TD Bank AI Visibility Market Strategy Report - Home Equity Loans

Answer Capsule

TD Bank holds a narrow recommendation footprint in the October 2026 Home Equity Loans benchmark, with 13.74% valid recommendation coverage against 364 qualified observations. The bank appears in 17.31% of qualified observations but converts that presence into a valid recommendation less than half the time, which places it eighth of ten tracked brands. Its clearest weakness is rank-one placement at 0.55%, meaning AI systems almost never position TD Bank as the first recommendation. The clearest opportunity sits in the consideration-stage cluster where TD Bank already appears, since the benchmark shows presence without recommendation conversion rather than absence from the category.

Who This Report Is For

This report is written for TD Bank marketing, digital, and product leaders responsible for home equity and HELOC acquisition, along with competitive intelligence and brand teams tracking how AI search and assistant surfaces describe the bank at the recommendation stage.

Report Card

Executive Summary

TD Bank sits in the lower tier of the Home Equity Loans benchmark. The bank recorded 63 mentions across 364 qualified observations, a raw mention presence rate of 17.31%, but only 50 of those mentions converted into a valid recommendation, a valid recommendation coverage rate of 13.74%. That gap between presence and recommendation is the central finding for the brand: AI systems surface TD Bank as context more often than they place it on a buyer shortlist.

The benchmark's recommendation-shaped answer share rose to 64.8% in October 2026 from 60.9% in August 2026, and the valid recommendation shortlist share rose to 87.6% from 75.1%. In a category where AI systems are increasingly returning named shortlists rather than general information, TD Bank's low conversion from mention to recommendation matters more than its raw visibility.

TD Bank's strongest platform signal is Google AI Overviews, where it recorded 17 mentions and 14 valid recommendations, a 14.14% valid recommendation coverage rate. Its weakest platform signal is Gemini, where it recorded 4 mentions and 4 valid recommendations on 65 observations, a 6.15% coverage rate. The bank recorded no rank-one placements on ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, or Perplexity in the October 2026 data.

The strongest cluster for TD Bank is C01, Best HELOC and Home Equity Loan Providers, the only cluster with sufficient coverage in the October 2026 benchmark. Within that cluster, TD Bank's top-three rate is 4.12% and its rank-one rate is 0.55%, both well below the category leaders. Navy Federal Credit Union leads the category at 72.80% valid recommendation coverage, and Bank of America Corp. leads rank-one placement at 21.43%.

TD Bank's net sentiment score is 0.8254, which is positive but the lowest among the ten tracked brands except Discover Home Loans. The bank recorded 52 positive mentions, 11 neutral mentions, and zero negative mentions. The framing is favorable, but the volume and placement are not.

The clearest gap is recommendation conversion at the decision moment. TD Bank is present in the category conversation but is not being selected as a top recommendation, and the benchmark data shows this pattern across every tracked platform.

What TD Bank Is Winning

Questions This Section Answers

• What is TD Bank's clearest win in the October 2026 Home Equity Loans benchmark?
• How did TD Bank recover from its September 2026 coverage dip?

TD Bank's clearest win is the absence of negative framing. Across 63 mentions in October 2026, the bank recorded zero negative mentions and 52 positive mentions, producing a net sentiment score of 0.8254. In a category where PNC Bank recorded one negative mention, TD Bank's framing quality is clean.

The bank's second win is its Google AI Overviews presence. TD Bank recorded 14 valid recommendations on Google AI Overviews, its highest platform-level recommendation count, with a 14.14% valid recommendation coverage rate on that surface. This is the platform where TD Bank's recommendation conversion is strongest relative to its presence.

TD Bank also recovered from a September 2026 dip. The benchmark shows TD Bank's coverage at 8.8% in September 2026, the low point in the series, before returning to 13.7% in October 2026. The prior-to-current move of 4.9 points was classified as significant, indicating the recovery was beyond normal month-to-month variation.

These wins are narrow. TD Bank does not lead any cluster, any platform, or any placement metric in the October 2026 benchmark. The bank's position is best described as present but under-recommended.

Where TD Bank Has the Clearest AI Visibility Gaps

Questions This Section Answers

• Where does TD Bank lose the most ground to competitors on placement?
• Why is TD Bank's conversion from presence to recommendation weaker than Aven's or Figure's?
• What types of buyer questions can't TD Bank be assessed on yet?

TD Bank's most significant gap is rank-one placement. The bank appears as the first recommendation in only 0.55% of qualified observations, or 2 of 364. Bank of America Corp. holds a 21.43% rank-one rate, Aven holds 12.36%, and PNC Bank holds 8.79%. TD Bank's rank-one rate is the second-lowest among tracked brands, ahead only of Discover Home Loans at 0.00%.

