Detroit automakers lag in AI car recommendations, BrandRank study finds

BrandRank.AI says Ford, General Motors and Stellantis brands account for 38% of U.S. vehicle sales but only 11% of recommendation points from major AI answer engines. Toyota and Lexus led the index, underscoring how AI-generated shortlist visibility is becoming a new battleground for auto brands.

Why it matters: - AI answer engines are starting to shape which car brands shoppers see first. - Brand visibility in AI-generated recommendations may now influence consideration before a buyer reaches a dealer website or showroom. - The gap between sales share and recommendation share suggests market leaders can still lose ground in AI-driven discovery.

What happened: - BrandRank.AI released its inaugural Automotive AI Recommendation Share Index in November 2026. - The study found Ford, General Motors and Stellantis brands had about 38% of U.S. vehicle sales in 2025 but only 11% of all recommendation points. - Japanese brands earned 48% of recommendation points against about 37% of U.S. sales. - The index analyzed 25,800 ranked answer lists from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Meta AI and Grok during October 2026. - The research tested 150 unbranded automotive shopping questions across 57 brands and captured 237,986 ranked brand appearances.

The details: - Toyota posted the highest Recommendation Share score at 55.2%. - Lexus followed at 52.7%. - Honda scored 44.2%, Subaru 38.5% and Porsche 32.5%. - BMW, Mazda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla rounded out the top ten. - Ford earned just 0.25 times its U.S. sales share in recommendation points. - Chevrolet earned 0.16 times its U.S. sales share in recommendation points. - Jeep earned 0.05 times its U.S. sales share in recommendation points. - Toyota and Lexus together took the #1 spot in 46% of all answer lists. - Five brands — Toyota, Lexus, Porsche, Tesla and Subaru — ranked first in 71% of all answer lists. - Honda appeared in 68.7% of BrandRank’s top-ten rankings, second only to Toyota, but ranked first in just 1.9%. - Tesla was the highest-ranked U.S.-headquartered automaker at tenth overall. - Porsche ranked fifth overall, while Ford ranked 12th and Chevrolet 18th. - In 41 service-related questions, Lexus outranked Toyota with scores of 57.8% versus 50.7%. - Porsche led service-related answers in 21.4% of cases, more than any other brand. - BrandRank.AI says Recommendation Share assigns 10 points for first place and 1 point for tenth, then divides a brand’s total by the maximum possible score. - A score of 100% means a brand ranked first every time. - A score of 0% means a brand never made the top ten. - The index used 150 unbranded, country-agnostic automotive questions submitted repeatedly to six answer engines throughout October 2026. - The results measure observed answer-engine behavior, not actual vehicle purchases or consumer survey results. - BrandRank.AI says close scores should not be treated as statistically significant differences. - The question set may favor established brands, and brand classification was AI-assisted. - The full index is available at the full Fall 2026 Automotive AI Recommendation Share Index. - Automakers can also request a complimentary Recommendation Share assessment.

Between the lines: - The study suggests traditional market leadership does not automatically translate into AI recommendation leadership. - Strong sales, dealer networks and advertising budgets may not be enough to secure prominent placement in AI-generated consideration lists. - The results also show why simple brand mentions can be misleading, since appearing often is not the same as being recommended first. - BrandRank.AI says the index can help brands spot competitive gaps, misinformation risks and questions that suppress recommendations.

What's next: - BrandRank.AI plans to track how AI recommendations change across industries. - Automotive brands can use the index to see where they appear, which competitors outrank them and which consumer questions create opportunities or vulnerabilities. - Pete Blackshaw, BrandRank.AI co-founder and CEO, said the company wants brands to understand why AI recommends one brand over another and use that insight to improve marketing, product development and customer experience. - The company says Recommendation Share will serve as a benchmark for competitive visibility and trust in the answer economy.

The bottom line: - In AI search, being well-known is not the same as being recommended. For automakers, that may become a new competitive gap to close.