Stairlifts: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Bruno leads the September 2026 Stairlifts index with 29.4% valid recommendation coverage, ahead of Harmar at 25.8%, a gap of 3.6 percentage points. The category recorded measurable movement this month, with every tracked brand recovering from the August 2026 measurement period when no brand registered recommendations. Bruno recorded the largest month-over-month increase, moving from 0.0% in August 2026 to 29.4% in September 2026. No brand recorded a notable coverage decline against the prior month; the declines in the series are measured against the July 2026 baseline rather than the prior month.

Against the full July-to-September series, the picture is mixed. Bruno remains the category leader, though its coverage of 29.4% in September 2026 is down from 40.9% in July 2026. Multiple brands recorded baseline-to-current declines beyond normal variation: Bruno, Harmar, AmeriGlide, Lifeway Mobility, and 101 Mobility. Stannah, Handicare, Acorn Stairlifts, Savaria, and Mobility Plus stayed within normal month-to-month variation across the full series.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 372 qualified observations in July 2026, 413 in August 2026, and 442 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 had qualified observations in July and September 2026, including through the August 2026 period when no brand received a recommendation.

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

Research Scope and Qualification

Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. See 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 measures how often a brand appears in qualified observations, regardless of whether the mention is a recommendation. Valid recommendation coverage is the primary metric and captures the share of qualified observations in which a brand receives a legitimate recommendation. Top-three rate measures the share of observations where the brand appears in the first three recommended positions. Rank-one rate measures the share of observations where the brand is the single top recommendation. Net sentiment scores the tone of brand mentions on a scale from negative to positive and describes benchmark framing, not customer sentiment.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

The baseline-to-current series runs July 2026 to September 2026. August 2026 sits as an intermediate month in which no tracked brand recorded a recommendation. Against the prior month, every brand except Mobility Plus rebounded in September 2026, with the largest recovery at Bruno, which rose from 0.0% in August 2026 to 29.4% in September 2026.

Largest Decline: Bruno and Lifeway Mobility

Bruno recorded the largest baseline decline in valid recommendation coverage, falling from 40.9% in July 2026 to 29.4% in September 2026, a drop of 11.5 percentage points — one of two brands at that magnitude. Supporting metrics moved in the same direction: top-three rate fell from 37.4% to 24.9% and rank-one rate from 26.3% to 14.2%, both beyond normal variation. Presence rate declined from 74.2% to 68.1%, within normal variation.

Lifeway Mobility recorded an equal baseline decline of 11.5 percentage points, from 21.2% in July 2026 to 9.7% in September 2026, from a smaller base of 79 valid recommendations in July. Top-three rate fell from 6.5% to 3.4% and rank-one rate from 3.8% to 1.1%, both beyond normal variation. The category leader gap between Bruno and Handicare narrowed from 28.8 points in July 2026 to 16.7 points in September 2026.

Largest Increase: Handicare

Handicare was the only tracked brand to record a baseline-to-current increase in valid recommendation coverage, rising from 12.1% in July 2026 to 12.7% in September 2026, a move of 0.6 points within normal variation. The brand's presence rate fell from 29.0% to 25.1%, but rank-one rate rose from 0.3% to 0.9% and top-three rate from 5.4% to 8.1%, both within normal variation.

Category Leader: Bruno

Bruno holds the category lead at 29.4% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026, down from its own 40.9% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand, Harmar at 25.8%, stands at 3.6 points, down from 4.6 points in July 2026. Bruno's 14.2% rank-one rate in September 2026 is the highest in the category, ahead of Stannah at 6.8%.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. In September 2026, the leading brands showed clear differences between overall coverage and first-position placement.

Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates. Harmar and Stannah both recorded 17.9% top-three rates in September 2026, yet Stannah's 6.8% rank-one rate exceeded Harmar's 4.3% by 2.5 points.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class.

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

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, or private or sponsored channels. A metric movement alone does not establish causality.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is a neutral industry benchmark tracking how AI and search surfaces present brands across six canonical surface families. The benchmark records the change; it does not, by itself, establish why the change occurred. For this vertical, the September 2026 measurement shows the category operating with recommendations restored after the August 2026 period, with all brands functioning within their reported ranges.

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

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