Camp Cooking, Grills and Outdoor: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Blackstone led the category in September 2026 with a valid recommendation coverage of 45.6%, ahead of Camp Chef at 34.7%, a gap of 10.9 percentage points. Blackstone posted the largest coverage increase, rising from 21.6% in July 2026 to 45.6% in September 2026, while the largest decline was recorded by YETI, falling from 51.1% in July 2026 to 0.0% in September 2026, a drop that coincided with the brand being tracked under a new legal entity name in the current month.

The September 2026 benchmark showed mixed movement across the series. Blackstone, Camp Chef, Fireside Outdoor, Solo Brands, Inc. (Solo Stove), Traeger, Inc., Weber Inc., and YETI Holdings, Inc. all posted gains beyond normal month-to-month variation since July 2026, while Igloo and YETI declined sharply. The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 450 qualified observations in September 2026 after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the number of canonical AI/search surface families (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode) with at least one qualified observation. August 2026 sat between the baseline and current months with 379 qualified observations and a 37.7% recommendation-shaped answer share.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Camp Cooking, Grills and Outdoor

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design.

Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. AI Market Discovery Methodology.

Current Brand Standings

This table is the primary current-month benchmark view, sorted by valid recommendation coverage.

How to Read the Standings

Presence rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in any form. Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations where the brand receives a clear recommendation. Top-three rate measures how often the brand appears among the top three recommendations. Rank-one rate measures how often the brand is the first recommendation. Net sentiment scores the tone of brand mentions from positive to negative.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

The immediate prior month (August 2026) saw Camp Chef at 17.4%, Fireside Outdoor at 1.8%, Solo Brands, Inc. (Solo Stove) at 9.8%, and Traeger, Inc. at 12.9%, all ahead of their September jumps. Igloo fell from 40.4% in August 2026 to 0.0% in September 2026, and YETI fell from 50.7% in August 2026 to 0.0% in September 2026, with both brands tracked in September under their full corporate names (Igloo Products Corp. and YETI Holdings, Inc.).

Largest Increase: Blackstone

Blackstone posted the largest coverage gain in the series, rising from 21.6% in July 2026 to 45.6% in September 2026, up 24.0 points since baseline and up 26.6 points since August 2026. The move extended beyond normal variation in a single month, with presence rate up 44.9 points since baseline to 80.0% in September 2026. Blackstone also led the category in rank-one rate at 23.3% in September 2026, up from 9.5% in July 2026.

Largest Decline: YETI

YETI coverage fell from 51.1% in July 2026 to 0.0% in September 2026, down 51.1 points since baseline, the largest coverage decline in the series. YETI's measurement in September reflects a switch to the full legal name YETI Holdings, Inc., which recorded 2.0% coverage in September 2026.

Secondary Decliner: Igloo

Igloo coverage fell from 40.0% in July 2026 to 0.0% in September 2026, down 40.0 points since baseline. Igloo's measurement in September reflects a switch to the full legal name Igloo Products Corp., which recorded 0.0% coverage in September 2026.

Riser Cluster: Camp Chef, Fireside Outdoor, Solo Brands, Inc. (Solo Stove), Traeger, Inc., Weber Inc.

Camp Chef rose from 16.2% in July 2026 to 34.7% in September 2026, up 18.5 points since baseline. Fireside Outdoor rose from 0.5% in July 2026 to 7.6% in September 2026, up 7.1 points. Solo Brands, Inc. (Solo Stove) rose from 9.5% in July 2026 to 28.0% in September 2026, up 18.5 points. Traeger, Inc. rose from 11.9% in July 2026 to 32.0% in September 2026, up 20.1 points. Weber Inc. rose from 14.9% in July 2026 to 33.3% in September 2026, up 18.4 points. Five brands gained between 18.4 and 20.1 points, forming a tightly clustered riser group.

Category Leader: Blackstone

Blackstone led valid recommendation coverage at 45.6% in September 2026, up from 21.6% in July 2026. The brand also led presence rate at 80.0% in September 2026, up from 35.1% in July 2026. August 2026 had Igloo at 40.4% and YETI at 50.7%, both higher than Blackstone's August level of 19.0%, before the September leadership shift.

Stable Brands

GSI Outdoors declined from 5.9% in July 2026 to 4.4% in September 2026, down 1.5 points, within normal month-to-month variation. Conair LLC (parent of Cuisinart Outdoor) moved from 0.3% to 0.9% and Igloo Products Corp. held at 0.0%; neither moved beyond normal variation.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Blackstone held the strongest first-position presence in September 2026, while several mid-tier brands showed different placement patterns.

Blackstone combined the highest top-three and rank-one rates in September 2026, while Camp Chef's similar coverage did not translate into the same share of first-position recommendations, showing that close coverage can hide very different first-choice strength.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in September 2026 fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

The current public series measures brand-recommendation discovery only; pricing and multi-brand comparison questions have no public signal in this data.

Historical Measurement Record

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

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. Movements in recommendation coverage can reflect changes in query mix, model updates, or other factors not isolated by this benchmark.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how often brands appear and are recommended across major AI chat and search surfaces. This industry index is published monthly as a neutral benchmark for the category.

• AI Market Discovery Methodology
• AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions
• AI Market Discovery Research Standards
• Modeled AI Authority Value

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