Does no mention mean a brand is invisible to AI?

No. Absence means the brand was not recorded in this limited set of prompts and usable answers. It does not establish absence from other AI answers.

How often is Scotts mentioned?

Scotts appeared in 12 usable answers in this snapshot. A mention is not necessarily a recommendation.

Which brands appear most in the budget answers?

Scotts appeared in 4 of 4 usable budget answers. This measures mentions, not verified price or budget compliance.

Does this benchmark prove AI recommendations are biased?

No. Differences in answers do not establish bias or prove that advertising or commercial integrations caused a recommendation. Model, tier and collection changes can also affect comparisons.

How was this lawn fertilizer snapshot collected?

3 prompt types were recorded across the participating services. 12 of 12 captured response records contain usable answers, from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity. Brand mentions and recorded ranks are measured separately. Unavailable and explicitly excluded answers do not contribute to brand analysis.

Seasonal weekly benchmark — Jul 17

Lawn Fertilizer

Research by Robert Hu · Published by RecoScope · Collected Jul 17, 2026

Usable answers: 12/12
Models: 4
Prompt types: 3

Included: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity

Report history · Jul 17 selected · 12 snapshots

Key takeaway

For a suburban DIY homeowner, AI still routes to Scotts and Milorganite as the core, but this run shows the most challenger movement yet: ChatGPT elevated GreenView to #1 across two prompts, Lesco climbed into three engines as the pro-grade value pick, and The Andersons took Gemini's top ranking. The duopoly is no longer unanimous. Note: ChatGPT and Perplexity leaked the user's Iowa/Midwest location despite a neutral persona, so part of the GreenView and store-brand surge may reflect regional personalization rather than a clean national signal.

Compare the model rankings

Mention Frequency Trend

Brands ordered by mention count in each run. Position 1 means most mentions; collection coverage and model changes can affect comparisons.

Scroll sideways to see all dates and labels.

Top Brands by AI Mention Frequency

Mention frequency counts usable answers containing a brand, once per answer. Unranked and critical mentions count as visibility. Recommendation ranks are shown separately below.

Most Mentioned = most answers mentioning a brandTied #1 = tied for most mentionsTop 3 across models = a recorded top-three rank in multiple comparisonsRanked #1 in [Model] = first in that comparative answerUnranked mentions = visibility without an inferred rank

1Scotts▲ 112/12

2Milorganite▼ 110/12

3The Andersons▲ 17/12

4Pennington▼ 16/12

5Lesco▲ 14/12

Cross-Agent Comparison

Recorded ranks from the comparative prompt (Prompt 3). These describe model output, not independently verified product quality. Historical parsing conventions may differ.

4/4 models with recorded ranks

Agent	#1	#2	#3
ChatGPT	Scotts	Pennington	Milorganite
Claude	Milorganite	Scotts	The Andersons
Gemini	The Andersons	Milorganite	Scotts
Perplexity	Scotts	The Andersons	Milorganite

What This Means

The aggregate #1 splits three ways this run, the most fragmented top-pick result in the category's history: Scotts leads for Claude and Perplexity, Milorganite leads for Gemini, and GreenView leads for ChatGPT - the first time GreenView has taken any engine's aggregate #1, and a sharp break from the Scotts-Milorganite duopoly of prior weeks.
The GreenView result carries a caveat: ChatGPT was the engine that leaked the user's Iowa location and cited Iowa State extension, so its GreenView-first ordering may reflect regionally-personalized retail sourcing rather than a clean national signal.
Below the top pick, The Andersons appears in three of four engines' top 3 (second for Gemini, third for Claude and Perplexity), consolidating the premium slot.
ChatGPT is the most commerce-formatted and the week's outlier, surfacing Sunday, Yard Mastery, Sta-Green, and Expert Gardener that no other engine ranks.
Claude is the most process-oriented, pairing Milorganite and Scotts by season.
Gemini builds explicit comparison tables and ranks Milorganite first on burn-safety.
Perplexity is the most testing-citation-driven, keeps Scotts at #1, and elevates Lesco as a pro-grade step-up in every prompt.
The GreenView surge and the continued Lesco climb across engines are the two real movements, with the location leak a live confound on the former.

Findings and Limitations

The challenger tier is unusually active this run.
GreenView broke from near-invisibility to an engine-leading #1 (ChatGPT only), the sharpest single-run rise recorded in the category, though it is entirely ChatGPT-driven and may reflect that engine's location-personalized retail sourcing.
Lesco continued its climb, now organically ranked in three engines as the pro-grade value step-up.
The Andersons consolidated the premium slot and took an outright #1 for the first time (Gemini).
Absent despite retail presence: BioAdvanced, Ironite, Dr.
Earth, Sunniland, and most regional store brands.
The organic tier beyond Milorganite and Espoma is empty.
The location leak itself is a finding - personalized engines surface regionally-stocked brands (GreenView, Sta-Green) that a clean national query might not.

