Moving Container Companies: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

U-Pack (ABF Freight / ArcBest) leads the Moving Container Companies benchmark in September 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 48.5%, ahead of U-Haul at 42.5%, a gap of 6.0 points.

Measured against the July 2026 baseline, U-Haul recorded the largest decline in valid recommendation coverage, down 13.2 points from 55.7% to 42.5%, followed by U-Pack (ABF Freight / ArcBest), down 11.4 points from 59.9% to 48.5%. PODS Enterprises, LLC declined 7.1 points, from 30.7% to 23.6%, and Collegeboxes declined 3.8 points, from 5.7% to 1.9%. No tracked brand recorded a significant increase in valid recommendation coverage against the July baseline.

The August-to-September change was more mixed. U-Haul's coverage moved up significantly month over month, from 0.0% in August to 42.5% in September. That August reading reflects a one-month tracking transition to U-Haul Holding Co. (U-Box), which recorded 57.1% coverage that month before the series reverted to U-Haul in September. The rebound does not reverse U-Haul's baseline decline: September's 42.5% remains below the July starting point of 55.7%. PODS Enterprises, LLC moved in the opposite direction month over month, falling 11.6 points from an August high of 35.2% to 23.6% in September, extending its baseline decline.

Several other brands showed August peaks that receded in September without breaking their baseline pattern: Zippy Shell, Inc. moved from 28.5% in August to 18.8% in September, which is broadly stable against its July baseline of 17.6%, and 1-800-PACK-RAT, LLC moved from 35.4% in August to 17.8% in September, also broadly stable against its July baseline of 17.6%. The benchmark produced 522 qualified observations in September 2026, down from 524 in July 2026.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

August 2026 saw an intermediate peak in valid recommendation shortlist share at 53.3%, which receded in September. Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. The benchmark held coverage across all six families in each month.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Moving Container Companies

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. See the 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: share of qualified observations in which the brand is mentioned at least once.
• Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations in which the brand appears in a valid recommendation, the primary benchmark metric.
• Top-three rate: share of qualified observations in which the brand appears among the top three recommended options.
• Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations in which the brand is recommended first.
• Net sentiment: positive minus negative mentions divided by total mentions, on a scale from -1 to 1.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Four brands declined beyond normal month-to-month variation relative to the July baseline: Collegeboxes, PODS Enterprises, LLC, U-Haul, and U-Pack (ABF Freight / ArcBest). No tracked brand posted a significant increase.

Largest Decline: U-Haul

U-Haul's valid recommendation coverage fell to 42.5% in September 2026 from 55.7% in July 2026. The August figure of 0.0% reflects a one-month brand-name transition in the tracked series to U-Haul Holding Co. (U-Box), which recorded coverage of 57.1% in August 2026 before the series reverted to U-Haul in September. The top-three rate declined to 28.2% in September 2026 from 36.3% in July 2026, while presence held near 98.7% in September 2026 compared with 99.2% in July 2026. Rank-one rate held flat at 15.1% in both July and September 2026.

Largest Decline: U-Pack (ABF Freight / ArcBest)

U-Pack (ABF Freight / ArcBest) declined to 48.5% in September 2026 from 59.9% in July 2026, moving down in each of the two months since baseline. The top-three rate fell to 33.0% in September 2026 from 38.9% in July 2026, while presence rose to 91.8% from 88.9% over the same period. The brand still leads the category despite the decline.

Largest Decline: PODS Enterprises, LLC

PODS Enterprises, LLC fell to 23.6% in September 2026 from 30.7% in July 2026, including a decline of 11.6 points from August 2026. The brand's August figure of 35.2% marked its strongest month in the series. Presence receded from 75.0% in July 2026 to 72.0% in September 2026, and the rank-one rate declined to 8.4% from 11.3%. Net sentiment held near 0.4 in both July and September 2026.

Decline: Collegeboxes

Collegeboxes declined to 1.9% in September 2026 from 5.7% in July 2026, moving down beyond normal variation. Presence fell to 5.6% from 9.0% over the same period. The brand recorded an August low of 0.8%, with a partial recovery in September that did not restore the July level.

Category Leader: U-Pack (ABF Freight / ArcBest)

U-Pack (ABF Freight / ArcBest) leads the category in September 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 48.5%. U-Haul sits 6.0 points behind at 42.5%. U-Pack's coverage has declined in each of the two months since July 2026, from 59.9% to 54.4% in August 2026 and to 48.5% in September 2026.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the three placement leaders in September 2026, placement differences are notable.

U-Pack (ABF Freight / ArcBest), despite leading the category on coverage, records the widest gap among the three, with a top-three rate of 33.0% against a rank-one rate of just 7.7% in September 2026, meaning the brand is often recommended but comparatively less often placed first. Similar coverage levels can still hide very different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in both July and September 2026 fell into the Brand Recommendation class of discovery.

The current public series measures brand recommendation discovery and does not yet contain qualified observations for pricing and value or multi-brand comparison.

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 to a given query
• Organic search ranking or social mention volume
• Private, gated, or sponsored AI channels
• Causality from a single metric movement

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how often and how prominently brands appear in AI-generated recommendations across major AI surfaces. It is an industry-level measurement of AI discovery presence, not an endorsement of any brand.

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

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