How AI Search Is Recommending Long Distance Moving Carriers: Monthly Trends

Executive Summary

International Van Lines took the category lead in October 2026 at 56.1% valid recommendation coverage, up 10.1 points from 46.0% in July 2026 and up 11.4 points from 44.7% in September 2026. The brand now sits 10.5 points ahead of the next carrier, American Van Lines, at 45.6%. This is a leadership shift: the benchmark now shows a single carrier opening separation from a cluster that was tight through the summer. International Van Lines also stands as the only significant riser in the series, and its movement exceeded the typical range versus both the baseline and the prior month.

The sharpest decline belongs to JK Moving Services, down 11.7 points from 44.7% in July 2026 to 33.0% in October 2026. That decline has now run three consecutive months, the longest downward streak in the tracked series. Colonial Van Lines is the other significant decliner, down 6.0 points from 39.2% to 33.2% across the same baseline-to-current span.

The movement this month was not uniform. American Van Lines posted a rise in top-three recommendation rate (up 8.3 points to 26.9%) and Safeway Moving posted a rise in the same metric (up 7.2 points to 15.7%) even as both brands held roughly flat on overall coverage. Meanwhile, all three notable gaps in the benchmark widened every month across the series; the gap between International Van Lines and JK Moving Services widened from 1.3 points in July 2026 to 23.1 points in October 2026.

Each monthly run begins with 790 prompt-surface observations (429 unique questions) across the benchmark's defined AI/search surface universe in October 2026, compared with 800 prompt-surface observations (458 unique questions) in July 2026. Of those, 790 mentioned a tracked brand or competitor in October 2026 and 767 in July 2026; 736 were relevant and 54 irrelevant in October, against 681 relevant and 86 irrelevant in July. The public metrics use the 542 qualified observations in October 2026 and the 472 qualified observations in July 2026 that survive both qualification stages; September 2026 contributed 561 qualified observations and August 2026 contributed 532.

Key Findings

AI Response Inconsistency Alerts

The benchmark recorded 11 critical or high severity factual inconsistencies across 6 AI platforms in October 2026. Each item below reflects a question where two AI surfaces returned conflicting answers about the same carrier.

Colonial Van Lines

Two critical and high severity inconsistencies were detected for Colonial Van Lines, both concerning the company's broker versus carrier status. When asked whether Colonial Van Lines is a broker or a carrier, ChatGPT stated that Colonial Van Lines is a carrier, not a broker, citing the FMCSA carrier snapshot and a Move.org review. Perplexity stated that Colonial Van Lines is a moving broker, citing Allied's broker-versus-van-line guidance, the same Move.org review, and a FreightWaves long-distance mover list. A separate high severity conflict concerned the same question, with ChatGPT stating Colonial Van Lines holds active FMCSA carrier authority and Perplexity stating it operates as a moving broker rather than a direct carrier. Flagged sources on this topic include a BestGuide review page and a FreightWaves checkpoint listing that describes Colonial Van Lines as a full-service carrier.

Safeway Moving

Four high severity inconsistencies were detected for Safeway Moving, spanning cost, licensing, ranking, and deposit questions. On the question of typical cost, Google AI Overviews stated a range of $1,500 to $3,000 while Google AI Mode stated $3,500 to $5,000, referencing Safeway Moving's own cost pages and third-party review sites. On the question of whether Safeway Moving is legitimate, ChatGPT referenced FMCSA operating authority via MC 932305 while Copilot stated USDOT #3756000 and MC #1351901, citing This Old House, BestGuide, and MoveBuddha. On the question of the number one moving company in the United States, Gemini stated that no single company holds a permanent number one spot and named United Van Lines if measured by size and establishment, while Copilot stated Safeway Moving is the number one moving company in the United States in 2026, citing a Newsweek Readers' Choice press release and a Reviewed.com feature. On the question of hidden costs, Google AI Overviews stated a deposit of 15% for local moves and 10% to 18% for long-distance moves, while Google AI Mode stated a deposit of approximately 33% of total cost, citing Yelp reviews and BBB complaint records.

