A budget question changes the leader in 24 of 32 categories

Ask an AI assistant for a cheap or free option and the top brand changes in most categories. In 24 of the 32 categories, the budget question has a different leader from the category overall. That is 12 of 16 business software categories and 12 of 16 consumer ones. In the other 8, the overall leader also leads the budget question.

In coffee makers, the leader Technivorm Moccamaster scores 67 overall and 0 on the budget question. In website builders, Carrd scores 19 overall and 100. Only eight brands score 90 or higher on both the budget question and the premium question, which asks what is worth paying more for.

• All eight questions
• The budget question

1. Technivorm MoccamasterCoffee makers67%0%
2. HelloFreshMeal kits85%20%
3. SaatvaMattresses62%0%
4. ActiveCampaignEmail marketing platforms72%22%
5. WorkableApplicant tracking systems77%30%
6. All-CladCookware59%12%
7. QuickBooksAccounting software94%62%
8. WixWebsite builders93%71%

Source: The Gist 100, October 2026.

Category leaders fall furthest on budget questions

In October 2026, Gist counted 9,539 AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews. A score is the share of answers that name a brand, averaged across the four assistants. The leader is the brand with the highest score. Overall scores cover all eight questions in a category. The budget question asks for the cheap or free option, worded to suit each category.

Technivorm Moccamaster falls 67 points on the budget question, the most of any category leader. HelloFresh falls 65 and Saatva 62. In business software the largest falls are ActiveCampaign at 50 points and Workable at 47.

The four business software leaders and four consumer leaders that fall furthest on the budget question

All eight leaders in the table are among the four most named on the premium question, and five of them are the most named. The largest fall among all leading brands belongs to Salesforce in CRM software, where HubSpot leads overall. Salesforce goes from 83 overall to 5 on the budget question, a drop of 78 points, and scores 100 on the premium question.

The budget question brings these brands into the answers, where the overall count barely shows them.

Brands with low overall scores gain the most

The largest gains run the other way. The six biggest belong to brands that score 19 or lower overall, three in business software and three in consumer categories. Carrd gains 81 points, from 19 overall to 100 on the budget question. JLab goes from 19 to 88 in wireless earbuds, Threshold from 15 to 82 in bed sheets and Allswell from 9 to 73 in mattresses. GnuCash goes from 9 to 72 in accounting software and Meta Business Suite from 15 to 77 in social media management tools.

These six score 12 or lower on the premium question, and 8 of the 20 biggest gainers score 0 on that question. The budget question brings these brands into the answers, where the overall count barely shows them.

Few brands hold up on both questions

Eight brands score 90 or higher on both the budget question and the premium question. Seven are business software, shown here with the budget score first: HubSpot (100, 100), 1Password (95, 100), Ramp (92, 98), Stripe (98, 95), Shopify (96, 94), ClickUp (98, 93) and Bitwarden (100, 92). The eighth is Philips Sonicare in electric toothbrushes, at 100 and 93. Six of the eight also lead their categories overall.

Two of the 24 changes of leader are close calls, and each involves one of these brands. In payment processing, Helcim leads Stripe by 2 points. In e-commerce platforms, WooCommerce leads Shopify by 2 points. CRM software is a tie, with HubSpot and Zoho CRM both at 100 on the budget question, and it is counted here as no change.

The counts show which brands are named. They do not show how an answer describes a price. The gap between a brand’s budget score and its premium score is the visible sign of where the answers place it.

What to do with this

1. Measure both scores. Put both questions for your category to each assistant ten times and record your score on each. A wide gap shows which side of the price line the answers put you on. Saatva scores 62 overall and 0 on the budget question.
2. Check how the answers describe your price. Read the answers that name you, and note which price words they use for you and whether they mention your cheaper options. Salesforce scores 100 on the premium question and 5 on the budget question, which puts it on one side of the price line.
3. Decide which question you want to win, then see who holds it. Carrd scores 19 overall and 100 on the budget question, so a low overall score need not keep a brand out of that answer. Run the same questions again after you change how you describe your offer and see whether your scores move.

Counted from the answers behind the October 2026 Gist 100. How it is made.