Inspect the captured answers

Saved response text is model output. Product and health claims are unverified. Tables and cards may be transcribed as text; source labels can remain. Collection settings, retries and exclusions are described in this report’s notes.

ChatGPT · Prompt 1Usable answer

Best lawn fertilizer, 42yo suburban homeowner, quarter-acre DIY weekend lawn

ChatGPT P1 (LEAKED Iowa location): Cool-season grass, granular slow-release phosphorus-free, fall-focused. SKU list: GreenView Fairway Formula 27-0-5 $21.98 (best overall), GreenView Lawn Food 22-0-4 $16.47 (value), Pennington Full Season 32-0-5 $20.22 (fewest apps), Scotts Turf Builder $27.24 (easiest to find), Sunday Green Machine Granular 30-0-5 $25.99, Yard Mastery Flagship 24-0-6 $44.99 (premium DIY), Sta-Green Slow Release 29-0-5 $47.98, GreenView Fall Lawn Food $49.99, Scotts Green Max 27-0-2 $33.24, The Andersons PGF Complete 16-4-8 $59.88. Recommendation: Buy GreenView Fairway Formula 27-0-5, up to 12 weeks feeding, 0 phosphorus. Alternatives: inexpensive GreenView Lawn Food 22-0-4, low-effort Pennington Full Season, available Scotts Turf Builder, appearance Scotts Green Max. Schedule early Sept + late Oct.

Claude · Prompt 1Usable answer

Best lawn fertilizer, 42yo suburban homeowner, quarter-acre DIY weekend lawn

Claude P1: Best Overall Scotts Green Max Lawn Food (fast-acting granular, greening within days, 5% iron, 5000 sqft/bag, ~2 bags per quarter-acre application). Best Organic/Low-Maintenance Milorganite 6-4-0 (slow-release organic heat-dried microbes, impossible to burn, 8-10 weeks, iron, great for summer). Best Professional-Grade The Andersons PGF Complete 16-4-8 (agronomist 4-1-2 ratio, humic acid, micronutrients, pricier). Recommendation: Milorganite for summer + Scotts Green Max spring/fall. Soil test through cooperative extension first. Apply 4x/year.

Gemini · Prompt 1Usable answer

Best lawn fertilizer, 42yo suburban homeowner, quarter-acre DIY weekend lawn

Gemini P1: 1 Best Overall Easy Safe Milorganite 6-4-0 (organic-nitrogen slow-release, virtually impossible to burn, 4% iron deep blue-green without growth surge, takes a few weeks). 2 Best Quick Vibrant Greening Scotts Green Max 27-0-2 (5% iron + fast-acting nitrogen, deeper green in 3 days, synthetic high-nitrogen must apply precisely). 3 Best Premium Balanced The Andersons Professional PGF Complete 16-4-8 (fine particles even coverage, humic acid, steady uniform feed, premium price). NPK decoder. Weed & Feed pro-tip: avoid, timing rarely aligns, spot-treat instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which lawn fertilizer brands appear most often?▾

Scotts appeared in 12 of 12 answers. This snapshot includes 12 usable answers from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity. Mentions include comparisons and criticism.

Which brands rank first in the lawn fertilizer comparison answers?▾

ChatGPT: Scotts; Claude: Milorganite; Gemini: The Andersons; Perplexity: Scotts

Why do models give different lawn fertilizer answers?▾

The aggregate #1 splits three ways this run, the most fragmented top-pick result in the category's history: Scotts leads for Claude and Perplexity, Milorganite leads for Gemini, and GreenView leads for ChatGPT - the first time GreenView has taken any engine's aggregate #1, and a sharp break from the Scotts-Milorganite duopoly of prior weeks. The GreenView result carries a caveat: ChatGPT was the engine that leaked the user's Iowa location and cited Iowa State extension, so its GreenView-first ordering may reflect regionally-personalized retail sourcing rather than a clean national signal. Below the top pick, The Andersons appears in three of four engines' top 3 (second for Gemini, third for Claude and Perplexity), consolidating the premium slot. ChatGPT is the most commerce-formatted and the week's outlier, surfacing Sunday, Yard Mastery, Sta-Green, and Expert Gardener that no other engine ranks. Claude is the most process-oriented, pairing Milorganite and Scotts by season. Gemini builds explicit comparison tables and ranks Milorganite first on burn-safety. Perplexity is the most testing-citation-driven, keeps Scotts at #1, and elevates Lesco as a pro-grade step-up in every prompt. The GreenView surge and the continued Lesco climb across engines are the two real movements, with the location leak a live confound on the former.