American Van Lines

Two high severity inconsistencies were detected for American Van Lines. On the question of whether American Van Lines is reputable, Copilot stated a BBB rating of A- while ChatGPT stated a C- rating and no BBB accreditation, citing the FMCSA carrier snapshot and the BBB business profile. On the question of broker versus carrier status, ChatGPT stated American Van Lines is a carrier, not a broker, while Perplexity stated it operates as a carrier but often subcontracts or brokers portions of long-distance moves. Flagged sources include the company's own California moving page and an industry article describing major van lines that broker out long-distance moves.

International Van Lines

Two high severity inconsistencies were detected for International Van Lines, both concerning broker versus carrier status. When asked whether International Van Lines is a broker or carrier, ChatGPT stated it is a carrier and not merely a broker, citing the FMCSA carrier snapshot and FMCSA mover guidance. Perplexity stated it is both a carrier and a broker, citing This Old House, ConsumerAffairs, and the company's long-distance moving page. Copilot stated it operates as both a carrier and a broker, citing Consumer Moving Reviews, the company's own page, and This Old House. Flagged sources include a USMPO mover directory entry and the company's own page, which states it is a licensed carrier that also maintains a household goods broker authority.

JK Moving Services

One high severity inconsistency was detected for JK Moving Services, concerning the average cost of a long-distance move. Perplexity stated long-distance moves typically cost about $6,381 to $27,453, citing MoveBuddha, GoodMigrations, and US News. Google AI Mode stated long-distance and interstate moves frequently average between $3,000 and $9,100 or more, citing Today's Homeowner, Move.org, and My Moving Journey. A flagged MoveBuddha source reported readers paying $7,700 to $27,453 for long-distance moves with JK, which sits inside only one of the two stated ranges.

Benchmark Context

Questions This Section Answers

• How many observations survive qualification, and why do the brand-level percentages use that set instead of the raw prompt count?
• What changed in the benchmark's aggregate profile between July and October 2026?

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 benchmark set of 542 October observations, up from 472 in July, is the denominator for every brand-level percentage that follows. September's 561 qualified observations and August's 532 sit between the two comparison months, and the slight easing from 561 to 542 is the first month-over-month contraction in the series.

Benchmark-Level Metrics

The rise in recommendation-shaped answer share is the largest single shift in the benchmark's aggregate profile across the series. It means a substantially larger fraction of qualified October observations took the form of a recommendation shortlist or ranked list rather than a factual or comparison answer.

AI Recommendation Trend

Questions This Section Answers

• Which moving carriers gained or lost valid recommendation coverage between July and October 2026, and where does each now rank?
• How much of the category movement came from a single carrier rather than broad-based change across the tracked set?

Valid Recommendation Coverage, July to October 2026

The October benchmark shows the first clear separation between a single leader and the rest of the tracked set, driven by an 11.4-point gain at International Van Lines against a 0.2-point slip at the nearest declining brand.

One brand exceeded normal month-to-month variation in the category: International Van Lines moved beyond its typical prior-month range with an 11.4-point gain. The remaining brands held inside their typical prior-month ranges, and the category-level shift therefore came from a single large movement combined with several smaller repositionings rather than from broad-based change across the set.

What Changed This Month

Questions This Section Answers

• Why did International Van Lines separate from the pack this month, and did its placement metrics move with coverage?
• How can American Van Lines have lower coverage but a sharply higher top-three recommendation rate?
• What does JK Moving Services' three-month decline streak show about presence versus placement quality?

International Van Lines: The largest gain in the series

International Van Lines moved from 44.7% valid recommendation coverage in September 2026 to 56.1% in October 2026, an 11.4-point gain that moved beyond the brand's typical month-to-month range. Against the July 2026 baseline of 46.0%, the brand is up 10.1 points, also beyond its typical range. The October figure is the first reading in the series above 47%, and this is the first month the brand's movement exceeded its normal range against both the baseline and the prior month.

The gain appeared across placement metrics as well as coverage. Raw mention presence rose from 51.3% in July 2026 to 59.0% in October 2026, a 7.7-point gain. Top-three recommendation rate rose from 26.5% to 41.3%, a 14.8-point gain. Rank-one recommendation rate rose 4.1 points from 14.2% to 18.3%. The valid recommendation count grew from 217 in July 2026 to 304 in October 2026 out of 472 and 542 qualified observations respectively.

