Evergreen monthly benchmark — Apr 22
Running Shoes
Apr 22The running shoes category has consolidated rapidly around ASICS as the dominant AI-recommended brand. With Adidas climbing fast on the strength of the Adizero Evo SL. Nike has lost meaningful ground. ChatGPT remains the only commerce-influenced holdout still defaulting to Pegasus 41. This is a clear signal of a brand momentum shift happening in real-time across AI recommendations.
Rank Trend
How top brands moved week over week. Rank 1 is the top position.
Top Brands by AI Mention Frequency
Mention frequency counts how many times a brand appeared across all AI responses. This differs from top-pick rank, which reflects each model’s #1 choice.
Why These Brands Win
- All four models agree the Novablast 5 is the consensus best daily trainer for the 20-25 mpw runner.
- Every model recommends a two-shoe rotation strategy.
- All warn against carbon-plated super shoes for recreational mileage.
- Budget prompts universally feature ASICS, Brooks, and Nike at sub-$150.
- Models agree that fit and trying-on at a local running store matters more than brand selection.
Cross-Agent Comparison
How 4 AI models rank the same category. Hover a brand to trace it across models.
4 agents · top 3 each
| Agent | #1 | #2 | #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| chatgpt | Nike | ASICS | Brooks |
| claude | ASICS | Adidas | Nike |
| gemini | ASICS | Adidas | Brooks |
| perplexity | ASICS | Saucony | Brooks |
What This Means
- ChatGPT remains the only model to default to Nike Pegasus 41 as #1, the other three models have moved to ASICS or Adidas.
- ChatGPT also uniquely surfaces Puma Velocity Nitro 4 and Under Armour Charged Assert 11 in budget tiers.
- Claude is the most aggressive about Adidas Adizero Evo SL.
- Calling it "one of the best shoes period." Gemini surfaces New Balance Fresh Foam as a top-4 pick.
- Perplexity provides the deepest brand ranking (10 brands) and uniquely includes Mizuno and On in its top 10.
Opportunity for Brands
- Hoka only appears in ChatGPT and Perplexity rankings (and as "to skip" in Claude).
- Mizuno only appears in Perplexity.
- On only appears in ChatGPT and Perplexity.
- Puma only appears in ChatGPT and Claude.
- Under Armour only appears in ChatGPT.
- Major brands like Altra, Topo Athletic, and Inov-8 are completely absent from all models.
- Premium niche brands like Tracksmith are also invisible.
Frequently Asked Questions
What running shoes does AI recommend most?▾
Which running shoes brand ranks #1 across all AI models?▾
Why does ChatGPT recommend different running shoes than Claude?▾
What running shoes brands are invisible to AI?▾
How we measure this
Each benchmark runs the same standardized prompts across multiple leading AI systems, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. We use consistent, category-specific questions designed to surface genuine product recommendations — not sponsored results.
Responses are parsed to extract brand mentions, rank position, and frequency. We then analyze cross-model agreement, identify which brands consistently appear in top positions, and flag where AI outputs diverge from marketplace trends.
Evergreen categories are benchmarked monthly. Results reflect organic AI behavior at the time of testing. Read the full methodology
Your competitors are showing up in AI results. Are you?
ASICS now dominates AI running shoe recommendations across all four models, with Adidas as the rising challenger. Nike retains visibility primarily through ChatGPT, a commerce-influenced model, suggesting the brand is losing organic AI authority. Mid-tier brands like Hoka, On, Mizuno, and Puma have minimal cross-model visibility. If your running brand isn't in the top 3, you're fighting for fragmented secondary mentions.
Book Your Free AuditNeed help getting your brand into these AI recommendations? Robert Hu offers strategic consulting for e-commerce brands