The Gist 100ConsumerOctober 2026
Protein powder has one default and four different shortlists
Optimum Nutrition is named in 69% of AI answers about protein powder. Behind it the assistants part ways: second-place Transparent Labs appears in 85% of Claude’s answers and 4% of ChatGPT’s.
By Gist GEO team · October 2026
Share of AI answers about protein powder that name each brand
Ask an AI assistant which protein powder to buy and one name comes back more than any other. Optimum Nutrition is named in 69% of answers and is the first brand named in 42%. It reaches 98% on the question about brands to buy and 98% again on the budget question. Answers present its Gold Standard whey as the pick for most buyers, easy to mix and easy to find.
Below first place the field is open. Transparent Labs is second at 48%, 21 points back, with Momentous at 34% and Orgain at 32%. The 298 answers Gist read in October 2026 name 57 brands at least once, and the tenth brand on this page, Garden of Life, is at 15%. A typical answer names 4.3 brands. Some name none: 26 answers mention no brand at all.
The assistants do not share a shortlist. Three of the four name Optimum Nutrition most. The fourth, Claude, names Transparent Labs most, in 85% of its answers, and ChatGPT names that same brand in 4% of its own. Second place goes to Momentous on ChatGPT, at 21%, and to Transparent Labs on Google AI Overviews, at 50%, and Perplexity, at 54%. Optimum Nutrition is the only brand in every assistant’s five most named. Visibility in this category depends heavily on which assistant a buyer opens.
Optimum Nutrition is named in 98% of answers to the budget question, 33 points ahead of Nutricost at 65%. BulkSupplements at 42% and Myprotein at 25% come next, and neither is among the ten brands on this page. Ask which powders justify a higher price and Optimum Nutrition falls to 45%, tied with Transparent Labs. That 45% is the lowest top score on any of the eight questions. Momentous, Dymatize and Transparent Labs all score 0% on budget. On price, the answers have a settled favorite. On premium, they have none.
Claude names 7.1 brands per answer, Google AI Overviews 4.4, Perplexity 3.3 and ChatGPT 2.5. The scores track the length. On Claude, nine of the ten brands on this page are named in at least 35% of answers. On ChatGPT, only Optimum Nutrition is named in more than 21%. Legion runs from 49% on Claude to 1% on ChatGPT, Nutricost from 49% to 5%, and the widest gap, 81 points, belongs to Transparent Labs. For any brand behind the default, the overall score is an average of four very different results.
Forbes is cited in 100% of Perplexity’s answers, 85% of Claude’s and 71% of those from Google AI Overviews. In ChatGPT’s it appears in 1%. ChatGPT’s most cited sites are nsfsport.com, in 61% of its answers, and nsf.org, in 50%. Its own answers describe Optimum Nutrition, Momentous, Vega and Garden of Life as certified or listed for sport. Vega at 18% and Garden of Life at 16% are among its five most named and no other assistant’s. The visible route onto ChatGPT’s list runs through certification pages. On the other three it runs through publishers.
Vega is named in 88% of answers to the plant-based question and in 0% of answers to the best-overall question. Optimum Nutrition does the reverse: 92% on best overall and 0% on plant-based. Orgain is second on plant-based at 57%, with Transparent Labs and Garden of Life at 50% each. Orgain is also the one that travels. It reaches 51% on the question about three powders to try first, behind only Optimum Nutrition at 71%. A brand can lead the plant-based question and still sit at 15% overall, as Vega does.
Who each company is, and how it shows up in the answers
69% of AI answers
Optimum Nutrition is a sports nutrition brand that sells protein powders, creatine, pre-workout supplements, amino acids and weight gainers. Brothers Tony and Mike Costello founded it in 1986, and Glanbia bought the brand in 2008. Its products include Gold Standard 100% Whey, and its headquarters is in Downers Grove, Illinois.
Since 1986 · Downers Grove · Part of Glanbia
Answers treat its Gold Standard whey as the all-purpose choice, citing easy mixing and wide availability, and some repeat a Forbes verdict in its favor. It is named in 98% of answers to both the brand and budget questions and in 0% on plant-based.
48% of AI answers
Transparent Labs sells dietary supplements, including protein powders, pre-workouts, creatine products, collagen and multivitamins. The company says its labeling is fully transparent, and its site links to third-party test results.
Its grass-fed whey isolate draws most of the attention: answers point to a short ingredient list without artificial sweeteners and often cast it as the premium option. No brand is named more by Claude, while ChatGPT includes it in 4% of answers. It scores 0% on the budget question.
34% of AI answers
Momentous sells nutrition supplements, including protein, creatine, sleep support, fiber, omega-3 and hydration products. The company says every production lot is independently verified and lists certifications from NSF for Sport, Informed Sport and IFOS. Its headquarters is in Park City, Utah.
Park City
Sport certification is the thread in the answers that name it. They present its whey isolate as a premium pick for athletes and cite Men’s Journal testing. It is named in 88% of answers to the brand question and in 8% when the request is for three powders to try first.
32% of AI answers
Maker of organic and plant-based protein powders and shakes.
Plant-based and easy to find is how the answers describe it: an organic powder built on pea and rice protein, often framed as an everyday value. It is second on both the plant-based question, at 57%, and the question about three powders to try first, at 51%.