The distinction worth noting is that the brand expanded on both presence and placement at the same time. Rising raw mention presence alone would suggest wider visibility; rising rank-one rate alone would suggest stronger positioning within a stable footprint. Both moving together is the pattern that separates this month's reading from the brand's flat summer.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which surfaces and prompt categories account for the 11.4-point monthly gain, and whether the placement strength holds in November or reverts toward the summer band.

American Van Lines: Coverage down, placement sharply up

American Van Lines moved from 50.4% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 45.6% in October 2026, a 4.8-point decline that stayed within the brand's normal range. Against September 2026's 40.5%, the brand rose 5.1 points, also within its typical range. The coverage line is therefore down across the series but recovering month over month.

Placement metrics tell the sharper story. Top-three recommendation rate rose from 18.6% in July 2026 to 26.9% in October 2026, an 8.3-point gain. Rank-one rate rose 0.7 points from 1.7% to 2.4%. Raw mention presence eased 4.6 points from 51.3% to 46.7%. The valid recommendation count rose from 238 in July 2026 to 247 in October 2026.

The distinction is between visible breadth and position within a shortlist. American Van Lines is cited in fewer qualified answers than it was in July 2026, but when it appears, it lands in the top three far more often. Small-count caution applies to the rank-one figure: 13 rank-one placements in October 2026 against 8 in July 2026 is a small absolute base.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which surfaces drive the top-three gain, and whether the coverage line continues to recover from its September low.

JK Moving Services: Third consecutive month of decline

JK Moving Services moved from 44.7% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 33.0% in October 2026, an 11.7-point decline that moved beyond the brand's typical range for the period. The October reading is 0.2 points below September 2026's 33.2%, giving the brand a three-month downward streak, the longest in the tracked series. Its largest single-month move was a 9.4-point drop, which occurred earlier in the series.

Raw mention presence fell from 46.0% in July 2026 to 34.0% in October 2026, a 12.0-point decline. Top-three recommendation rate eased 1.0 point from 21.8% to 20.8%. Rank-one rate rose 2.0 points from 8.3% to 10.3%. The valid recommendation count fell from 211 in July 2026 to 179 in October 2026.

The distinction is that the decline is concentrated in breadth rather than in placement quality. The brand is mentioned across fewer qualified answers, but within its remaining footprint its top-three and rank-one shares held or improved. The gap between International Van Lines and JK Moving Services reached 23.1 points in October 2026, up from 1.3 points in July 2026, and that separation widened in every month of the series.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which surfaces and prompt categories account for the 12.0-point presence decline, and whether the improvement in rank-one share reflects stronger evaluation or a narrower surviving prompt set.

Colonial Van Lines: Significant decline, flat placements

Colonial Van Lines moved from 39.2% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 33.2% in October 2026, a 6.0-point decline that the benchmark classifies as a significant decliner. Against September 2026's 29.2%, the brand rose 4.0 points, within its typical month-to-month range.

Raw mention presence fell 5.9 points from 41.1% in July 2026 to 35.2% in October 2026. Top-three recommendation rate rose 3.3 points from 14.6% to 17.9%. Rank-one rate rose 3.3 points from 4.5% to 7.8%. The valid recommendation count fell from 185 in July 2026 to 180 in October 2026.

The distinction is that the coverage decline and the rank-one improvement moved in opposite directions. The brand is cited in a smaller share of qualified answers than in July 2026, but the answers that do cite it place it first more often. The gap between Colonial Van Lines and International Van Lines widened from 6.8 points in July 2026 to 22.9 points in October 2026, and that gap widened in every month of the series.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which surviving prompts produce the rank-one placements, and whether the coverage decline is concentrated on specific surfaces.

Safeway Moving: Stable coverage, widening gap to the category leader

Safeway Moving moved from 19.9% valid recommendation coverage in July 2026 to 20.8% in October 2026, a 0.9-point gain within the brand's typical range. Top-three recommendation rate rose 7.2 points from 8.5% to 15.7%, rank-one rate rose 2.1 points from 3.2% to 5.3%, and raw mention presence rose 1.1 points from 21.6% to 22.7%. The valid recommendation count rose from 94 in July 2026 to 113 in October 2026.

