The Farmer's Dog, Freshpet and Open Farm lead organic search visibility among U.S. fresh and raw dog food brands, each generating over 90,000 monthly visits, according to US Fresh and Raw Dog Food Brands – Organic Search Benchmark Report 2025 from Bubblegum Search.
The analysis of 20 brands found The Farmer's Dog commands 539,600 monthly organic visits, followed by Freshpet at 144,300 visits, Open Farm at 113,400 visits, JustFoodForDogs at 104,100 visits and Spot & Tango at 90,000 visits. My Ollie generated 79,200 monthly visits, while Nom Nom recorded 62,000 visits and We Feed Raw showed 17,000 visits.
As far as pet food retailers, the report noted Chewy, PetSmart and Petco dominate U.S. organic visibility, each attracting multi-million monthly visits.
- Chewy, PetSmart and Petco dominate total US pet-related search with 4.3M, 4.1M and 3.0M monthly visits respectively, setting a scale that shapes category-wide visibility.
- Within the specialist fresh and raw segment, The Farmer’s Dog leads with more than half a million monthly visits, outperforming all mid-tier and challenger brands combined.
- JustFoodForDogs, Freshpet, Spot & Tango, and My Ollie form the next tier, gaining visibility through strong branded demand and expanding educational content rundowns.
- The steep traffic drop-off beyond the top tier highlights a highly concentrated U.S. search environment, far more compressed than the UK landscape.
Branded versus discovery-led strategies
The report examined branded versus discovery-led search strategies. The Farmer's Dog derives 89% of its traffic from branded searches, while Freshpet shows 80% branded traffic and My Ollie demonstrates 64% branded traffic. JustFoodForDogs maintains 57% branded traffic and Open Farm shows 55% branded share.
Several brands employ discovery-led approaches. Spot & Tango generates 84% of its traffic from non-branded searches, while Portland Pet Food Company shows 91% non-branded traffic and Raw Paws demonstrates 93% non-branded visibility. PetPlate and We Feed Raw each maintain approximately 50% non-branded traffic share.
Domain authority showed moderate correlation with traffic volume. JustFoodForDogs, with a domain rating of 58, outperformed Open Farm (domain rating 63) and Freshpet (domain rating 70) in monthly visits. The Farmer's Dog maintains a domain rating of 72 with 6,500 referring domains, while Freshpet shows a domain rating of 70 with 2,800 referring domains.
What this means: the U.S. market leans strongly toward branded search, noted the report. Chewy, The Farmer’s Dog and Freshpet rely heavily on existing brand demand, while challenger brands such as Spot & Tango, PetPlate and Portland Pet Food Co. attract more discovery-led visibility. Balanced brands such as JustFoodForDogs and Open Farm achieve dual visibility, helping them reach both loyal customers and early-stage searchers.
In addition, high domain rating correlates only moderately with organic reach. Chewy and Petco top the authority charts, yet mid-tier brands like JustFoodForDogs and Spot & Tango outperform stronger domains through broader informational content and intent coverage.
AI-driven search visibility emerges
The study examined AI-driven search visibility through Google's AI Overview feature. Among fresh and raw dog food specialists, The Farmer's Dog recorded 2,700 AI citations, followed by Spot & Tango with 1,400 citations, Freshpet with 760 citations and Open Farm with 319 citations. PetPlate showed 294 citations, JustFoodForDogs recorded 244 citations, My Ollie demonstrated 223 citations and Nom Nom had 115 citations.
The analysis found brands ranking for broader keyword sets showed stronger overall visibility. JustFoodForDogs ranks for 15,652 keywords, Spot & Tango for 15,265 keywords and My Ollie for 15,425 keywords. The Farmer's Dog ranks for 19,700 keywords, while Freshpet shows 9,024 ranking keywords and Open Farm demonstrates 10,279 keywords.
Smaller brands showed narrower keyword profiles. PetPlate ranks for 4,061 keywords, Small Batch for fewer than 4,000 keywords and Portland Pet Food Company for approximately 6,000 keywords.
The report noted U.S. search visibility remains concentrated among established brands. Multi-category retailers Chewy, PetSmart and Petco capture over 85% of total organic traffic in the pet food sector, generating 4.3 million, 4.1 million and 3 million monthly visits respectively. Within fresh and raw categories specifically, specialist brands compete through educational content and informational search strategies.
Challenger brands including Raised Right, Sundays for Dogs, Evermore Pet Food, Balanced Blends and Small Batch showed monthly visit volumes ranging from 2,000 to 21,000, with varying branded versus non-branded traffic distributions.
AI-generated results amplify brand dominance, said the report. Chewy leads with more than 30,000 citations, followed by Petco and PetSmart. Among specialist brands, The Farmer’s Dog and Spot & Tango outperform peers, while many smaller competitors have minimal AI visibility.
"The brands winning U.S. organic visibility balance brand-led demand with broad informational discovery, authoritative backlinks, and AI-ready structures," noted the report. "Laggards rely too narrowly on brand recognition or maintain thin content ecosystems, limiting both ranking and AI-era exposure."
Implications
Implications
- The U.S. market is heavily consolidated, with major retailers controlling overall search volume while specialist brands compete for a narrower but high-intent slice of queries.
- High branded dependence signals loyalty but limits reach among new pet owners researching feeding questions and comparing fresh/raw options.
- AI-driven search introduces a new layer of competition where structured, authoritative content determines visibility inside answer panels.
- Brands that fail to build strong link ecosystems and owner-focused educational content risk losing mid-funnel discovery opportunities.
- Content hubs centered on nutrition, feeding guidance and pet health have become key differentiators for category growth.
Report conclusion
The 2025 US fresh and raw dog food search landscape reflects a tight divide between high-authority brands with extensive keyword coverage and those with narrow visibility footprints, concluded the report. Chewy, Petco, PetSmart and The Farmer’s Dog lead through brand equity, topic breadth and AI-era authority.
Mid-tier brands such as Freshpet, JustFoodForDogs, My Ollie and Spot and Tango demonstrate strong category influence but must continue to expand informational coverage to compete with dominant players in AI-driven search.
Brands relying solely on brand awareness or thin content strategies risk stagnation as AI reshapes how pet owners discover and compare feeding options. Those investing in educational ecosystems, structured content and authority-building stand to gain the greatest visibility advantage in 2026.
The study used data from Ahrefs and proprietary analytics covering organic visibility metrics, domain ratings, referring domains and AI Overview citations from Q4 2025.
