Refrigerator: AI Market Discovery Index

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

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

6 minutes read

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01Benchmark Summary
02Current Benchmark at a Glance
03Research Scope and Qualification
04Current Brand Standings
05How to Read the Standings
06Recommendation Coverage Movement
07Significant Decline: KitchenAid
08Significant Decline: Whirlpool
09Significant Decline: LG
10Significant Decline: Frigidaire
11Significant Decline: Bosch
12Significant Decline: Maytag

Benchmark Summary

Whirlpool led the refrigerator category in September 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 50.1%, a gap of 0.8 percentage points ahead of second-place Bosch at 49.3%. No brand recorded a significant increase in valid recommendation coverage against the July 2026 baseline. KitchenAid recorded the largest decline, falling to 34.9% from 46.3%, a drop of 11.4 percentage points. Six of ten tracked brands recorded significant declines since the July 2026 baseline: Bosch fell to 49.3% from 56.8%, Whirlpool declined to 50.1% from 59.8%, LG dropped to 41.0% from 50.1%, Maytag declined to 23.4% from 30.9%, Frigidaire declined to 23.4% from 31.8%, and KitchenAid declined to 34.9% from 46.3%.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 475 qualified observations in September 2026 after qualification.

AI recommendation trend

valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Sep 2026

Whirlpool50.1%
Bosch49.3%
GE Appliances47.4%
LG41.0%
KitchenAid34.9%
Sub-Zero32.0%
Samsung26.7%
Frigidaire23.4%
Maytag23.4%
Kenmore0.8%
**Sub-Zero0.0%
*Frigidaire0.0%

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Measure	Jul 2026	Sep 2026	Movement
Qualified benchmark observations	525	475	Down 50
Tracked brands	10	10	No change
Qualified surface breadth	6	6	No change
Recommendation-shaped answer share	30.7%	28.6%	Down 2.1 points
Valid recommendation shortlist share	60.8%	50.9%	Down 9.9 points
Leader by valid recommendation coverage	Whirlpool	Whirlpool	No change

Qualified surface breadth refers to the number of canonical AI surface families with at least one qualified observation. The six families are ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. In August 2026, the intermediate month, qualified surface breadth held at six families as well.

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

Research Scope and Qualification

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

Research stage	Jul 2026	Sep 2026	What it represents
Source prompt-surface observations	800	800	Raw collection universe
Unique questions	588	609	Distinct question formulations
Brand / competitor mentions	800	800	Prompts mentioning a tracked brand
Relevant observations	609	567	On-topic for the category
Irrelevant observations	191	233	Off-topic or not applicable
Qualified benchmark observations	525	475	Public denominator

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

Current Brand Standings

Brand	Presence rate	Valid recommendation coverage	Top-three rate	Rank-one rate	Net sentiment
Whirlpool	98.5%	50.1%	17.1%	10.9%	0.7
Bosch	93.3%	49.3%	31.6%	13.7%	0.7
GE Appliances	94.5%	47.4%	21.3%	4.4%	0.7
LG	97.5%	41.0%	18.3%	5.7%	0.5
KitchenAid	84.8%	34.9%	8.6%	1.7%	0.6
Sub-Zero	69.9%	32.0%	10.5%	8.6%	0.8
Samsung	88.0%	26.7%	5.7%	1.3%	0.3
Maytag	58.3%	23.4%	4.6%	2.1%	0.6
Frigidaire	71.0%	23.4%	5.1%	0.2%	0.5
Kenmore	5.9%	0.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0

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How to Read the Standings

Presence rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned at all.
Valid recommendation coverage: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in a valid recommendation shortlist.
Top-three rate: share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the first three recommended positions.
Rank-one rate: share of qualified observations where the brand is the single top recommendation.
Net sentiment: positive minus negative mention tone, as a share of all mentions.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

Brand	Jul 2026	Sep 2026	Movement since baseline
Bosch	56.8%	49.3%	Down 7.5 points
Frigidaire	31.8%	23.4%	Down 8.4 points
GE Appliances	53.1%	47.4%	Down 5.7 points
Kenmore	2.3%	0.8%	Down 1.5 points
KitchenAid	46.3%	34.9%	Down 11.4 points
LG	50.1%	41.0%	Down 9.1 points
Maytag	30.9%	23.4%	Down 7.5 points
Samsung	28.6%	26.7%	Down 1.9 points
Sub-Zero	36.2%	32.0%	Down 4.2 points
Whirlpool	59.8%	50.1%	Down 9.7 points

