How AI Search Is Recommending Camp Cooking, Grills and Outdoor: Monthly Trends

Executive Summary

Blackstone leads the Camp Cooking, Grills and Outdoor category in September 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 45.6%, up 24.0 points from 21.6% in July 2026. That places Blackstone ahead of second-place Camp Chef at 34.7%. The single largest move of the month was YETI's coverage falling 50.7 points from 50.7% in August to 0.0% in September, extending a two-month decline from 51.1% in July and ending its run as the category leader. Igloo also declined sharply, falling 40.4 points from 40.4% in August to 0.0% in September, after holding 40.0% in July.

The largest risers include Blackstone (up 24.0 points from baseline), Traeger, Inc. (up 20.1 points to 32.0%), Camp Chef and Solo Brands, Inc. (Solo Stove) (each up 18.5 points), and Weber Inc. (up 18.4 points to 33.3%). The two significant decliners this month were YETI and Igloo, both falling to 0.0% coverage under their prior brand names.

This September result sits in sharp contrast to August 2026, when YETI held 50.7% coverage and Igloo held 40.4%. The current benchmark records category leadership now distributed across grilling and outdoor cooking specialists rather than concentrated in cooler and drinkware brands; the data does not establish why AI systems are recommending this way, only that the recorded output distribution has shifted.

Each monthly run begins with 800 prompt-surface observations (582 unique questions in September, versus 554 in July and 602 in August) across the benchmark's defined AI/search surface universe. Of those, 800 mentioned a tracked brand or competitor in all three months; 736 were relevant and 64 were irrelevant in September, versus 689 relevant and 111 irrelevant in July. The public metrics use the 450 qualified observations in September, up from 370 in July and 379 in August, 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 qualified set grew to 450 observations in September from 370 in July, which changes the denominator for all brand-level rates this month.

Benchmark-Level Metrics

The August 2026 month sat between these two points, with YETI still leading at 50.7% and Igloo at 40.4%, and Blackstone at 19.0%. The September shift is therefore concentrated in a single month rather than gradual.

AI Recommendation Trend

Category leadership changed sharply in September, with grilling and outdoor cooking brands now dominating the recommendation set.

Several brands moved well beyond normal month-to-month variation in September, and the category-level change came from the combination of multiple significant risers alongside two significant decliners. The change that separates the July and August brand tracking (Igloo and YETI) from the September tracking (Igloo Products Corp. and YETI Holdings, Inc.) requires treating the two brand-name sets as distinct entities rather than as a continuous series.

What Changed This Month

Blackstone

Blackstone's valid recommendation coverage rose from 21.6% in July 2026 (80 valid recommendations) to 45.6% in September 2026 (205 valid recommendations), a gain of 24.0 points. The sharper movement came in the single month of September: coverage rose 26.6 points from 19.0% in August.

Its placement also strengthened. The recommended top-3 rate rose from 18.1% in July to 36.0% in September, and the rank-one rate more than doubled from 9.5% to 23.3%. Presence in AI answers rose from 35.1% to 80.0% over the same span.

Blackstone's growth was not merely visibility. The brand converted presence into top recommendations more often, with 105 rank-one mentions in September versus 35 in July.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which specific griddle and grill prompts drove the 105 rank-one recommendations in September, and which competitor replaced Blackstone when it was not recommended first?

Camp Chef

Camp Chef's coverage rose from 16.2% in July 2026 (60 valid recommendations) to 34.7% in September 2026 (156 valid recommendations), a gain of 18.5 points. Its prior month also moved up, from 16.2% to 17.4% in August, before the larger September jump of 17.3 points.

Mention presence more than doubled from 29.5% in July to 66.7% in September. The brand's rank-one rate rose from 2.4% to 6.4%, and its top-3 rate rose from 9.5% to 19.1%.

Camp Chef's September presence (66.7%) ran well ahead of its valid recommendation coverage (34.7%), showing that the brand appeared in many AI answers without being recommended in all of those appearances.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompt types surface Camp Chef without recommending it, and what does the competing recommendation look like in those cases?

Weber Inc.

Weber's coverage rose from 14.9% in July 2026 (55 valid recommendations) to 33.3% in September 2026 (150 valid recommendations), a gain of 18.4 points. The August month was flat at 14.5% before the September rise of 18.8 points.

Top-3 rate rose from 12.2% in July to 25.8% in September, and rank-one rate from 5.1% to 8.2%. Presence rose from 18.6% to 48.9%.

The distinction is Weber's high conversion: when the brand appears, it is frequently placed in the top three, with a top-3 rate of 25.8% alongside overall coverage of 33.3%.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which product categories (gas grills, charcoal, accessories) account for Weber's rank-one recommendations, and which surface families drive the highest placements?

Traeger, Inc.

