The Gist 100ConsumerOctober 2026
Eight carry-on questions, five different leaders
Travelpro is named in 80% of AI answers about carry-on luggage, 18 points clear of Away. Yet Away wins the plain best-suitcase question with 98%, and three other brands each lead a question of their own.
By Gist GEO team · October 2026
Share of AI answers about carry-on luggage that name each brand
Gist put eight buying questions about carry-on luggage to four AI assistants in October 2026 and counted 298 answers. Travelpro is in 80% of them and is the first brand named in 46%. Away follows at 62%, Samsonite at 58% and Briggs & Riley at 48%. The lead of 18 points is clear without being commanding, and it comes from breadth: Travelpro scores at least 50% on every one of the eight questions.
The field has a clear upper tier. The answers name 32 brands at least once, and a typical answer lists 4.5. Six of them score 35% or more, from Travelpro down to Rimowa. Then comes a drop of 16 points to Quince at 19%, and the last four brands on the page sit between 19% and 11%. The top tier is settled in membership and unsettled in order: each assistant ranks it differently, and Perplexity puts Samsonite first, at 88%.
What few would guess is how often the lead changes hands. Five brands lead at least one of the eight questions. Away takes the plainest of them, the best carry-on suitcase, with 98% to Travelpro's 72%. Amazon Basics leads on budget with 71%, Briggs & Riley on carry-ons worth paying more for with 92% and Rimowa on durability with 88%. Travelpro leads outright only on business travel and lightweight international flights. Its rank rests on finishing in the top four on all eight.
Away's three highest scores come on the three questions with no condition attached: 98% on the best carry-on suitcase, 100% on brands to recommend and 83% on a shortlist of three. Add a condition and it slips, to 55% on business travel and 18% on both budget and lightweight international flights. Travelpro holds up where Away slips, with 92% on business travel and 100% on lightweight. It is also the first brand named in 46% of answers, against 17% for Away. The general pick and the practical pick are separate prizes, and in these answers they go to different brands.
Three brands lead a question while placed fourth or lower overall. Amazon Basics, eighth with 16%, tops the budget question at 71%. Briggs & Riley, fourth with 48%, leads carry-ons worth paying more for at 92% and scores 0% on budget. Rimowa, sixth with 35%, leads durability at 88%, where Travelpro is fourth at 53%. The answers attach each of the three to a single idea: a low cost, a lifetime guarantee, an aluminum shell. One firmly held association is enough to lead a question, even from a modest overall score.
The fewer brands an answer names, the fewer places there are to win. Claude names 6.3 brands per answer, Perplexity 4.3, ChatGPT 4.0 and Google AI Overviews 2.7. Seven of the ten brands on the page post their lowest score on Google AI Overviews, among them Away at 34% and Rimowa at 9%. Samsonite shows the range: 88% on Perplexity, where it is the most-named brand, and 60 points lower on Google AI Overviews. Monos runs against the pattern, second there at 43%. An overall score averages four quite different lists, and the shortest is the hardest to join.
Travelpro's own site is cited in 21% of answers, the only brand site among the twelve most-cited websites, and most of that comes from one assistant. ChatGPT cites travelpro.com in 68% of its answers and briggs-riley.com in 54%, and those are the two brands it names most, at 100% and 72%. Perplexity cites travelpro.com in 0% of answers and still names Travelpro in 75%. Samsonite ranks third overall with its own site cited in 0% of answers. A brand's own pages can feed one assistant. Third-party coverage alone can carry a brand into the top three.
Who each company is, and how it shows up in the answers
80% of AI answers
Travelpro is a luggage brand that sells carry-on and checked luggage, garment bags, business bags and travel accessories. It dates its origin to 1987, when Bob Plath, a 747 captain, invented the Rollaboard, a two-wheeled suitcase pulled upright by an extendable handle, to make life easier for flight crews. The company is located in Boca Raton, Florida.
Founded 1987 · Boca Raton
One suitcase does much of the work: the Platinum Elite, which answers credit for smooth wheels, practical organization and durability and describe as a favorite of cabin crews and regular travelers. ChatGPT names the brand in 100% of its answers, and its lowest score on any question is 50%, on budget.
62% of AI answers
Away is an American luggage and travel accessories brand that sells suitcases directly to consumers, mostly online. Jen Rubio and Steph Korey founded it in 2015, and its first product, a carry-on suitcase, began shipping in February 2016. Away is based in New York City.
Founded 2015 · New York City
Answers treat it as the hardshell pick, pointing to The Bigger Carry-On, with room for a week of clothes and compression built in. It leads the open question of the best carry-on suitcase at 98%, then drops to 18% on both the budget and the lightweight questions.
58% of AI answers
Samsonite is a luggage manufacturer and retailer whose products range from large suitcases to bags and briefcases. Jesse Shwayder founded it in Denver, Colorado, in 1910 as the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company, and it began using the Samsonite trademark in 1941. Its headquarters are in Luxembourg and the United States.
Founded 1910
Value and wide availability are the recurring credits, with the Freeform named as a lower-cost spinner that still covers the essentials. Perplexity names the brand in 88% of answers, more than any other brand there, and its own site is cited in 0% of answers.
48% of AI answers
Premium luggage brand known for its lifetime warranty.
