Panel report: Laptops
AI names Lenovo most in laptops, 9 points clear
Lenovo leads laptops on AI search visibility with Panel Score 72, sitting firmly in the repeat-use tier, in a tight race with Dell (Panel Score 63).
- Lenovo's Panel Score, the highest in the segment
- 72
- Effective number of brands AI recommends, of 20
- 7.5
- Share of all citations taken by the top 3
- 53%
- Brands tracked
- 20
Refreshed May 7, 2026. 20 brands, 20 fixed buyer-intent prompts, asked of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok. Methodology v1.0, read the method. Part of Consumer Electronics.
Contents
Lenovo leads Laptops on AI search visibility with Panel Score 72, sitting firmly in the repeat-use tier.
When buyers ask AI assistants questions like “What are the best laptop options to consider in 2026?” or “Best affordable laptops and notebooks under $700?”, a small set of laptopsget cited every time. Most don't. This report measures which.
- Who AI cites most
- Lenovo is cited in 69 of 100 prompt-engine pairs (69%). 95% confidence interval 62-79.
- Concentration
- The top 3 brands (Lenovo, Dell, Apple Mac) capture 53% of all citations in this segment. 12 of 20 tracked brands are cited in fewer than 1 in 10 prompt-engine pairs.
- Where the field sits
- Of 20 brands tested: 4 in repeat-use, 2 in first-encounter, 14 not yet cited. Overall, AI cites a brand from this segment in 18% of buyer-intent prompt-engine pairs.
- Engine asymmetry
- Lenovo is cited in 100% of Claude prompts but only 0% on Gemini, visibility is engine-specific, not universal.
- Notable absence
- Origin PC is not yet cited, 0 prompts across all 100 prompt-engine pairs. A recognizable brand AI is not yet surfacing.
| Default choice | 0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Repeat use | 4 | |
| First encounter | 2 | |
| Not yet cited | 14 |
Stage comes from each brand's Panel Score: Default choice 75 and up, Repeat use 50 to 74, First encounter 25 to 49, Not yet cited 0 to 24.
Average Panel Score across the segment is 19.
Analyst note. Lenovo leads with a Panel Score of 72, but no brand reaches the leader tier in the laptop segment.
Lenovo tops the laptop segment with a Panel Score of 72 but does not reach the leader tier. It performs best on Claude with a perfect score of 100. Dell and Apple follow with Panel Scores of 63 and 60. Fourteen out of 20 brands are invisible, showing a drop-off after the foothold tier. No brand picks up Gemini citations, a clear gap across the panel.
Risk. Gemini's complete absence in citations is a risk for Lenovo, as it may miss visibility in this engine's user base.
Lenovo tops a 20-brand ranking in which 14 brands are not yet cited
Ranked by Panel Score, a 0 to 100 score that weights four buying phases: Discovery, Filtered Discovery, Comparison and Evaluation. Citations count fully and mentions count at half weight; engines are weighted equally. Spread is the gap between a brand's best and worst engine: under 15pp is durable, 50pp and up is engine-dependent. Engine columns count the prompts (out of 20) where that engine cited the brand as a recommendation.
| Rank | Brand | Panel Score | 95% CI | Spread | Per engine | ChatGPT | Perplexity | Gemini | Claude | Grok | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best: Evaluation (15/20), open recommendation (4/5) Weakest: Filtered Discovery (19/30), premium (1/5) | 72 | 62 to 79 | 100pp | 17 | 17 | 0 | 20 | 15 | Repeat use | |
| 2 | Best: Evaluation (13/20), open recommendation (4/5) Weakest: Filtered Discovery (15/30), emerging brands (0/5) | 63 | 53 to 71 | 85pp | 15 | 11 | 0 | 17 | 15 | Repeat use | |
| 3 | Best: Discovery (20/30), open recommendation (4/5) Weakest: Filtered Discovery (15/30), emerging brands (0/5) | 60 | 50 to 69 | 80pp | 16 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 16 | Repeat use | |
| 4 | Best: Discovery (20/30), open recommendation (4/5) Weakest: Filtered Discovery (12/30), filtered use case specific (1/5) | 58 | 48 to 67 | 90pp | 15 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 10 | Repeat use | |
| 5 | Best: Discovery (16/30), current-year picks (4/5) Weakest: Comparison (6/20), comparison premium vs value (0/5) | 47 | 38 to 57 | 65pp | 13 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 7 | First encounter | |
| 6 | Best: Comparison (7/20), budget-friendly (4/5) Weakest: Evaluation (1/20), open recommendation (0/5) | 27 | 19 to 36 | 45pp | 6 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 | First encounter | |
