5W AI Trust Map of America: across grocery, restaurants, banking, hotels, and healthcare, the country's largest chains hold the dominant AI recommendation in 7 of 250 state-level answers.

MIAMI, June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- 5W AI Communications today released The 5W AI Trust Map of America, the first national study of how AI answer engines rank brands inside US states. Across five consumer categories and 250 state-level questions, the five biggest US chains combined hold the dominant AI recommendation in seven states. The other 243 belong to regional cult chains, community institutions, named hotel properties, and academic medical centers.

The five volumes — Grocery, Restaurants, Banking, Hotels, Healthcare — were modeled in May 2026 across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. Each state was measured against twelve buyer-intent prompts. 3,000 data points per volume.

• Grocery — Walmart operates stores in 49 states. AI ranks it dominant in 2. Costco dominates 12. Wegmans dominates 5 — including New York and Pennsylvania.
• Restaurants — McDonald's operates in 50 states. AI ranks it dominant in 2. In-N-Out dominates 6. Culver's dominates 6. Chick-fil-A dominates 5.
• Banking — Chase operates in 48 states. AI ranks it dominant in 3. BECU outranks every national giant in Washington. Frost Bank dominates Texas. Bangor Savings dominates Maine.
• Hotels — Marriott operates 8,500+ hotels in 50 states. AI ranks a Marriott property dominant in zero. 50 different hotels win — one per state. The Plaza dominates New York. The Greenbrier dominates West Virginia. Halekulani dominates Hawaii.
• Healthcare — HCA operates 187 hospitals across 20 states. AI ranks HCA dominant in zero. Mayo dominates Minnesota. Cleveland Clinic dominates Ohio. Johns Hopkins dominates Maryland. 46 of 50 states cite an academic medical center first.

"Five categories, same finding. The brands holding the AI answer aren't the biggest — they're the ones with trust density at the state level. We know what those signals are. We build them for clients. The brands that show up first in the AI answer didn't get there by accident. They were built into it on purpose."

— Ronn Torossian, Founder & Chairman, 5W AI Communications

More than a third of US consumers now begin product research with AI rather than Google. The Trust Map study finds that AI answer engines reward founding-state press, regional editorial coverage, customer-experience folklore, community discussion volume, and ranking-organization citations over national advertising spend or store count.

Volume 01 (Grocery) is live now. Restaurants, Banking, Hotels, and Healthcare publish through October 2026. The series will continue in 2026 with category expansions (coffee, pharmacy, gyms, airlines, higher education, automotive, real estate) and quarterly updates. Full methodology and all volumes at 5wpr.com/ai-visibility-index/ai-map-of-america/.

About 5W AI Communications
5W is the AI Communications Firm, building brand authority across the platforms where decisions now happen — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — alongside earned media, digital, and influencer channels. 5W combines public relations, digital marketing, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and proprietary AI visibility research to help clients measure and grow their presence in AI-driven buyer research. Founded in 2003, 5W is recognized as a Top U.S. PR Agency by O'Dwyer's, named Agency of the Year in the American Business Awards®, honored as a 2026 Top Place to Work in Communications by Ragan, and named to Digiday's WorkLife Employer of the Year list. 5W serves clients across B2C sectors — Beauty & Fashion, Consumer Brands, Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Travel & Hospitality, Technology, and Nonprofit — and B2B specialties including Corporate Communications, Reputation Management, Public Affairs, Crisis Communications, and Digital Marketing across Social, Influencer, Paid Media, GEO, and SEO. Learn more at 5wpr.com.

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SOURCE 5W Public Relations