When people ask AI engines for the best car insurance, 99.8% of the answers that name an insurer include USAA, GEICO, State Farm, Progressive or Erie, 474 of 475. Across car, life and pet insurance, the same five companies appear in 77.1% of AI insurance answers.
Analysis of 746 AI answers naming an insurer · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, September 2026
Key Findings
- 1.99.8% of AI answers to car insurance questions name at least one of five insurers: USAA, GEICO, State Farm, Progressive or Erie.
- 2.GEICO appears in 90.7% of AI answers to car insurance questions, and USAA in 83.4%.
- 3.77.1% of AI answers that name an insurer include USAA, GEICO, State Farm, Progressive or Erie, and one of the five is named first in 55.6%.
- 4.MassMutual appears in 88.7% of AI answers to life insurance questions, and Lemonade in 83.5% of AI answers to pet insurance questions.
- 5.Google AI Mode names one of the five most-mentioned insurers in 87% of its insurance answers, the most concentrated of five AI engines.
Summary
A new driver asks ChatGPT for the best car insurance. The answer names GEICO, USAA, State Farm, Progressive and Erie. Ask Gemini, Perplexity or Google and the list barely changes. Out of 475 AI answers to car insurance questions that name an insurer, 474 include at least one of those five.
For insurers, being named in an AI answer is a new kind of shelf space. The median AI insurance answer names five insurers, so there are few places on the list. If the same national brands fill most of them, a regional carrier with better local pricing, or a large brand outside the five, is left out of the answer the customer reads.
In car insurance the list is effectively closed: 99.8% of answers name one of the five, and GEICO alone appears in 90.7%. Across car, life and pet insurance, the five appear in 77.1% of AI insurance answers and take 56.8% of all insurer mentions.
What we measured
On September 23, 2026 we asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews 100 "best insurance" questions, such as "best car insurance" or "best pet insurance for dogs", twice each from a US location. 746 answers named at least one insurer. We counted how often each insurer appeared, overall, by type of insurance and by engine.
The five most-mentioned insurers across all answers are USAA, GEICO, State Farm, Progressive and Erie. A share of answers is the percentage of answers that name an insurer at least once. Named first means the insurer is the first one the answer mentions. Share of mentions counts every insurer named in every answer, so an answer naming six insurers contributes six mentions.
Car insurance answers are a closed club
474 of the 475 car insurance answers that name an insurer include at least one of the five, and most include several. GEICO appears in 90.7% of car insurance answers, USAA in 83.4%, State Farm in 70.5%, Progressive in 69.1% and Erie in 67.2%. Every one of the five appears in two car insurance answers out of three or more.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 746 AI answers naming an insurer · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, September 2026
For any other car insurer, that leaves very little room. With five names per answer at the median and these five already named in almost every answer, a sixth company has to displace a household name to appear at all.
Life and pet insurance have their own short lists
Life and pet insurance answers are just as concentrated, around different companies. MassMutual appears in 88.7% of life insurance answers and Northwestern Mutual in 82.1%, followed by Guardian (58.3%), Banner Life (52.4%) and State Farm (42.9%). In pet insurance, Lemonade appears in 83.5% of answers, about twice the 42.7% of second-placed Embrace.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 746 AI answers naming an insurer · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, September 2026
| Insurance line | AI answers naming an insurer | Most-named insurers (share of answers) |
|---|---|---|
| Car | 475 | GEICO 90.7%, USAA 83.4%, State Farm 70.5%, Progressive 69.1%, Erie 67.2% |
| Life | 168 | MassMutual 88.7%, Northwestern Mutual 82.1%, Guardian 58.3%, Banner Life 52.4%, State Farm 42.9% |
| Pet | 103 | Lemonade 83.5%, Embrace 42.7%, Trupanion 31.1%, Fetch 21.4%, Prudent 19.4% |
State Farm is the one company on two lists, car and life. Everywhere else, each line has its own leaders, which means the overall 77.1% understates how concentrated each type of insurance is on its own.
Five insurers dominate AI insurance answers
Across all 746 answers, USAA (58.3%) and GEICO (57.8%) each appear in more than half, followed by State Farm (54.6%), Progressive (44.2%) and Erie (42.8%). One of the five is named first in 55.6% of answers, and together they take 56.8% of all insurer mentions. After Erie there is a steep drop: Amica is sixth at 24.9%, and every insurer below Banner Life, including several large national brands, appears in fewer than one answer in ten.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 746 AI answers naming an insurer · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, September 2026
Every engine shows the pattern. Google AI Mode names one of the five in 87% of its insurance answers, Gemini in 75.4%, ChatGPT and Perplexity in 74.7% each, and Google AI Overviews in 68.6%. Whichever engine a customer uses, the same five names dominate.
| Engine | Insurance answers naming one of the five |
|---|---|
| Google AI Mode | 87% |
| Gemini | 75.4% |
| ChatGPT | 74.7% |
| Perplexity | 74.7% |
| Google AI Overviews | 68.6% |
What this means for insurance marketers
If you are not one of the five, assume AI engines will not bring you up for a generic "best car insurance" question. Your better targets are narrower questions where the big five are weaker: specific states, specific drivers such as teens, seniors or high-risk drivers, and specific coverage types. Build pages that answer those questions directly, with the coverage details and prices a reader needs to compare you.
Large brands are not safe either. Several national insurers appear in fewer than one AI insurance answer in ten, so advertising reach alone does not secure a place in AI answers. Working with an agency that specializes in seo for insurance companies helps you find the questions where your company can realistically be named, and build the pages that get it there.
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-insurance-recommendations">99.8% of AI Car Insurance Answers Name One of the Same Five Insurers - Suff Digital</a></p>
Cite this study
Suff Digital. (2026). 99.8% of AI Car Insurance Answers Name One of the Same Five Insurers. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-insurance-recommendations
99.8% of AI Car Insurance Answers Name One of the Same Five Insurers - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-insurance-recommendations
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