Traeger's coverage rose from 11.9% in July 2026 (44 valid recommendations) to 32.0% in September 2026 (144 valid recommendations), a gain of 20.1 points. August was 12.9% before September's rise of 19.1 points.

Top-3 rate rose from 10.8% to 24.7%, while rank-one rate moved only from 3.5% to 3.8%, a change not exceeding normal variation.

Traeger's growth came from consistent top-3 placement (111 top-3 mentions) without a corresponding gain in rank-one position (17 rank-one mentions). It is being strongly recommended but rarely first.

Highest-priority diagnostic: What distinguishes the queries where Traeger is placed first from the larger set where it sits second or third?

Solo Brands, Inc. (Solo Stove)

Solo Stove's coverage rose from 9.5% in July 2026 (35 valid recommendations) to 28.0% in September 2026 (126 valid recommendations), a gain of 18.5 points. August was 9.8% before the September rise of 18.2 points.

Top-3 rate more than tripled from 5.4% to 18.2%, and rank-one rate rose from 2.2% to 9.3%. Presence rose from 12.4% to 39.1%.

Solo Stove's growth this month was broad-based across presence, top-3 rate, and rank-one rate, rather than concentrated in a single metric.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which fire pit and camp cooking prompts are driving Solo Stove's expanded rank-one placements this month, and which brands appear alongside it in those answers?

Fireside Outdoor

Fireside Outdoor's coverage rose from 0.5% in July 2026 (2 valid recommendations) to 7.6% in September 2026 (34 valid recommendations), a gain of 7.1 points. August was 1.8% before September's rise of 5.8 points.

Rank-one mentions rose from 1 to 9, and top-3 mentions rose from 2 to 24. Net sentiment rose from 0.4 to 1.0 on the small sample.

These are small absolute counts, and the movement rests on only 34 valid recommendations.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which specific product category and prompt phrasing accounts for Fireside Outdoor's 34 September recommendations?

YETI

YETI's coverage fell from 51.1% in July 2026 (189 valid recommendations) to 0.0% in September 2026 under the YETI Holdings, Inc. tracked entity. The prior month held at 50.7% in August, making September the second month of a decline that took the brand from leader to zero coverage.

The September benchmark tracks YETI Holdings, Inc. separately, with 2.0% coverage (9 valid recommendations). No raw presence data is available for the YETI series in September.

The distinction is naming: whether AI systems referenced the corporate entity rather than the consumer brand, or whether the prompts themselves shifted, is not answerable from the aggregate percentages.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts previously returned YETI as a recommendation, and which brand now takes the recommendation slot in those queries?

Igloo

Igloo's coverage fell from 40.0% in July 2026 (148 valid recommendations) to 0.0% in September 2026 under the Igloo Products Corp. tracked entity. August was 40.4% before the September drop of 40.4 points.

The September benchmark tracks Igloo Products Corp. separately, with 0.0% coverage and only 1 total observation, which carried no valid recommendation.

Igloo's decline coincides with the entity rename in the tracked set, so the two series are not directly continuous.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Whether the decline reflects a change in AI recommendation behavior or a change in how the brand is named and matched in prompts is the first question to resolve.

Buyer-Intent Interpretation

In September 2026, all 450 qualified observations fell into the brand recommendation cluster. The pricing and comparison clusters held zero qualified observations, same as in July and August. The public benchmark therefore measures which brands AI systems name and recommend in discovery and consideration prompts, and it cannot yet answer questions about price perception, value positioning, or head-to-head comparison outcomes. Brands seeking those answers need a company-level analysis that expands the prompt set beyond the discovery and consideration stage.

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

Report-Specific Interpretation Notes

• The September 2026 shift from YETI and Igloo to Blackstone, Camp Chef, Weber, and Solo Stove corresponds to a change in the tracked entity names for two brands; the July and August series are not continuous with the September series for those names.
• The qualified benchmark set grew to 450 observations in September from 370 in July, changing the denominator for all rates.
• Directional analysis identifies movement worth investigating; it does not by itself establish the cause of any movement.
• Several significant risers rest on modest absolute counts (Fireside Outdoor at 34, YETI Holdings, Inc. at 9) and should be read with that scale in mind.

Next Step

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

Beneath the aggregate percentages sit questions the monthly benchmark cannot answer: which high-intent prompts each brand wins, which competitor takes the recommendation when a brand loses, what attributes AI systems associate with each option, and which external sources shape those answers. For Blackstone's leap or YETI's decline, the commercial question is not only the size of the movement but the specific prompt and surface patterns behind it.

A company-specific AI visibility audit maps those prompt, surface, competitor, ranking, sentiment, and evidence-source patterns into a prioritized visibility strategy. It isolates which queries are winnable, which surfaces need attention, and which competitor narratives are displacing a brand in AI answers.

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