| 7 | Best: Comparison (5/20), comparison alternative to leader (4/5) Weakest: Evaluation (0/20), top-brands lists (0/5) | 17 | 10 to 25 | 25pp | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 | Not yet cited | |
| 8 | Best: Comparison (5/20), comparison alternative to leader (3/5) Weakest: Filtered Discovery (2/30), open recommendation (0/5) | 14 | 7 to 20 | 25pp | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | Not yet cited | |
| 9 | Best: Discovery (5/30), emerging brands (3/5) Weakest: Comparison (0/20), top-brands lists (0/5) | 9 | 5 to 17 | 20pp | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | Not yet cited | |
| 10 | Best: Filtered Discovery (2/30), current-year picks (2/5) | 6 | 3 to 12 | 15pp | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Not yet cited | |
| 11 | Best: Comparison (1/20), current-year picks (1/5) | 4 | 2 to 10 | 10pp | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Not yet cited | |
| 12 | Best: Evaluation (0/20) | 2 | 1 to 8 | 0pp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not yet cited | |
| 13 | Best: Discovery (2/30), emerging brands (2/5) | 2 | 1 to 7 | 5pp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Not yet cited | |
| 14 | Best: Evaluation (0/20) | 1 | 0 to 6 | 0pp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not yet cited | |
| 15 | Best: Evaluation (0/20) | 1 | 0 to 5 | 0pp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not yet cited | |
| 16 | 0 | 0 to 4 | 0pp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not yet cited | ||
| 17 | 0 | 0 to 4 | 0pp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not yet cited | ||
| 18 | 0 | 0 to 4 | 0pp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not yet cited | ||
| 19 | 0 | 0 to 4 | 0pp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not yet cited | ||
| 20 | 0 | 0 to 4 | 0pp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not yet cited |
Wilson 95% confidence intervals. The same 20 prompts run every month, so a change in Panel Score is a paired comparison, not noise. Source: mapou Panel, May 7, 2026.
- Default choice (75+)
- AI's go-to recommendation in laptops. The tier other brands are competing into.
- Repeat use (50 to 74)
- Cited often enough to feel reliably present across prompts and engines. One signal away from default.
- First encounter (25 to 49)
- Discovered and cited occasionally, but visibility is inconsistent. Real to AI, not yet trusted.
- Not yet cited (0 to 24)
- AI does not surface this brand for buyer-intent prompts in laptops.
Claude cites laptops most often (25%), Gemini least (0%)
How often each engine cites a brand from this category as a recommendation, averaged across all 20 brands tested. Perplexity and Grok search the live web; ChatGPT and Claude lean more on trained knowledge; Gemini blends both.
| Engine | Bar | Rate | Brands cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude | 25% | 10 of 20 | |
| ChatGPT | 23% | 10 of 20 | |
| Perplexity | 21% | 10 of 20 | |
| Grok | 19% | 12 of 20 | |
| Gemini | 0% | 0 of 20 |
Share of prompts where the engine cited a tracked brand, averaged over 20 brands.
Discovery is the easiest phase to win in laptops, Evaluation the hardest
Citation rate by buying phase, averaged across all brands tested.
| Phase | Rate | Strongest brand |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | 21% | Lenovo |
| Filtered discovery | 16% | Lenovo |
| Comparison | 18% | Lenovo |
| Evaluation | 16% | Lenovo |
3 of the top 12 brands are cited in at least half of prompts at every buying phase
Each cell is the brand's citation rate for that phase, shaded darker as the rate rises. A solid dark row is a durable brand: AI cites it across the whole funnel. Dark on the left and pale on the right is awareness without recommendation, the demand-leak pattern. Pale on the left and dark on the right is a brand AI weighs in Comparison and Evaluation but does not surface in Discovery.
| Brand | Panel Score | Discovery | Filtered discovery | Comparison | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo | 72 | 75% | 67% | 68% | 78% |
| Dell | 63 | 67% | 53% | 63% | 70% |
| Apple Mac | 60 | 68% | 52% | 53% | 65% |
| ASUS | 58 | 68% | 42% | 60% | 63% |
| HP | 47 | 57% | 43% | 40% | 48% |
| Acer | 27 | 27% | 28% | 40% | 10% |
| Razer | 17 | 23% | 13% | 25% | 3% |
| MSI | 14 | 10% | 7% | 28% | 10% |
| Framework | 9 | 18% | 12% | 0% | 3% |
| Microsoft Surface | 6 | 7% | 8% | 5% | 3% |
| Alienware | 4 | 3% | 3% | 8% | 3% |
| Samsung Galaxy Book | 2 | 3% | 2% | 0% | 5% |
Shading steps: darkest at 75% and up, then 50%, 30%, 10%, above 0%, and unshaded at 0%.
