How AI Search Is Recommending Portable Power Stations and Off-grid Power: Monthly Trends

Executive Summary

EcoFlow remains the clear leader in AI-assisted recommendations for portable power stations, holding valid recommendation coverage of 75.5% in September 2026, up 4.8 points from 70.7% in August 2026. Jackery holds second place at 72.2%, up 5.0 points from 67.2%, keeping a 3.3-point gap behind the leader.

Anker SOLIX was the month's most significant mover, climbing 8.2 points from 57.8% to 66.0% coverage. That gain narrowed its gap to the category leader to 9.5 points, though Anker SOLIX remains in third place behind Jackery. Mango Power posted the only other movement the benchmark flags as significant, rising from 0.3% to 2.4% coverage — a small absolute base of 14 valid recommendations, but a shift worth tracking because it breaks a long stretch of near-zero coverage.

BLUETTI (60.4%, up 5.3 points) and the remaining mid-tier and lower-tier brands moved within normal month-to-month variation. Goal Zero's overall coverage held roughly flat, easing 0.6 points to 13.1%, but its top-three recommendation rate fell from 4.5% to 2.2% — a placement-quality shift worth tracking even though the aggregate coverage number is stable. No brand registered a significant decline this month.

Each monthly benchmark run begins with 800 prompt-surface observations (542 unique questions in September 2026, down from 566 in August 2026) across the defined AI/search surface universe. Of those, 800 mentioned a tracked brand or competitor; 783 were relevant and 17 were irrelevant in September (versus 781 relevant and 19 irrelevant in August). The public metrics use the 589 qualified observations in September 2026 and 583 in August 2026 that survive both qualification stages.

Key Findings

Benchmark Context

The report separates the raw collection universe from the qualified analysis set. Brand-level recommendation percentages are calculated within the qualified benchmark set.

The next set of metrics summarizes the qualified benchmark at the aggregate level, distinct from individual brand performance below.

Benchmark-Level Metrics

This corresponds to a rise in the share of answers taking a recommendation-shaped form, from 47.0% in August to 50.3% in September, within the current dataset.

AI Recommendation Trend

EcoFlow Holds the Lead as Anker SOLIX Narrows the Gap

The category-level change came from a combination of movements rather than a single dominant shift. Anker SOLIX's 8.2-point gain and Mango Power's 2.1-point increase on a much smaller base both exceeded normal monthly variation; EcoFlow, Jackery, and BLUETTI moved within expected ranges.

What Changed This Month

Anker SOLIX: Notable Coverage Gain

Anker SOLIX's valid recommendation coverage rose 8.2 points, from 57.8% in August 2026 to 66.0% in September 2026 — a movement the benchmark flags as significant. This gain is especially notable because it came alongside a raw mention presence rate that moved only from 80.1% to 83.9%, meaning a larger share of Anker SOLIX's mentions converted into structured recommendations than in August.

The brand's top-three recommendation rate rose 5.5 points, from 43.2% to 48.7%, while its rank-one rate moved up 1.3 points, from 22.3% to 23.6%. Anker SOLIX added 52 valid recommendations, growing from 337 to 389, and now appears in the top three in 287 of 589 qualified observations in September 2026, up from 252 of 583 in August.

The September data shows recommendation coverage rising faster than presence, indicating that a larger share of the brand's mentions are now converting into structured top-three placements compared with August.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompt patterns drove the additional top-three placements, and are those prompts concentrated in particular AI surfaces where Anker SOLIX's evidence presentation changed?

Mango Power: Small-Base Significant Gain

Mango Power's valid recommendation coverage rose from 0.3% in August 2026 to 2.4% in September 2026, a 2.1-point increase the benchmark marks as significant on its small base. In absolute terms, Mango Power moved from 2 valid recommendations to 14, and from 0 top-three placements to 2.

The brand's raw mention presence also grew from 9.3% to 10.7%, and its positive visibility rate moved from 1.7% to 3.4%. Net sentiment shifted modestly from 0.2 to 0.3. Mango Power is being mentioned more often and, for the first time in this series, appears in structured top-three lists in two qualified observations.

