, social mention volume, private or sponsored channels, or causality from a metric movement alone. It records what AI search and chat surfaces present for the Boat Insurance vertical across the six canonical surface families during the measurement window. The public percentages cannot identify the prompts, competitors, or sources driving the results.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how AI search and chat surfaces present brands within a defined vertical. It measures presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment across major AI surfaces on a month-by-month basis.

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