Transportation Services: AI Market Discovery Index

Benchmark Summary

Sherpa Auto Transport led the Transportation Services benchmark in August 2026 with 72.1% valid recommendation coverage, ahead of AmeriFreight at 62.9%, a gap of 9.2 percentage points. The category recorded no significant month-over-month movement, which was a quiet month across all six tracked brands. The largest coverage increase was RoadRunner Auto Transport, rising from 16.6% in July 2026 to 18.2% in August 2026, while the largest decline was AmeriFreight, falling from 68.0% in July 2026 to 62.9% in August 2026.

Since the baseline in July 2026, three brands declined and three rose, though none moved beyond normal month-to-month variation. Sherpa Auto Transport remains the category leader but has held steady rather than extending its lead.

The benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in each month and produced 555 qualified observations in August 2026 after qualification.

Current Benchmark at a Glance

Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation. The six families are ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode.

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

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. AI Market Discovery Methodology.

Current Brand Standings

How to Read the Standings

• Presence rate is the share of qualified observations in which the brand was mentioned at all.
• Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations in which the brand received a clear recommendation that met benchmark criteria.
• Top-three rate is the share of qualified observations in which the brand appeared among the top three recommended options.
• Rank-one rate is the share of qualified observations in which the brand was the first recommended option.
• Net sentiment is the balance of positive over negative mentions, from 0 to 1.

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

Recommendation Coverage Movement

The August 2026 benchmark was quiet. No brand moved beyond normal month-to-month variation in valid recommendation coverage, and all six brands are classified as stable. Sherpa Auto Transport, AmeriFreight, and Nexus Auto Transport each declined in the single month since baseline, while SGT Auto Transport, RoadRunner Auto Transport, and Ship a Car Direct each rose, all within normal variation.

Recommendation Placement Snapshot

Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. The top-three and rank-one rates reveal placement differences among brands with similar coverage levels.

Close coverage can still hide different first-position rates. AmeriFreight trailed Sherpa Auto Transport in coverage but led in rank-one placements in August 2026, with 62 rank-one recommendations compared with 31 for Sherpa Auto Transport.

Buyer-Intent Distribution

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

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

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 benchmark does not measure market share or sales attribution.
• It does not capture every possible AI response to a given query.
• It does not measure organic-search ranking.
• It does not include social mention volume.
• It does not cover private or sponsored channels.
• A single metric movement alone does not establish causality.

About This Benchmark

The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is a neutral, repeatable measurement of how often brands appear in AI-generated answers across major AI and search surfaces. It tracks presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment on a consistent monthly basis.

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

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