The small-count caveat is essential here: 14 valid recommendations out of 589 qualified observations remains a thin base. The significant flag reflects consistency within that small sample rather than a broad shift toward the brand.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which specific prompts or use cases produced Mango Power's first top-three placements, and which competitor appeared in the same answer set?

Goal Zero: Top-Three Placement Erosion Amid Stable Coverage

Goal Zero's overall valid recommendation coverage moved only slightly, from 13.7% in August 2026 to 13.1% in September 2026, within the benchmark's normal range. Its top-three recommendation rate, however, fell from 4.5% to 2.2%, a 2.3-point drop. The brand's rank-one rate also declined, from 1.4% to 0.5%.

Goal Zero's raw mention presence eased from 26.1% to 22.4%, and its positive visibility rate slipped from 20.4% to 16.5%. The brand still registered 77 valid recommendations in September, but its average recommended rank moved from 3.7 in August to 4.1 in September, indicating its recommendations are appearing lower in the list.

Goal Zero's placements are increasingly concentrated outside the top three, which matters more for buyer consideration than raw presence alone.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompt types or use cases show Goal Zero moving out of the top three, and which brands appear in those same answers?

Renogy: Quiet Rank-One Gains

Renogy's coverage rose from 8.6% to 10.0%, a move within the benchmark's normal range, but its rank-one rate moved more, from 2.9% to 4.9%, adding 12 rank-one placements for a total of 29 in September 2026. Renogy's overall mention presence stayed roughly flat at 16.3%, so the rank-one gain reflects a shift in placement quality rather than a broader visibility increase.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompt segments are rewarding Renogy with the top recommendation slot, and are those segments growing in volume?

Buyer-Intent Interpretation

In September 2026, the qualified observations fell entirely within the Brand Recommendation cluster, with 589 observations and all 10 tracked brands present. No qualified observations registered in the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison clusters, mirroring the August 2026 pattern. The public benchmark therefore captures which brands AI systems recommend in discovery and consideration prompts, but it cannot yet answer commercial questions about price perception, value positioning, or head-to-head comparison outcomes. Those questions require a deeper, prompt-level company analysis.

Brand Opportunity Summary

The benchmark identifies where attention is warranted; a company-level analysis is needed to explain why.

Evidence Behind the Benchmark

The aggregate metrics are built from prompt-level observations (query, surface, recommendation outcome, rank, sentiment, and citations where exposed). Company-level analysis can go deeper into prompt, competitor, surface, and evidence patterns. Source presence is not automatically treated as proof of causation.

About This Benchmark

This report is part of the LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery research program.

• AI Industry Market Discovery Benchmark
• AI Industry Market Discovery Methodology
• AI Industry Market Discovery Metrics
• AI Industry Market Discovery Standards

Report-Specific Interpretation Notes

• Small-count movement: Mango Power's 2.1-point gain and Zendure's flat 0.0% coverage are based on small absolute counts, which makes directional conclusions provisional.
• Qualified denominator vs. raw collection: Recommendation percentages in this report use the qualified benchmark set (589 observations in September 2026), not the broader raw collection of 800 prompt-surface observations.
• Directional analysis: Month-over-month movement identifies changes worth investigating; it does not establish the cause of those changes.

Next Step

The Public Benchmark Shows Where a Brand Is Winning or Losing. A Company-Level Audit Shows Why.

Beneath the aggregate percentages lie the questions that determine whether a coverage gain is durable: Which high-intent prompts are being won and lost? When a brand loses a recommendation, which competitor takes its place? What attributes do AI systems associate with each brand, and which external sources are shaping those associations?

The public percentages cannot identify the prompts, competitors, or sources causing the result. A company-specific AI visibility audit maps these prompt, surface, competitor, ranking, sentiment, and evidence-source patterns into a prioritized visibility strategy that explains not just what changed, but why it changed and what to do about it.

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