The first UK AI brand rankings from YouGov looks at which tools consumers prefer, which brands are gaining ground, and how preferences differ between knowledge and frontline workers.

AI tools are becoming an increasingly familiar part of everyday life in the UK, with consumers using them to search, write, create, plan and streamline daily tasks.

As adoption grows, the AI brand landscape is becoming more competitive. The question is no longer just which brands people know, but which tools they prefer, trust and find most useful, both in their daily lives and at work. A recent YouGov survey underscores AI’s growing importance at work: two in five businesses say adopting AI is critical to their future growth.

Based on daily BrandIndex surveys, YouGov's UK AI brand rankings 2026 examines preferences and opinions on leading consumer-facing, general-purpose AI tools.

In this first article, we explore:

Look out for follow-up rankings exploring AI brand Preference by generation, how UK consumers use AI tools, and Satisfaction among current and former AI tool users.

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ChatGPT leads UK AI brand Preference

ChatGPT claimed the top spot in the UK for AI brand preference, with 30.0% of UK AI users saying they prefer using the AI assistant most. It places well ahead of the rest of the category, with the remaining brands forming a much tighter group.

Alexa ranks second at 12.7%, followed by Copilot at 11.6% and Gemini at 11.3%. Claude completes the top five at 4.3%, while Siri, Grok, Meta AI, Apple Intelligence and Perplexity AI round out the top 10.

Preference is a narrower measure than awareness or consideration. Survey respondents are first asked which AI tools they would consider using, and then which one of those tools they like or prefer using most. That second step helps distinguish broad consideration from the brand a consumer would put first when choosing among tools they already see as options.

Preference is moving, but not always upward

The AI market is evolving quickly, and the Preference shifts between March and July 2026 show that competitive positions are still changing.

Gemini records the largest increase in Preference, rising from 7.0% in March to 11.4% in July, an increase of 4.4 percentage points. Smaller gains are seen for DeepSeek (+0.5 points) and Meta AI (+0.1 points).

The increase coincides with a period of sustained visibility for Gemini in the UK. Google promoted the AI assistant through its Pixel advertising campaigns, including UK creative featuring Trent Alexander-Arnold, a recent ODEON campaign and "Ask More of Your Phone" campaign, alongside a broader eight-week UK marketing campaign. While this analysis does not attribute changes in Preference to any single activity, the findings suggest Gemini gained momentum during a period of increased consumer visibility.

Several brands move in the opposite direction over the same period. ChatGPT, while remaining the UK's most preferred AI brand overall, records the largest decline in Preference, falling from 35.8% to 30.7% (-5.0 points). Claude declines by 4.4 points, Perplexity AI by 3.7 points, and Copilot by 2.6 points.

YouGov began daily tracking of these AI brands in mid-February, so this movers table provides an early view of how Preference has shifted. We will continue daily tracking of this evolving sector, adding more context as brand positions develop over time.

Preference differs across knowledge and frontline workers

AI brand Preference also varies depending on industry and work type. While ChatGPT is notably consistent across knowledge and frontline workers, several other brands showed clear differences.

Copilot has stronger Preference among knowledge workers, at 15.9%, compared with 8.6% among frontline workers. Claude follows a similar pattern, with 7.5% Preference among knowledge workers compared with 2.1% among frontline workers, reflecting their stronger association with productivity and knowledge-based tasks.

Alexa performs more strongly among frontline workers, reaching 14.4% Preference compared with 6.4% among knowledge workers. One possible explanation is that Alexa is often used as a practical, hands-free assistant rather than a more complex AI tool. Voice interaction can be particularly useful for people who are driving, carrying items, preparing food or completing other tasks where using a screen is less convenient.

Interestingly, Gemini also records higher Preference among frontline workers, at 14.7%, compared with 12.6% among knowledge workers. While the data does not explain the reasons behind this difference, it may reflect Gemini's growing visibility through Google's consumer ecosystem, including Android devices and Google Search, making it more familiar to users outside traditional office-based environments.

For AI brands and technology companies, this highlights how competitive dynamics can shift depending on whether the audience is closer to office-based knowledge work, operational roles or broader everyday consumer use. Importantly, this ranking reflects which AI tool respondents like or prefer overall, not which tool they specifically prefer for work specifically. The differences between worker groups may therefore reflect both personal and professional experiences with these brands.

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Accuracy and Personal Impact tell a different story

Preference shows which AI brand people favour most, but it does not capture how consumers evaluate the experience of using those tools. Accuracy and Personal Impact are Net metrics that measure perceptions rather than preference, offering a different perspective on brand strength. Accuracy reflects whether users believe an AI tool provides reliable information, while Personal Impact measures whether they feel it has a positive influence on how they work, think or go about everyday tasks.

ChatGPT also leads on Accuracy perceptions among all AI users, with a Net score of 7.3. Gemini follows at 5.6, ahead of Copilot at 3.6 and Alexa at 3.4. Claude ranks fifth at 1.9.

Although ChatGPT leads this measure, the relatively narrow gap between the leading brands suggest that perceptions of accuracy remain competitive rather than firmly established. As AI tools become part of more people’s daily routines, maintaining confidence in the quality and reliability of responses is likely to remain an important differentiator.

