How AI Search Is Recommending Home Equity Loans: Monthly Trends

Executive Summary

Bank of America remains the coverage leader in the home equity loans category for a second consecutive month, holding valid recommendation coverage of 69.6% in September 2026. The bank's lead over the next-closest brand, Navy Federal Credit Union at 67.8%, widened to a 1.8-point gap from a 0.3-point gap in August 2026 — the two brands remain within 2 points of each other at the top of the category.

The strongest upward mover this month was U.S. Bank, which rose 4.6 points from 31.1% recommendation coverage in August 2026 to 35.7% in September 2026, a stable movement within the normal range for the category. The sharpest decliner was TD Bank, which fell 4.8 points from 13.6% to 8.8% coverage over the same period — the only significant movement in the category this month. TD Bank was the only brand classified as a significant decliner in September 2026.

Beyond TD Bank's decline, the category was largely stable month over month; the other nine tracked brands registered stable movements on the primary coverage metric. Two shifts beneath the headline numbers are worth closer inspection: Figure's raw mention presence rose more than any other brand's this month, and Rocket Mortgage's rank-one rate fell by 4.5 points even as its overall coverage held roughly steady.

Each monthly run begins with 800 prompt-surface observations across the benchmark's defined AI/search surface universe. In August 2026, those 800 observations represented 626 unique questions; 800 mentioned a tracked brand or competitor; 374 were relevant and 426 were irrelevant. The 338 observations surviving both qualification stages formed the public denominator. In September 2026, the 800 observations represented 583 unique questions; 800 mentioned a tracked brand or competitor; 358 were relevant and 442 were irrelevant. The 339 observations surviving qualification formed the public denominator for the current month.

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 following benchmark-level metrics summarize category-wide behavior across all ten tracked brands.

Benchmark-Level Metrics

The valid recommendation shortlist share rose while the recommendation-shaped answer share fell, indicating that the composition of qualifying answers differed between August and September 2026. The qualified surface breadth held at all six canonical AI surface families across both months.

AI Recommendation Trend

Recommendation Coverage Across the Field

Bank of America continues to lead the category at 69.6% valid recommendation coverage, with Navy Federal Credit Union close behind at 67.8% — a 1.8-point gap that widened from 0.3 points in August 2026. Figure (57.5%) and PNC Bank (44.5%) form the next tier. TD Bank was the only brand to register a significant decline this month, falling 4.8 points from 13.6% to 8.8%; the remaining eight brands moved within a normal range for month-to-month variation.

What Changed This Month

Bank of America

Bank of America's recommendation coverage rose 3.3 points, from 66.3% in August 2026 to 69.6% in September 2026. The bank's top-three rate rose 3.7 points, from 47.0% to 50.7%, and its rank-one rate moved up 0.8 points, from 23.1% to 23.9%.

The bank's raw mention presence reached 92.9% in September 2026 (315 of 339 observations), up 3.9 points from 89.0% in August. Its average recommended rank improved from 2.15 to 2.06, the best average position in the category.

Bank of America is both the most-seen and most-recommended brand in the category, and the gap between its 69.6% coverage and 50.7% top-three rate shows that even the leader is not always placed among the top three when it is recommended. The movement is stable, and the direction is consistent across presence, coverage, and placement this month.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompt types and surfaces are responsible for the gains, and where Bank of America is mentioned but not recommended, which competitor takes its place.

U.S. Bank

U.S. Bank was the strongest upward mover on the primary coverage metric in September 2026, with recommendation coverage rising 4.6 points, from 31.1% in August to 35.7% in September. The bank's raw mention presence also moved up 3.1 points, from 53.2% to 56.3%, and its top-three rate rose 2.0 points, from 13.6% to 15.6%.

The bank's rank-one rate moved in the opposite direction, down 1.2 points, from 3.0% to 1.8%. With 121 valid recommendations in September 2026 against 105 in August, the bank is being recommended more often but less frequently placed as the top pick.

U.S. Bank's presence (56.3%) continues to run well ahead of its recommendation coverage (35.7%), meaning the bank is seen in more than half of observations but recommended in just over a third. The movement is stable, with coverage moving up while rank-one placement moves down.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts added U.S. Bank to the shortlist without elevating it to rank one, and which brand is typically placed ahead.

TD Bank

TD Bank was the only significant decliner in September 2026, with recommendation coverage falling 4.8 points, from 13.6% in August to 8.8% in September. The bank's raw mention presence also fell, down 5.0 points, from 18.6% to 13.6%.