The second gap is top-three placement. TD Bank's top-three rate is 4.12%, or 15 of 364 qualified observations. Figure holds a 35.71% top-three rate, Bank of America Corp. holds 44.23%, and Navy Federal Credit Union holds 28.02%. TD Bank is being added to shortlists far less often than the category leaders, even when it appears in the response.

The third gap is platform coverage on Gemini. TD Bank recorded only 4 mentions on Gemini across 65 observations, a 6.15% raw mention presence rate. Navy Federal Credit Union recorded 59 mentions on the same platform, and Figure recorded 50. TD Bank's Gemini presence is thin relative to the category.

The fourth gap is the conversion rate from presence to recommendation. TD Bank's raw mention presence rate is 17.31%, but its valid recommendation coverage is 13.74%. The bank is mentioned in 63 observations but recommended in only 50. Competitors like Aven convert 42.31% presence into 40.66% coverage, and Figure converts 61.54% presence into 58.24% coverage. TD Bank's conversion gap is proportionally larger.

The benchmark's buyer-intent distribution shows that all 364 qualified observations in October 2026 fell into the Brand Recommendation class, with no qualified observations in Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison. TD Bank cannot yet be assessed on how AI systems describe its rates, fees, or head-to-head positioning, because the benchmark does not yet capture those question types in this vertical.

Biggest Opportunity

Questions This Section Answers

• Where should TD Bank focus to convert AI mentions into recommendations?
• What does the rising valid recommendation shortlist share mean for TD Bank's position?

TD Bank's biggest opportunity is improving recommendation conversion within the consideration-stage cluster where it already appears. The bank is present in 17.31% of qualified observations but recommended in only 13.74%. Closing that gap would move TD Bank from a brand that AI systems mention to a brand that AI systems recommend.

The benchmark shows that the category's valid recommendation shortlist share rose to 87.6% in October 2026, meaning AI systems are increasingly returning named recommendations rather than general information. TD Bank's current position means it is being left off those shortlists more often than it is being included. The path from reference to recommendation runs through the prompt, page, and citation layers that shape how AI systems describe the bank's home equity offerings.

Competitive Landscape

Questions This Section Answers

• Which competitors lead the Home Equity Loans category in AI recommendations?
• How does TD Bank's average recommended rank compare to other tracked brands?

Navy Federal Credit Union holds the strongest recommendation-stage position in the Home Equity Loans category at 72.80% valid recommendation coverage, followed by Figure at 58.24% and Bank of America Corp. at 55.49%. TD Bank sits eighth of ten tracked brands, with recommendation strength concentrated among the top three and a wide gap to the rest of the field.

Average recommended rank covers rank-eligible recommendations only.

TD Bank's top-three rate of 4.12% places it eighth of ten, ahead only of Spring EQ and Discover Home Loans. Its rank-one rate of 0.55% is the second-lowest in the tracked set. The bank's average recommended rank of 4.34 is the highest (weakest) among brands with rank-eligible recommendations, meaning that when TD Bank does appear in a recommendation position, it typically appears lower in the list than its competitors.

Prompt Evidence

Google AI Overviews / Best HELOC and Home Equity Loan Providers Prompt: "What is a good HELOC rate today?" Result: TD Bank appeared in the response and received a valid recommendation, contributing to its strongest platform-level recommendation count.

ChatGPT / Best HELOC and Home Equity Loan Providers Prompt: "best heloc lenders" Result: TD Bank recorded 6 mentions on ChatGPT across 40 observations but received no rank-one placements on that platform.

Gemini / Best HELOC and Home Equity Loan Providers Prompt: "Who is the best lender for mortgages?" Result: TD Bank recorded only 4 mentions on Gemini across 65 observations, a 6.15% raw mention presence rate, the thinnest platform presence among its tracked surfaces.

Copilot / Best HELOC and Home Equity Loan Providers Prompt: "What is the best bank to do a HELOC with?" Result: TD Bank recorded 19 mentions on Copilot but only 2 top-three placements, a 4.08% top-three rate on that platform.

What CiteWorks Studio Would Do Next

Phase 1: AI Visibility Market Discovery Audit Map TD Bank's prompt-level presence and recommendation outcomes across all six tracked platforms to identify which specific questions convert presence into recommendation and which do not.

Phase 2: Recommendation Readiness Plan Prioritize the consideration-stage prompts where TD Bank appears but is not recommended, focusing on the gap between 17.31% presence and 13.74% recommendation coverage.

Phase 3: Owned Answer Layer Buildout Strengthen TD Bank's owned pages for home equity and HELOC topics so AI systems can retrieve clear, structured answers about the bank's offerings at the recommendation stage.

Phase 4: Citation / Authority Layer Development Develop the third-party source footprint that AI systems cite when forming home equity recommendations, since the benchmark shows review and comparison sites dominate the citation layer.