AI effectively recommends 7.5 of the 20 laptops on the panel
Derived metrics computed from the same data, showing how this segment behaves on AI search. The State of AI Search compares them across segments.
| Engine agreement | 0.54 | Partial agreement |
|---|---|---|
| Effective brands | 7.5 of 20 | Moderately concentrated, top 2 take 35% |
| Top demand-leak brand | Razer | +21pp Discovery vs Evaluation |
| Top mention-only brand | LG Gram | 100% of visibility is mention-only |
| Phase | Kingmaker engine | Spread |
|---|---|---|
| discovery | ChatGPT | 100pp |
| filtered | Claude | 100pp |
| comparison | Perplexity | 100pp |
| evaluation | ChatGPT | 100pp |
For each phase, the engine where the gap between the most-cited and least-cited brand is widest, which is where positioning matters most.
Lenovo is the name AI cites most across laptops answers
Aggregated across every brand, prompt and engine combination tested. These are the names AI surfaces when buyers ask about laptops.
- 1Lenovo1401
- 2Apple Mac1238
- 3Dell1208
- 4ASUS1158
- 5HP863
- 6Acer396
- 7Razer292
- 8MSI249
- 9Microsoft Surface153
- 10Framework146
- 11Alienware60
- 12System7624
- 13Samsung Galaxy Book23
- 14Best Buy23
- 15LG Gram20
Count is the number of AI answers that cited the name.
AI cites 8 laptops names the panel does not track yet
Ranked by mention count and engine breadth. These are panel candidates: brands AI treats as part of the category even though we are not measuring them yet. Open a row to read the AI quote that surfaced it.
HP Omen183 of 52 of 20What AI said
ChatGPT response, comparison alternative to leader prompt
“...gamers for its compact design and powerful internals. 5. **HP Omen**: The HP Omen series provides a good balance of performance and price. The Omen 15 is a solid gaming laptop that...”
XPS124 of 54 of 20What AI said
Grok response, evaluation buying advice prompt
“Recommendations: - For everyday use: Dell XPS 13 (great build quality and performance). - For students: Lenovo ThinkPad (durable and affordable). - For gaming:...”
ThinkPad X1 Carbon72 of 54 of 20What AI said
Claude response, comparison premium vs value prompt
“...when upgrading **Worth it brands**: MacBook Air, Dell XPS, ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ASUS Zenbook ## When value tier is fine: - Casual browsing, streaming, documents, light photo editing - You don't...”
ROG63 of 54 of 20What AI said
Grok response, discovery recommendation request prompt
“For gaming or heavy tasks, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is a solid pick with powerful specs and a vibrant screen, around $1,000. To refine this, share more...”
Chromebook53 of 53 of 20What AI said
ChatGPT response, filtered persona beginner prompt
“...who want a laptop that can also function as a tablet. 4. **Chromebook (like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713)**: If your tasks are mostly web-based, a Chromebook can be a great choice. It's...”
Xiaomi52 of 51 of 20What AI said
Claude response, discovery emerging prompt
“...re laptops with their signature transparent aesthetics. - **Xiaomi's laptop division** continues improving quality while maintaining aggressive pricing in international markets....”
Pine6442 of 51 of 20What AI said
ChatGPT response, discovery emerging prompt
“...customization is making waves in the tech community. 2. **Pine64**: Known for its open-source hardware, Pine64 offers affordable laptops like the Pinebook Pro. Their approach appeals...”
ROG Zephyrus32 of 52 of 20What AI said
Grok response, filtered budget high prompt
“I recommend the **ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16**, expected to feature a high-end Intel Core Ultra or AMD Ryzen 9000 series CPU, NVIDIA RTX 5000 series GPU, up...”
Method. For every panel brand, prompt and engine we record the brand names the analyzer extracted (capped at 6 per response), then drop names that match the tracked panel or its aliases, plus a denylist of generic category terms. To qualify: at least 3 mentions across at least 2 of 5 engines. Some entries may be tracked in another segment, in which case AI treats them as cross-category competitors. Reviewed monthly to inform panel additions.
