ARA AI Shelf — QSR Q3 2026
Every brand the four models named across 16 questions. Cohort Only shows the 15 measured brands. Full Shelf shows all 68.
The Shelf — occupancy of the AI recommendation surface
The shelf is every moment an AI hands a shopper a recommendation: 16 consumer queries × 4 models = 64 moments. A moment is claimed when a model names any brand in the cohort. This quarter 64 are claimed and 0 sit empty.
Consumer query
Americas favourite
Most delicious
Best value
First timer
Families with kids
Eating healthier
Plant based
Breakfast
Travelling abroad
Craveable item
Cleanest
Hospitality
Fastest service
App and rewards
Responsible sourcing
Best place to work
Claimed
16 / 16
16 / 16
16 / 16
16 / 16
Tile size = position in the answer (largest = named first) unclaimed moment
The Shelf
The Full Shelf view captures the top seven brands in each query, across each model regardless of the cohort frame. This is a true, moment in time, snapshot of the shelf set AI is choosing from.
Consumer query
Americas favourite
Starbucks
Jersey Mike's
Raising Cane's
Wingstop
Jersey Mike's
Jersey Mike's
Jimmy John's
Baskin-Robbins
Dairy Queen
Most delicious
In-N-Out Burger
Whataburger
Popeyes
Culver's
Five Guys
Five Guys
In-N-Out Burger
Five Guys
Biscuitville
Jersey Mike's
Del Taco
Habit Burger & Grill
In-N-Out Burger
Culver's
Jollibee
Best value
Little Caesars
Little Caesars
Cook Out
Whataburger
Little Caesars
Whataburger
Jersey Mike's
First timer
In-N-Out Burger
Five Guys
Five Guys
Papa John's
In-N-Out Burger
In-N-Out Burger
Culver's
Families with kids
Chuck E. Cheese
In-N-Out Burger
Culver's
Panera Bread
Jollibee
Culver's
Culver's
Eating healthier
Panera
Panera Bread
Panera
CAVA
Sweetgreen
Plant based
White Castle
Panera Bread
Veggie Grill
Plant Power Fast Food
CAVA
Del Taco
Breakfast
Whataburger
Bojangles
Hardee's/Carl's Jr.
Starbucks
Panera Bread
Biscuitville
Biscuitville
Biscuitville
Whataburger
Bojangles
Travelling abroad
Starbucks
Jollibee
Nando's
Jollibee
Tim Hortons
7-Eleven
Craveable item
In-N-Out Burger
Popeyes
White Castle
Krystal
Cinnabon
Raising Cane's
White Castle
Zaxby's
Nothing Bundt Cakes
Steak 'n Shake
Scooter's Coffee
Cleanest
In-N-Out Burger
Raising Cane's
Culver's
Firehouse Subs
Newk's Eatery
Jersey Mike's
In-N-Out Burger
Starbucks
Culver's
Culver's
In-N-Out Burger
CAVA
Hospitality
In-N-Out Burger
Raising Cane's
Culver's
Jersey Mike's
Culver's
In-N-Out Burger
Raising Cane's
Jersey Mike's
In-N-Out Burger
Culver's
Dutch Bros Coffee
Fastest service
Dutch Bros Coffee
Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons
Dutch Bros Coffee
Pal's Sudden Service
App and rewards
Starbucks Rewards
MyPanera
Whataburger
Starbucks
Starbucks
Jersey Mike's
Responsible sourcing
Panera Bread
Yum! Brands
Greggs
SSP
Burgerville
Sweetgreen
Best place to work
In-N-Out Burger
Costco
QuikTrip
Wawa
Sheetz
In-N-Out Burger
Starbucks
Dunkin'
In-N-Out Burger
In-N-Out Burger
Dutch Bros Coffee
Raising Cane's
Tile size = position in the answer (largest = named first) unclaimed moment
The long tail
The chart shows the first 7 brands in each answer. 24 further recommendations sit below that line, and 3 brands appear nowhere else — they were never named in the top 7 of any single answer. 3 of those were named exactly once. The most persistent of them are Krispy Kreme, Moe's Southwest Grill, Qdoba — none frequent enough to reach the chart, all real recommendations a drinker was given. The tail is the finding: below the leaders this category has no consensus at all, and the brands filling that space are not the ones any incumbent is watching.
Krispy Kreme · Moe's Southwest Grill · Qdoba