The lifetime guarantee and the standard of construction are what the answers cite, usually through the Baseline Essential and its compression and expansion system. That puts it first on carry-ons worth paying more for, at 92%, and second on durability at 72%.
37% of AI answers
Canadian luggage brand with a minimalist look.
A laptop pocket on the front is the detail answers return to, and the reason the Carry-On Pro comes up for business travel. Google AI Overviews names the brand in 43% of answers, second only to Travelpro there, and its own site appears in 13% of answers.
35% of AI answers
German luxury luggage maker known for grooved aluminum cases.
Aluminum is the signature. Answers single out the Original Cabin for toughness, which puts the brand first on the durability question at 88%, and they frame it as the luxury choice. Claude names it most often, in 54% of answers.
19% of AI answers
Online retailer of low-priced basics, from bedding to luggage and clothing.
Budget roundups are how it enters the answers, which credit its expandable carry-on for putting a polycarbonate shell within a budget buyer's reach. It scores 48% on the budget question and 33% on the shortlist question, and Perplexity names it more often than the other assistants do.
16% of AI answers
Amazon’s private label for everyday goods.
Answers recommend its hardside spinner as the low-cost option for occasional trips, and price is the reason they give. That is enough to lead the budget question at 71%. On four other questions, durability and the shortlist among them, it scores 0%.
14% of AI answers
Australian luggage brand.
Weight is its opening. Answers describe the Carry On Light as an easy lift into the overhead bin, which earns third place on lightweight international flights at 45%, and they name the Carry-on Max for capacity. No assistant names the brand in more than 16% of answers.
11% of AI answers
Premium luggage and travel bag brand.
Luxury and business travel are the two frames answers use, with the Alpha line noted for ballistic nylon and tidy organization. Its highest score comes on carry-ons worth paying more for, at 42%, and Claude gives it its largest share, at 20%.
The three brands named most for each question Gist asked
| Question | Named most | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's the best carry-on suitcase? | Away 98% | Travelpro 72% | Samsonite 62% |
| Which luggage brands do you recommend for a carry-on? | Away 100% | Travelpro 100% | Briggs & Riley 96% |
| What's the best budget carry-on suitcase? | Amazon Basics 71% | Samsonite 57% | Travelpro 50% |
| Which carry-on suitcases are worth paying more for? | Briggs & Riley 92% | Travelpro 83% | Rimowa 65% |
| What's the best carry-on for frequent business travel? | Travelpro 92% | Briggs & Riley 62% | Away 55% |
| What's the best lightweight carry-on for international flights? | Travelpro 100% | Samsonite 78% | July 45% |
| I'm buying a carry-on suitcase. Which three should I shortlist? | Away 83% | Travelpro 79% | Monos 35% |
| Which carry-on suitcases are the most durable? | Rimowa 88% | Briggs & Riley 72% | Away 54% |
Share of each assistant’s answers that name the brand
| Brand | All four | ChatGPT | Perplexity | Claude | Google AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travelpro | 80% | 100% | 75% | 85% | 60% |
| Away | 62% | 68% | 62% | 82% | 34% |
| Samsonite | 58% | 39% | 88% | 78% | 28% |
| Briggs & Riley | 48% | 72% | 35% | 56% | 28% |
| Monos | 37% | 38% | 14% | 52% | 43% |
| Rimowa | 35% | 30% | 46% | 54% | 9% |
| Quince | 19% | 4% | 31% | 20% | 21% |
| Amazon Basics | 16% | 12% | 25% | 18% | 10% |
| July | 14% | 15% | 10% | 16% | 16% |
| Tumi | 11% | 8% | 16% | 20% | 2% |
The websites AI cites most on carry-on luggage, by share of answers
Forbes, a publisher, is cited in 60% of answers and OutdoorGearLab, a review site, in 51%. OutdoorGearLab is the source the assistants agree on most: none cites it in fewer than 32% of answers. Otherwise each keeps its own list. Perplexity cites Forbes and The New York Times's Wirecutter in 100% of its answers. Claude matches it on Forbes and adds gulfnews.com at 74% and nomadsnation.com at 72%, which no other assistant cites. Google AI Overviews cites YouTube in 26%. ChatGPT turns to brand sites, led by travelpro.com at 68%.
Three moves the numbers point to
Seek testing from OutdoorGearLab and Forbes before anything else. OutdoorGearLab is cited in 51% of answers and by every assistant, and Forbes appears in 100% of the answers from both Perplexity and Claude.
Pick one condition and make the case for it. Lightweight international travel has room behind Travelpro and Samsonite, with July third at 45%, and the shortlist question has Monos third at 35%.
Treat the brand site as a source for ChatGPT. It cites travelpro.com in 68% of its answers and briggs-riley.com in 54%, so clear pages on build, warranty and dimensions have a reader there.
Gist asks a fixed set of eight buying questions in each category. None of them names a brand. Each question is put to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews ten times, with web search on.
A brand’s score is the share of answers that name it, averaged across the assistants so that each one counts equally. Stores and review sites named in passing are not ranked. Brands named in fewer than one answer in ten are left off.
Measured October 5 to October 6, 2026.
No. It shows which brands AI assistants name when asked, not which products are best. Being named often usually reflects how much has been written about a brand, and where.
The page shows the 10 most-named brands. The free scan checks your own brand on a topic you choose.
Yes. AI answers shift as assistants are updated and as new pages are published. The date at the top shows when this ranking was measured.
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