TD Bank's top-three rate declined 2.7 points, from 3.9% to 1.2%. The bank registered no rank-one results in September 2026, down from a single rank-one placement in August. Valid recommendations fell from 46 to 30 on a base of 339 qualified observations.

TD Bank's decline affected both presence and recommendation outcomes. The gap between its 13.6% presence and 8.8% coverage narrowed, meaning that when the bank appears, it is now less likely to convert into a recommendation. TD Bank was the category's clearest downward mover this month, and its small counts make each observation meaningful.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompt patterns previously returned TD Bank recommendations and no longer do, and whether specific surfaces or question types account for the loss.

Rocket Mortgage

Rocket Mortgage's recommendation coverage moved down 1.0 points, from 23.4% in August 2026 to 22.4% in September 2026, a stable movement. Its rank-one rate fell 4.5 points, from 10.1% to 5.6%.

Raw mention presence also slipped, down 2.4 points, from 33.4% to 31.0%, while the top-three rate declined 3.6 points, from 16.3% to 12.7%. Valid recommendations fell from 79 to 76 across the two months.

Rocket Mortgage's coverage held relatively steady, but the quality of its placements moved lower. The brand was less frequently the first choice in September 2026 despite maintaining a similar overall recommendation rate, a pattern that separates shortlist presence from top-rank placement.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts previously returned Rocket Mortgage at rank one and now place it lower, and which brand is taking that top position.

Figure

Figure's raw mention presence rose 7.5 points, from 58.3% in August 2026 to 65.8% in September 2026 — the largest presence gain among tracked brands this month. Recommendation coverage itself rose 4.5 points, from 53.0% to 57.5%, a stable movement on the primary metric.

Figure's top-three rate moved in the opposite direction, down 3.4 points, from 31.4% to 28.0%, while its rank-one rate held nearly flat at 3.2% in September against 3.0% in August. The brand registered 195 valid recommendations in September against 179 in August.

Figure is becoming a more visible presence in AI answers, yet its top-three placement rate moved lower even as coverage improved. The brand appears more often but is less consistently ranked among the top options, a pattern that separates presence gains from top-of-list placement.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts account for Figure's growing presence without corresponding top-three gains, and which brands are placed above it.

Notable Gap: TD Bank and U.S. Bank Diverge

The coverage gap between TD Bank and U.S. Bank widened from 17.5 points in August 2026 to 26.9 points in September 2026, an expansion of 9.4 points. This reflects the combination of TD Bank's decline and U.S. Bank's rise, moving the two brands in opposite directions on the primary metric.

Figure's gap over TD Bank also widened, by 9.3 points, and Bank of America's gap over TD Bank widened by 8.1 points. The consistent widening pattern across three brand pairs points to TD Bank's decline as the common factor, but the benchmark cannot attribute the movement to any single cause.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which surfaces or prompt types are returning U.S. Bank and Figure where TD Bank previously appeared, and whether the pattern is concentrated or diffuse.

Buyer-Intent Interpretation

In September 2026, all 339 qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation cluster, with no qualified observations captured in the Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison clusters. The August 2026 run showed the same distribution, with all 338 qualified observations in the Brand Recommendation cluster. The benchmark can therefore describe which brands AI systems recommend for home equity loans, but it cannot yet answer price, value, or head-to-head comparison questions in this vertical.

Brand Opportunity Summary

The benchmark identifies where attention is warranted across the field; a company-level analysis is needed to explain why each brand sits where it does.

Evidence Behind the Benchmark

The aggregate metrics are built from prompt-level observations capturing the 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.

Interpretation Notes

• Small-count movement: Brands such as Discover Home Loans (3 valid recommendations) and Spring EQ (14 valid recommendations) have rates that can move sharply with a small number of changes. Their percentages should be read with the absolute counts in mind.
• Qualified denominator: All coverage rates are calculated against the qualified observations, not the raw 800 prompts or the unique question counts. August 2026 used 338 qualified observations and September 2026 used 339.
• Month-over-month movement identifies changes worth investigating. It does not by itself establish the cause of those changes. TD Bank's decline and Figure's presence gain are signals for further inspection, not conclusions.

About This Benchmark

This report is part of the CiteWorks Studio AI Industry Market Discovery research program.

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

Next Step

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

The aggregate percentage masks the questions that matter: which high-intent prompts are won, 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 a brand moving 4.8 points in either direction, the difference between a strong and a weak month often lives in the prompts, surfaces, and evidence sources beneath the number.

A company-specific AI visibility audit maps those prompt, surface, competitor, ranking, sentiment, and evidence-source patterns into a prioritized visibility strategy. It answers why a brand rose or fell, and what would need to change to move the number in the intended direction.

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