Raw Freeze-Dried and Biologically Appropriate Pet Food: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Orijen (Champion Petfoods) remained the category leader in valid recommendation coverage at 59.8% in September 2026, a lead of 17.9 percentage points over second-place Stella & Chewy's, despite a decline from 65.7% in July 2026. Stella & Chewy's followed at 41.9% in September 2026, down from 43.0% in July 2026. Acana (Champion Petfoods) rose to 39.5% in September 2026 from 37.3% in July 2026, the largest gain among tracked brands, while Orijen (Champion Petfoods) recorded the largest decline over the same period.

No tracked brand registered a movement beyond normal month-to-month variation in September 2026; the month was quiet across the category, and no brand recorded an increase or decrease beyond normal variation. Within the broader three-month series, Instinct Pet Food declined in each of the two months since July 2026, to 9.4% in September 2026 from 13.7% in July 2026, and Primal Pet Foods also declined in each of the two months since July 2026, to 10.4% from 12.4%. Orijen (Champion Petfoods) held the category lead throughout the series despite a single-month decline in September 2026, to 59.8% from 65.9% in August 2026.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 413 qualified observations in September 2026 after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. All six families were represented in both July 2026 and September 2026.

For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Raw Freeze-Dried and Biologically Appropriate Pet Food

Research Scope and Qualification

The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design. The following table shows how observations moved from the raw prompt-level collection to the qualified benchmark denominator.

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

Current Brand Standings

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate: The share of qualified observations in which the brand was mentioned at all.
• Valid recommendation coverage: The share of qualified observations in which the brand received a valid recommendation.
• Top-three rate: The share of qualified observations in which the brand appeared in the first three recommended positions.
• Rank-one rate: The share of qualified observations in which the brand was the first recommendation.
• Net sentiment: A score from 0 to 1 reflecting the tone of mentions, where higher is more positive.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

No tracked brand qualified as a significant riser or decliner in September 2026; all brands moved within normal month-to-month variation. Instinct Pet Food declined in each of the two months since July 2026, moving to 9.4% in September 2026 from 13.7% in July 2026. Primal Pet Foods also declined in each of the two months since July 2026, moving to 10.4% in September 2026 from 12.4% in July 2026. Orijen (Champion Petfoods) held the category lead throughout the series despite a decline in September 2026.

Category Leader: Orijen (Champion Petfoods)

Orijen (Champion Petfoods) held the top valid recommendation coverage at 59.8% in September 2026, down 5.9 points from 65.7% in July 2026. Its top-three rate was 26.6% in September 2026, down 11.0 points from 37.6% in July 2026. Its rank-one rate was 17.0% in September 2026, down 8.4 points from 25.4% in July 2026. The brand recorded 247 valid recommendations from 413 qualified observations.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The following table shows how often the leading brands appeared in the top three and first positions.

Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates. Acana (Champion Petfoods) held 39.5% valid recommendation coverage but only a 0.5% rank-one rate in September 2026, while Orijen (Champion Petfoods) translated 59.8% coverage into a 17.0% rank-one rate.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All 413 qualified observations in September 2026 fell into the Brand Recommendation class, as did all 402 qualified observations in July 2026.

The current public series measures Brand Recommendation 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 attributable sales
• Every possible AI response or surface beyond the six tracked families
• Organic-search ranking positions outside AI surfaces
• Social mention volume or sentiment beyond the analyzed responses
• Private or sponsored channels, such as paid placements or brand-managed assistants
• Causality from a metric movement alone; the benchmark records the change, not the underlying cause

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is a neutral industry benchmark tracking how often brands appear and are recommended across major AI chat and search surfaces. It is built from a defined, reproducible research protocol applied consistently each month.

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

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