GPS Dog Collars and Smart Pet Trackers: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Halo Collar held the lead in valid recommendation coverage in August 2026 at 62.6%, up from 61.5% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand, Tractive, was 11.0 percentage points in August 2026, with Tractive at 51.6% down from 54.1% in July 2026.

The largest coverage increase was Fi, which rose from 46.8% in July 2026 to 49.9% in August 2026. The largest coverage decline was Garmin Ltd., which fell from 37.1% in July 2026 to 33.8% in August 2026.

This was a quiet month overall. None of the five tracked brands moved beyond normal month-to-month variation, and no brand showed significant movement in either direction. The leader, Halo Collar, remained stable, and all five brands were classified as stable.

Across the two-month series, Fi has gained 3.1 percentage points, while Garmin Ltd. has declined 3.3 percentage points. These movements remain within normal variation.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 527 qualified observations in August 2026 after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth refers to the number of canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. The benchmark recorded qualified observations across all six families in both months.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending GPS Dog Collars and Smart Pet Trackers

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design. The qualification funnel shows how raw prompt-surface observations narrow to the qualified benchmark denominator.

Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. See the AI Market Discovery Methodology for full details on the qualification process.

Current Brand Standings

The table below shows the current-month benchmark view, sorted by valid recommendation coverage.

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate is the share of qualified observations in which the brand appears anywhere in the AI response, regardless of recommendation status.
• Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations in which the brand receives a valid recommendation.
• Top-three rate is the share of qualified observations in which the brand appears among the top three recommended options.
• Rank-one rate is the share of qualified observations in which the brand is the first or top recommendation.
• Net sentiment is the share of positive mentions minus the share of negative mentions, relative to all mentions.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

The table below shows baseline-to-current movement for each tracked brand.

All movements fell within normal month-to-month variation. There were no significant risers or significant decliners this month.

Largest Increase: Fi

Fi recorded the largest coverage gain of the month, rising from 46.8% in July 2026 to 49.9% in August 2026, an increase of 3.1 percentage points. Fi's presence rate rose from 58.9% to 61.5% over the same period, and its top-three rate rose from 39.4% to 41.9%. These movements were not beyond normal variation. The gap between Fi and Tractive narrowed from 7.3 percentage points in July 2026 to 1.7 percentage points in August 2026.

Largest Decline: Garmin Ltd.

Garmin Ltd. recorded the largest coverage decline, falling from 37.1% in July 2026 to 33.8% in August 2026, a decrease of 3.3 percentage points. Presence remained nearly flat, moving from 41.1% to 40.8%. The decline was within normal variation. The gap between Fi and Garmin Ltd. widened from 9.7 percentage points in July 2026 to 16.1 percentage points in August 2026.

Category Leader: Halo Collar

Halo Collar remained the category leader in valid recommendation coverage, rising from 61.5% in July 2026 to 62.6% in August 2026. Its presence rate held steady at 77.2%, up slightly from 77.1%. While coverage increased, Halo Collar's top-three rate declined from 43.8% to 41.4%, and its rank-one rate declined from 6.9% to 5.3%, both within normal variation.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Placement rates reveal how often a brand appears at the top of recommendation lists. Halo Collar led in coverage but showed a lower rank-one rate than Tractive.

Tractive led in rank-one placement at 31.9% in August 2026, down from 36.0% in July 2026, despite holding 51.6% coverage. Halo Collar's rank-one rate of 5.3% was far below its 62.6% coverage, showing that similar coverage levels can still hide very different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class, reflecting discovery-and-consideration queries where shoppers seek recommended brands.

The current public series measures the Brand Recommendation class of discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations in the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison classes.

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 or sales attribution
• Every possible AI response across all surfaces and query variations
• Organic-search ranking performance
• Social media mention volume
• Private or sponsored channel activity
• Causality from a metric movement alone

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how AI and search surfaces recommend brands within a category. It measures presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment across six canonical AI surface families. The benchmark uses a consistent qualification methodology so month-over-month comparisons reflect genuine shifts in AI recommendation behavior.

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

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