Dell loses the top spot under at least one buyer persona; the top 3 overlap 73% with baseline
The Panel Score is calibrated to a generic shopping-assistant prompt. Buyers don't arrive generically. We re-ran the same 20 canonical prompts five more times, each with a different buyer-persona signal in the system prompt: budget-conscious, premium, working professional, first-time, values-driven.
| Brand | Baseline | Budget | Premium | Pro | First-time | Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dell | 85% | 40% | 85% | 80% | 75% | 95% |
| Apple Mac | 80% | 10% | 95% | 90% | 70% | 90% |
| Lenovo | 80% | 100% | 75% | 85% | 90% | 75% |
| HP | 70% | 75% | 45% | 70% | 90% | 85% |
| ASUS | 60% | 65% | 35% | 55% | 55% | 20% |
Cells are tinted green when a brand gains 5 or more percentage points against baseline and red when it loses 5 or more; stronger tints flag a swing of 20 points or more. Top 8 baseline brands. Full per-persona data: data/research/persona-robustness/2026-05-08-1526/. Method on the State of AI Search page.
The same brands make the top 3 for every buyer demographic
We re-ran the same 20 canonical prompts under eight demographic system-prompt variants: gender (men, women) crossed with generation (Gen Z 18-29, Millennial 30-45, Gen X 46-61, Boomer 62+). Age ranges follow Pew Research boundaries. The system prompt names the age range only; the labels here are descriptive.
| Brand | Gen Z M | Gen Z W | Mill. M | Mill. W | Gen X M | Gen X W | Boomer M | Boomer W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo | 75% | 85% | 85% | 85% | 80% | 80% | 90% | 80% |
| Dell | 75% | 85% | 80% | 90% | 75% | 75% | 80% | 75% |
| HP | 80% | 75% | 85% | 70% | 65% | 90% | 85% | 85% |
| Apple Mac | 85% | 80% | 80% | 85% | 80% | 75% | 70% | 70% |
| ASUS | 80% | 75% | 70% | 75% | 65% | 65% | 60% | 70% |
“n/a” means the brand is not in that cell's top 3 (full ranked data is paid-tier). Top 8 brands by mean rate across demographics. The macro view is on the State of AI Search page.
What brands in laptops should do
Each is a category-specific decision drawn from this month's data, with the mapou service that puts it into practice.
Concentration risk
In laptops, AI effectively recommends 7.5 of 20 tracked brands. The top brand captures 19% of citations. The next 2 capture another 16%. Visibility is concentrated but not winner-takes-all.
How mapou helps: GEO & Citation Architecture restructures your entity data so you can break into the top set.
Engines split
Engines disagree on the laptops leaderboard. Mean cross-engine agreement is only 0.54 (1.0 = perfect agreement, 0 = independent). Optimizing for ChatGPT will not necessarily improve your Claude or Gemini visibility. You need engine-specific strategy.
How mapou helps: AI Visibility Audit maps your position separately on each of the 5 engines.
Persona-volatile category
Laptops rankings shift meaningfully by buyer persona. Dell is the baseline #1 brand, but loses the top spot under at least one buyer signal (budget, premium, professional, first-time, values-driven). Top-3 overlap with baseline is only 73% across personas. Your baseline visibility number is incomplete.
How mapou helps: Persona-Tuned Panel Score computes the visibility number for your actual buyer mix.
Visibility tier mix
In laptops, 0 of 20 tracked brands clear Panel Score 75 (default-choice tier). 14 are below Panel Score 25 (not yet cited). The strategy differs at each tier. If you are below 25, you need foundational visibility infrastructure before tactical optimization.
How mapou helps: AI Visibility Audit identifies your tier; GEO & Citation Architecture moves you up.
Every brand faces the same 20 prompts, every month
The 20 canonical prompts span the four Panel Score phases (Discovery, Filtered Discovery, Comparison, Evaluation). The set is fixed at methodology v1.0 and reused every monthly run, so Panel Score changes are paired comparisons, not noise.
The exact prompt templates and phase-weighting formula are part of mapou's proprietary methodology, shared with paying clients alongside custom benchmarks for their brand. See the framework.
How we measured this
- Score
- Panel Score is mapou's 0 to 100 visibility score. Citations count fully, mentions at half weight, engines weighted equally, with Wilson 95% confidence intervals.
- Phases
- Discovery, Filtered Discovery, Comparison and Evaluation, weighted toward the start of the buying journey. Exact weights are shared with clients.
- Engines
- ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok
- Sample
- 20 brands, 20 fixed prompts each, refreshed May 7, 2026.
- Stage 1, First encounter
- Discovered and cited occasionally in AI answers for buyer-intent prompts.
- Stage 2, Repeat use
- Cited regularly enough to feel familiar and reliably present across prompts and engines.
- Stage 3, Default choice
- The go-to recommendation within the segment, often appearing first or most consistently.
Methodology v1.0. Read the full method.
Put your brand on this board
Run a free visibility check on your own brand. We'll show you which prompts you're missing and which engines are losing you the most ground.