5WPR has published its Pet Industry AI Visibility Index 2026, which analyzes how pet brands are cited by AI platforms including ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude.
The report found Chewy holds a 14% share of AI citations across more than 60 tracked consumer prompts, the highest of any brand measured. The company attributed Chewy's lead to its expansion beyond e-commerce into pharmacy, telehealth, insurance and physical veterinary clinics. In April 2026, Chewy acquired Modern Animal, adding 29 clinics to its existing 18 Chewy Vet Care locations for a combined 47-clinic footprint.
The Farmer's Dog ranked second overall with a 9% citation share. The report said this makes the brand the default AI answer for fresh dog food queries.
Traditional premium food brands Hill's Science Diet, Purina Pro Plan and Royal Canin continued to dominate citations tied to veterinary recommendations, according to the report, which attributed this to clinical authority signals such as veterinary school curricula and prescription-diet distribution rather than advertising spending.
Mid-tier commodity brands that once held prominent retail shelf space, including Pedigree, Iams, Beneful, Kibbles 'n Bits, Alpo and Rachael Ray Nutrish, are losing AI citation share, the report said, and increasingly appear only in response to price-focused queries.
5WPR based its findings on an analysis of more than 60 pet-owner prompts across six sub-categories: retail and e-commerce, fresh and direct-to-consumer food, traditional premium food, pet insurance, pet services and subscriptions, and pet tech.
The full Pet Industry AI Visibility Index 2026 is available on 5WPR's website.