Significant Decline: KitchenAid

KitchenAid's valid recommendation coverage fell to 34.9% in September 2026 from 46.3% in July 2026, a decline of 11.4 percentage points, the largest in the category. KitchenAid declined in each of the two months since July 2026. Its presence rate moved down to 84.8% from 85.5% over the same period, a change within normal variation.

Significant Decline: Whirlpool

Whirlpool's valid recommendation coverage declined to 50.1% in September 2026 from 59.8% in July 2026, down 9.7 percentage points. Whirlpool declined in each of the two months since July 2026 yet remained the category leader. Its top-three rate fell to 17.1% in September 2026 from 26.1% in July 2026, a decline of 9.0 percentage points.

Significant Decline: LG

LG's valid recommendation coverage fell to 41.0% in September 2026 from 50.1% in July 2026, a decline of 9.1 percentage points. LG declined in each of the two months since July 2026. Its rank-one rate fell to 5.7% in September 2026 from 10.3% in July 2026, a decline of 4.6 percentage points. LG's presence rate was 97.5% in September 2026, up from 96.8% in July 2026.

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Significant Decline: Frigidaire

Frigidaire's valid recommendation coverage declined to 23.4% in September 2026 from 31.8% in July 2026, down 8.4 percentage points. Frigidaire's coverage had fallen to 0.0% in August 2026 before recovering in September 2026. Its presence rate moved up to 71.0% in September 2026 from 68.4% in July 2026.

Significant Decline: Bosch

Bosch's valid recommendation coverage fell to 49.3% in September 2026 from 56.8% in July 2026, a decline of 7.5 percentage points. Bosch declined in each of the two months since July 2026. Its rank-one rate rose to 13.7% in September 2026 from 9.1% in July 2026, an increase of 4.6 percentage points.

Significant Decline: Maytag

Maytag's valid recommendation coverage declined to 23.4% in September 2026 from 30.9% in July 2026, down 7.5 percentage points. Maytag declined in each of the two months since July 2026, with its presence rate moving to 58.3% from 60.6% over the full period.

Stable Brands

GE Appliances, Kenmore, Samsung, and Sub-Zero all recorded coverage movement within normal month-to-month variation. Sub-Zero's coverage had fallen to 0.0% in August 2026 before recovering to 32.0% in September 2026, which is not yet a trend. GE Appliances declined in each of the two months since July 2026, moving to 47.4% from 53.1% in a series of changes within normal variation.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. Among the leading brands, top-three and rank-one rates reveal meaningful placement differences.

Brand	Sep 2026 top-three rate	Sep 2026 rank-one rate	Jul 2026 top-three rate	Jul 2026 rank-one rate
Bosch	31.6%	13.7%	35.4%	9.1%
Whirlpool	17.1%	10.9%	26.1%	13.0%
GE Appliances	21.3%	4.4%	24.6%	5.1%

Bosch held the highest first-position recommendation rate at 13.7% in September 2026 while Whirlpool and GE Appliances sat behind at 10.9% and 4.4% respectively. Similar coverage levels can still hide different first-position rates.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

In both months, all qualified observations fell into the brand recommendation class.

Buyer-intent class	Jul 2026	Sep 2026
Brand Recommendation	525	475
Pricing & Value	0	0
Multi-Brand Comparison	0	0
Total qualified observations	525	475

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

Historical Measurement Record

Measurement	Qualified observations	Coverage leader	Leader coverage	Largest coverage movement
Jul 2026	525	Whirlpool	59.8%	-
Aug 2026	511	Whirlpool	56.0%	Down 36.2 points (Sub-Zero)
Sep 2026	475	Whirlpool	50.1%	Down 11.4 points (KitchenAid)

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.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index tracks how often brands appear in AI-generated recommendations and how prominently they are placed across major AI surfaces. It provides a neutral category-level view of AI recommendation coverage for industry observers.

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