28% of AI answers
Sports nutrition brand known for ISO100 whey isolate.
ISO100 is the product the answers name. They describe it as a hydrolyzed whey isolate and slot it in as the pick for muscle gain. It reaches 75% on the muscle question, tied with Transparent Labs and just behind Optimum Nutrition, and scores 0% on both budget and plant-based.
24% of AI answers
Supplement brand known for short ingredient lists.
Short ingredient lists define its mentions. Answers describe its whey and pea powders as single-ingredient formulas or close to it. Claude names it in 50% of answers and Perplexity in 4%, and it is third on the best-overall question.
18% of AI answers
Low-priced supplement brand.
Low cost is the reason answers give for naming it. They describe its whey protein concentrate as a no-frills budget option. It is second on the budget question at 65% and scores 0% on the first-three and quality-testing questions.
17% of AI answers
Sports supplement brand.
Ingredients and grades lead its mentions: answers describe Whey+ as made from natural ingredients and point to high grades from Labdoor. It shows up when the question is about brands, at 60%, far more than on best overall. Claude names it in 49% of answers, the highest of the four assistants.
15% of AI answers
Plant-based protein brand.
One question accounts for nearly all of its visibility: plant-based, where it is named in 88% of answers. Answers present its Sport line as the pick for athletes. The four assistants agree on it more closely than on any other brand here, all within 7 points.
15% of AI answers
Organic supplement and protein brand.
The Sport line carries its mentions. Answers describe an organic plant-based powder for athletes and note its sport certifications. It reaches 50% on both the brand and plant-based questions, and Claude names it in 35% of answers, more than any other assistant.
The three brands named most for each question Gist asked
| Question | Named most | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's the best protein powder? | Optimum Nutrition 92% | Transparent Labs 75% | Naked Nutrition 50% |
| Which protein powder brands do you recommend? | Optimum Nutrition 98% | Momentous 88% | Transparent Labs 78% |
| What's the best budget protein powder? | Optimum Nutrition 98% | Nutricost 65% | BulkSupplements 42% |
| Which protein powders are worth paying more for? | Transparent Labs 45% | Optimum Nutrition 45% | Momentous 32% |
| What's the best protein powder for building muscle? | Optimum Nutrition 78% | Dymatize 75% | Transparent Labs 75% |
| What's the best plant-based protein powder? | Vega 88% | Orgain 57% | Garden of Life 50% |
| I want to start using protein powder. Which three should I try first? | Optimum Nutrition 71% | Orgain 51% | Dymatize 22% |
| Which protein powders are the most trusted for quality testing? | Optimum Nutrition 69% | Momentous 44% | Transparent Labs 38% |
Share of each assistant’s answers that name the brand
| Brand | All four | ChatGPT | Perplexity | Claude | Google AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimum Nutrition | 69% | 57% | 72% | 75% | 71% |
| Transparent Labs | 48% | 4% | 54% | 85% | 50% |
| Momentous | 34% | 21% | 40% | 46% | 29% |
| Orgain | 32% | 10% | 26% | 49% | 45% |
| Dymatize | 28% | 12% | 19% | 40% | 40% |
| Naked Nutrition | 24% | 6% | 4% | 50% | 36% |
| Nutricost | 18% | 5% | 12% | 49% | 7% |
| Legion | 17% | 1% | 12% | 49% | 5% |
| Vega | 15% | 18% | 14% | 11% | 17% |
| Garden of Life | 15% | 16% | 1% | 35% | 7% |
The websites AI cites most on protein powder, by share of answers
Publisher titles lead the citations: Forbes appears in 64% of answers and Fortune in 47%, ahead of Healthline, a health site, at 39%. Each assistant then adds sources the others use far less, if at all. Claude cites Garage Gym Reviews, a review site, in 84% of its answers. Perplexity cites Men’s Health in 62% and Google AI Overviews cites YouTube in 66%, and no other assistant cites either. ChatGPT turns to nsfsport.com in 61%. Brand sites are scarce: Optimum Nutrition’s own is cited in 6% of answers.
Three moves the numbers point to
Earn coverage in the publisher reviews the answers cite. Forbes appears in 64% of answers and Fortune in 47%, and answers repeat publisher verdicts by name, as with Forbes for Optimum Nutrition and Men’s Journal for Momentous.
Check how your products appear on the certification sites ChatGPT cites. It draws on nsfsport.com in 61% of its answers and nsf.org in 50%, and it names 2.5 brands per answer, the fewest of the four assistants.
Make the case for paying more where the answers have no favorite. On the question of which powders are worth the extra cost, the top score is 45%, shared by two brands, against 98% for the leader on budget.
Analysis · 4 min read
A typical Claude answer names 7.2 brands, against 3.6 for Google AI Overviews. Claude gives 186 of the 304 brands in a published top ten their highest score, and ChatGPT never names 22 of them. Which brands appear depends on the assistant, and one overall score hides it.
7.2 vs 3.6Brands per answer, Claude vs Google AI Overviews
Analysis · 5 min read
In 15 of 32 categories the most-named brand scores 90 or more. In seven, no brand reaches 75. Business software averages a leader score of 90.7 against 77.3 for consumer categories, so a score needs reading against its own category.
90.7 vs 77.3Average leader score, business vs consumer categories
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.
See which brands appear in AI recommendations for your category, and where your brand stands among them.
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