What is the best supermarket in the UK right now?
Answers vary from one ask to the next, and the apps can search the web and remember the person asking. That is why we ask each question 90 times without web search and 36 times with it.
Sainsbury's is Britain's second-biggest grocer. Across the three assistants, it comes first on none of eight questions.
Tesco leads spending and comes first in 21% of answers without web search and 23% with it. Aldi comes first more often, in 30% and 29%, thanks to the questions on the cheapest shop and the big family shop.
United Kingdom
Supermarkets
Sainsbury's is Britain's second-biggest grocer. Across the three assistants, it comes first on none of eight questions.
Measured without web search. The search run comes in the next edition.
The brands AI names first most often, plus any this finding is about.
Named firstNamed at all
| Brand | Named first | Named at all |
|---|---|---|
| Aldi | 63% | |
| Tesco | 75% | |
| Waitrose | 49% | |
| Marks & Spencer | 53% | |
| Sainsbury's | 68% | |
| Asda | 50% | |
| Ocado | 20% | |
| Costco | 11% | |
| Co-op | 18% | |
| Iceland | 7% | |
| Lidl | 58% | |
| Morrisons | 35% | |
| Farmfoods | 3% | |
| Heron Foods | 1% | |
| Booths | 7% | |
| B&M | 4% | |
| Home Bargains | 4% | |
| Londis | 4% | |
| Spar | 4% | |
| Nisa | 3% | |
| Amazon Fresh | 2% | |
| Budgens | 2% | |
| Costcutter | 2% | |
| Whole Foods Market | <1% | |
| Poundland | <1% |
720 answers across ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude together, October 2026. These are AI answers, not market shares. The three assistants share a favorite on 6 of 8 questions.
Taken alone, one assistant without web search favors Sainsbury's on two questions. Aldi's lead rests on price: without the question on the cheapest shop, Tesco leads without web search and M&S with it.
By assistant, and on your own buyers' questions: that is a Position Map. See a Position Map
With web search · All eight questions
| Brand | Named first | Named at all |
|---|---|---|
| Aldi | 55% | |
| Tesco | 76% | |
| Marks & Spencer | 46% | |
| Waitrose | 50% | |
| Asda | 56% | |
| Co-op | 14% | |
| Ocado | 20% | |
| Costco | 6% | |
| Sainsbury's | 62% | |
| Morrisons | 35% | |
| Farmfoods | 2% | |
| Lidl | 47% | |
| Iceland | 8% | |
| Spar | 3% | |
| Londis | 2% | |
| Booths | 2% | |
| B&M | 2% | |
| Amazon Fresh | 1% | |
| Home Bargains | 1% | |
| Budgens | <1% | |
| Heron Foods | <1% | |
| Nisa | <1% | |
| Costcutter | <1% |
287 answers across ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude together, October 2026. These are AI answers, not market shares. The three assistants share a favorite on 5 of 8 questions.
Who sells, and who AI names first.
By market size
By AI's first picks
- 1Tesco27.8%
- 2Sainsbury's15.2%
- 3Asda11.5%
- 4Aldi10.5%
- 5Lidl8.6%
- 6Morrisons8.3%
- 7Co-op5.4%
- 8Waitrose4.4%
- 9Iceland2.2%
- 10Ocado2.2%
- 1Aldi30%
- 2Tesco21%
- 3Waitrose16%
- 4Marks & Spencer13%
- 5Sainsbury's7%
- 6Asda3%
- 7Ocado3%
- 9Co-op2%
- 10Iceland<1%
- 11Lidl<1%
- =12Morrisons<1%
Places count every brand AI names, so the numbers can jump. "=" is a tie. "–" means AI never names it first.
Share of take-home grocery spending: Tesco 27.8%, Sainsbury's 15.2%, Asda 11.5%, Aldi 10.5%, Lidl 8.6%, Morrisons 8.3%.
Worldpanel by Numerator, 12 weeks to October 4, 2026.
What it means.
AI gives each need its own shop: Aldi for price and the big family shop, M&S for a special occasion, Tesco for convenience and special diets. A grocer that is big without owning a need has nothing to come first for. Lidl shows a second risk: AI names it in about half of its answers, usually right behind Aldi, and it comes first in under 1%.
The eight questions.
Cheapest supermarket in the UK for a weekly shop?
Which UK supermarket has the best quality fresh food?
Without web search
WaitroseAll three agree.
With web search
Marks & SpencerAll three agree.
Best online grocery delivery in the UK?
Best UK supermarket for a dinner party or special occasion food?
Without web search
Marks & SpencerAll three agree.
With web search
Marks & SpencerAll three agree.
Best UK supermarket for vegan food?
Best supermarket for a quick top-up shop in the UK?
Best UK supermarket for a big family stock-up shop?
Is your company missing or measured under the wrong name? Tell us. We correct facts at any time. Results change only in the next edition, for everyone.
Edition 1, Q4 2026. Next edition: January 2027.
Eight buying questions per market, each asked in six wordings of ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude: five times without web search (720 answers per market, 14,400 in all) and twice with it (288 per market, 4,600 in all, in sixteen of the twenty markets so far). Measured 25 to 30 October 2026. Kesterley.
Your own questions, not ours. Position Map: where you stand on the questions your buyers ask, why AI puts a rival first, and what to do first. From $2,500. Two weeks.
Talk to us