Overall Awareness should also be considered when viewing these rankings. Compared to other brands in the top 5, brand Awareness for Claude is notably lower, at 36.6% compared to 92.7% for ChatGPT. When looking at Accuracy perceptions among only those aware of Claude, its net score jumps from 1.9 to 5.2.

Personal Impact produces a stronger leading score for ChatGPT. It ranks first at 19.0, followed by Copilot at 10.1, Gemini at 8.1 and Alexa at 6.1. Claude ranks fifth at 2.9.

Compared with the Accuracy ranking, the wider gap between ChatGPT and the rest of the field suggest users are more likely to perceive a meaningful personal benefit from using the platform than they are to distinguish brands on accuracy alone. Copilot’s second-place ranking on Personal Impact is also notable given its closer alignment with workplace productivity, while Gemini continues to perform strongly across both measures.

Taken together, these finding highlight that success in AI is about more than preference alone. Understanding whether consumers see a tool as accurate and genuinely useful provides a broader picture of brand health and where competitive advantages may be emerging.

Both the Accuracy and Personal Impact rankings reflect the broad opinions of all generative AI users in the UK. For a more focused analysis into the users of each individual tool, check back for a follow-up article exploring Customer Satisfaction.

Explore more AI brand data

These rankings provide a selected view of the AI brand data available in YouGov BrandIndex. Deeper analysis can help AI brands, technology companies, agencies and adjacent-category teams understand not only where brands rank, but which audiences, competitors and perception measures shape their position.

In an AI brand briefing, YouGov can explore:

  • Full rankings across the approved AI brand universe
  • Competitor benchmarks across Preference, Accuracy, Personal Impact, Satisfaction and other BrandIndex metrics
  • Movement over time across the comparable eligible universe
  • Audience cuts by generation, worker type and other demographic or behavioural segments
  • Satisfaction among current and former users of each brand
  • Profiles data on the tasks people use AI tools for and how those behaviours differ by generation
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Methodology

This article draws on YouGov BrandIndex data collected from March 1, 2026 to July 31, 2026, unless otherwise stated. The primary Preference, Accuracy and Personal Impact rankings cover UK AI users, with minimum bases of n> 6,740.

The biggest-movers analysis compares July 1 to July 31, 2026 with March 1 to March 31, 2026. Minimum bases are n> 1,670 for the current period and n> 100 for the comparison period. The table is sorted by absolute movement and includes both gains and declines. Alexa and Siri are excluded from the movers table because they were not tracked in the category in March.

The worker comparison covers knowledge workers and frontline workers, with minimum bases of n> 2,120 and n> 650, respectively.

Accuracy is based on the question: “Which of the following AI tools do you think provides accurate or inaccurate information?” The Net score is calculated as the share who say the tool provides accurate information minus the share who say it provides inaccurate information.

Personal Impact is based on the question: “Which of the following AI tools have a positive or negative impact on how you work, think, or feel?” The Net score is calculated as the share who say the tool has a positive impact minus the share who say it has a negative impact.

YouGov BrandIndex tracks 18 AI brands in the UK. For this ranking, Canva Magic Studio, DALL·E, Midjourney, DeepMind, and LLaMA were excluded from the published tables because the analysis focuses on consumer-facing, general-purpose AI assistant tools. These excluded brands are either primarily associated with specialist image-generation or creative tools, research/company brands, or model families rather than broad consumer AI assistants.

The worker comparison uses two audience groupings. Knowledge workers job titles used include: Nurse, Doctor or Surgeon, Dentist, Other Health-related professional, Network Manager, Software Developer or Computer Programmer, Systems Administrator, Other IT professional, Accountant, Commercial or Investment banker, Financial or business analyst, Investment or financial advisor, Retail or personal banker / loan officer, Other Finance professional, Compensation or benefits professional, Recruiter, Trainer or professional development, Other HR Professional, Sales person / Account Executive, Sales support / Account Manager, Other Sales or Sales support role, Architect, Artist, graphic artist, visual design specialist, Attorney or Lawyer, Engineer, Executive Assistant / Administrative Assistant, Management Consultant, Market researcher, Scientific researcher, Teacher or Professor, Writer or journalist, Commissioned officer, Veterinarian, Marketing and related disciplines (PR / Brand / Insight etc), Media Agency Professional (e.g. buyer/planner), Insurance Agent

Frontline and operational workers job titles used include: Caregiver, Call centre professional, Sales associate / sales clerk / cashier, Clerk, Cook / chef, Driver (e.g., truck, bus, taxi), Food service waitstaff, Security guard, Trade specialist (e.g., Carpenter, Plumber, Electrician, Pipefitter), Non-commissioned officer, Enlisted, Police officer, corrections officer, or other law enforcement, Hairdresser, Painter, Craftsman, Decorator

*The image accompanying this article was made by AI

About YouGov BrandIndex

YouGov BrandIndex is an always-on brand tracking tool that measures consumer perceptions of thousands of brands across sectors and markets. It helps marketers monitor brand health, benchmark competitors, identify audience-specific strengths and weaknesses, and understand how perceptions change over time.

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