Phase 5: Monthly AI Visibility and Recommendation Tracking Track TD Bank's recommendation coverage, top-three rate, and rank-one rate month over month to measure whether the conversion gap is closing.

Why This Matters

AI systems are increasingly returning named shortlists rather than general information. The benchmark shows the valid recommendation shortlist share rose to 87.6% in October 2026, meaning buyers asking about home equity loans are more likely to receive a specific set of recommended brands than a general overview. TD Bank's current position means it is being left off those shortlists more often than it is being included.

Presence alone is not enough. TD Bank appears in 17.31% of qualified observations but is recommended in only 13.74%, and it holds a rank-one rate of 0.55%. The next move is targeted correction of the prompt, page, and citation layers that shape how AI systems describe TD Bank's home equity offerings at the moment recommendations are formed.

Core Metrics

Sentiment Score

Questions This Section Answers

• Why are TD Bank's positive sentiment scores not enough to improve its competitive position?
• What is the difference between mention volume and recommendation coverage for TD Bank?

Sentiment Score = (positive mentions × 1 + neutral mentions × 0 + negative mentions × -1) / total mentions

For TD Bank in October 2026: (52 × 1 + 11 × 0 + 0 × -1) / 63 = 0.8254.

This matters because unclassified mention counts are misleading. A positive recommendation, a neutral reference, a cautionary mention, and a competitor-displaced mention are not equal. Counting all mentions as wins is bad measurement. TD Bank's 63 mentions include 52 positive and 11 neutral, with no negative framing, but the bank's recommendation coverage is only 13.74%. The sentiment score shows that when TD Bank is mentioned, the framing is favorable. The coverage rate shows that the bank is not being mentioned often enough at the recommendation stage.

Share of voice is a diagnostic metric, not a business KPI. Classified sentiment is required before interpreting AI visibility, because a brand with high mention volume and low recommendation conversion is in a different position than a brand with low mention volume and high conversion. TD Bank's sentiment is positive, but its recommendation coverage and placement rates are the metrics that describe its competitive position.

Sentiment by Platform

Questions This Section Answers

• On which platforms is TD Bank present but not recommendation-led?
• Which platforms show positive sentiment but too few observations to draw conclusions?

Methodology

1. Report orientation: This is a benchmark-based AI Visibility Company Market Strategy Report for TD Bank in the Home Equity Loans category, derived from the LLM Authority Index October 2026 measurement.
2. Reporting window: October 2026, with baseline comparison to August 2026 and intermediate comparison to September 2026.
3. Platforms tracked: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode, the six AI surface families with at least one qualified observation.
4. Observation count: 364 qualified benchmark observations in October 2026, up from 338 in August 2026.
5. Competitor universe: Ten tracked brands, including Aven, Bank of America Corp., Discover Home Loans, Figure, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC Bank, Rocket Mortgage, Spring EQ, TD Bank, and U.S. Bancorp.
6. Public clusters used: Three clusters were in scope, with C01 (Best HELOC and Home Equity Loan Providers) carrying sufficient coverage and C02 (HELOC and Home Equity Loan Comparisons) and C03 (HELOC and Home Equity Loan Rates and Pricing) carrying no qualified observations in October 2026.
7. Stage 0 role: Stage 0 extraction produced the prompt-level observations that retain query, surface, answer, brand outcome, recommendation placement, sentiment, and, where exposed, citations or attributable evidence sources.
8. Definition of a mention: A mention is any qualified observation where TD Bank appears in the AI response in any form, whether or not it receives a recommendation.
9. Definition of a valid recommendation: A valid recommendation is a qualified observation where TD Bank receives a positive recommendation with a rank position of 1 through 10.
10. Denominator: All brand-level percentages are calculated against the 364 qualified observations, not the raw 800 prompt-surface observations or the 619 unique questions.
11. Entity labelling note: The October 2026 tracked set uses Bank of America Corp. and U.S. Bancorp where earlier months used Bank of America and U.S. Bank. Coverage movements between the two labels carry the labelling change as well as any genuine movement, and this affects comparability for those brands across the full series.
12. Limitations: The benchmark measures Brand Recommendation discovery only in this vertical and does not yet contain qualified observations in the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison classes. It does not measure market share, sales attribution, organic-search ranking performance, or causality from a metric movement alone. Source presence is evidence about the information environment and is not automatically proof that the source caused the recommendation.

See How AI Is Recommending Your Brand

The public benchmark shows where TD Bank stands in AI-generated home equity recommendations. A company-level AI visibility audit maps the prompt, platform, competitor, ranking, sentiment, and evidence-source patterns beneath the number, and identifies what would need to change to move TD Bank from a brand that AI systems mention to a brand that AI systems recommend.