International Van Lines records 56.1% valid recommendation coverage in October 2026, while Safeway Moving stands at 20.8%. The more important issue is what that gap means for Safeway Moving's recommendation position: the gap to the category leader widened from 26.1 points in July 2026 to 35.3 points in October 2026, and it widened in every month of the series. The same pattern holds further down the funnel — Safeway Moving's rank-one rate of 5.3% trails International Van Lines' 18.3% by 13.0 points, and its 15.7% top-three rate trails International Van Lines' 41.3% by 25.6 points. Safeway Moving's placement metrics improved this month, but that improvement has not closed the distance to the leader; it has coincided with the gap getting wider, which means a stronger competitor is pulling further ahead on the metric that most directly determines recommendation outcomes.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Whether the top-three gain reflects a genuine change in how AI systems evaluate Safeway Moving or a narrower set of prompts where it happens to place well, and what is driving the 35.3-point and widening coverage gap against International Van Lines.

Wheaton World Wide Moving: No valid recommendations for a second month

Wheaton World Wide Moving held at 0.0% valid recommendation coverage in October 2026, unchanged from September 2026 and down 0.6 points from 0.6% in July 2026. The change is within the brand's typical range and the brand remains classified as stable. The brand recorded 0 valid recommendations out of 542 qualified observations in October 2026, down from 3 in July 2026.

Raw mention presence eased from 1.3% in July 2026 to 0.9% in October 2026, from 6 mentions to 5. Top-three and rank-one rates were 0.0% in October 2026 against 0.4% and 0.0% in July 2026.

The distinction is between presence and recommendation. Wheaton World Wide Moving still appears in a small number of AI answer mentions, but that presence has now failed to convert into a valid recommendation for two consecutive months. With 5 total mentions in October 2026, the observation base is very small and each month's reading should be treated as directional.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which surfaces produced the 5 remaining mentions, and whether the absence from the recommendation set reflects a relevance or a placement issue.

Buyer-Intent Interpretation

Questions This Section Answers

• Which buyer-intent clusters actually produced qualified observations, and what does the empty pricing and multi-brand comparison clusters mean for the benchmark?
• Why can't the public benchmark say which carriers AI systems associate with cost competitiveness?

In October 2026, all 542 qualified observations fell into the Brand Recommendation cluster. The Pricing & Value cluster and the Multi-Brand Comparison cluster each carried zero qualified observations in October 2026 and zero in the July 2026 baseline. Two of the three buyer-intent clusters are therefore empty across every month of the series. This means the public benchmark cannot yet answer which brands AI systems associate with cost competitiveness, or how brands fare in direct comparison narratives, even though the inconsistency data above shows AI surfaces actively producing conflicting cost and comparison claims in this category. The commercial question is whether recommendation-shaped answers carry the full weight of buyer influence here, or whether pricing and head-to-head signals exist outside the qualified benchmark set and would need a broader collection scope to surface.

Brand Opportunity Summary

Questions This Section Answers

• What is the highest-priority diagnostic for each carrier heading into the next monthly run?
• Which carriers show a widening gap to the category leader, and what does that signal mean?

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 Visibility Market Discovery research program.

• AI Visibility Industry Market Methodology
• AI Visibility Industry Market Metrics
• AI Visibility Industry Market Standards

Report-Specific Interpretation Notes

• Small-count movement: Wheaton World Wide Moving's 0.0% coverage represents 0 valid recommendations in October 2026 across 5 total mentions; conclusions about this brand should be treated as directional indicators rather than stable findings.
• Qualified denominator vs raw collection: Brand-level percentages are calculated within the qualified benchmark set (542 observations in October 2026), not the 790 raw prompt-surface observations. The gap between the two is the qualification funnel.
• Directional analysis: Month-over-month movement identifies changes worth investigating; it does not by itself establish the cause of those changes. The 11.4-point gain at International Van Lines and the three-month streak at JK Moving Services are both movements to investigate, not explanations.

Next Step

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

Beneath the aggregate coverage percentages sit the questions that matter commercially: which high-intent prompts a 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. The October benchmark tracks the patterns; it does not explain the mechanisms driving them, and the 11 inconsistencies above show that AI surfaces are actively disagreeing with each other on facts about the same carriers.

A company-specific AI visibility audit maps prompt, surface, competitor, ranking, sentiment, and evidence-source patterns into a prioritized visibility strategy. The benchmark identifies where attention is warranted; the audit identifies what to do about it.

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