Which Home Builder Is Most Frequently Recommended by Generative AI? Optyino.ai Analyzes 29,089 AI Responses, Revealing Ichijo Co. in First Place with 68.0%

Optyino.ai is a GEO/AIO/LLMO platform that visualizes and optimizes brand visibility in the era of AI search. Based on accumulated AI response logs, Optyino.ai analyzed generative AI's brand recall trends in the housing and home builder industry.

This study analyzed 29,089 AI responses collected between January 21, 2026, and July 11, 2026, targeting 28 housing-related prompts such as 'I'm considering a custom home. Recommend a home builder,' 'I'm considering a custom home in Saitama Prefecture. Recommend a home builder,' and 'Are there any recommended home builders for building a custom home affordably?' These prompts covered nationwide, regional, and price-tier comparisons.

Survey Summary

The analysis included 29,089 AI-generated responses related to housing, custom homes, home builders, and construction firms, collected from 28 prompts and 8 types of AI models.

After aggregating brands mentioned in responses, Ichijo Co. had the highest mention rate (the percentage of total responses in which the brand name appeared in the answer), appearing in 68.0% (19,776 responses) of all answers.

This was followed by Sekisui House at 54.1% (15,733 responses) and Sumitomo Forestry at 51.1% (14,859 responses), with all top three brands mentioned in over half of the responses. In fourth place was Tamahome at 42.3% (12,303 responses), and fifth was Sekisui Heim at 35.5% (10,329 responses).

When analyzed by AI model, Ichijo Co. ranked first in 7 out of 8 models, while ChatGPT alone had Sekisui House in first place with 57.5%, and Ichijo Co. dropped to third with 53.1%.

Monthly trends also showed Ichijo Co.'s mention rate consistently staying in the upper 60% range from January to July 2026 for six consecutive months, indicating a sustained advantage rather than a temporary trend.

Additionally, the total number of URLs cited within AI responses was 664,230, with 300,212 unique entries after deduplication, and the number of unique actual URLs (unique URL count) was 28,570.

Survey Background

Housing is one of the most expensive purchases in life, requiring extensive comparison and consideration when choosing a home builder. In recent years, in addition to social media and comparison sites, it is believed that more users are directly consulting generative AI such as ChatGPT and Gemini or seeking information for comparison.

Which brands generative AI repeatedly highlights in its responses may influence a company's brand recall and ease of entry into consumer consideration sets.

Optyino.ai provides insights for companies to consider how they should expose their brands in the age of AI search by visualizing trends in mentions and citations via generative AI.

This time, focusing on the housing and home builder industry, the survey investigated which brands are most easily recalled by AI and how these trends vary across AI models and time periods.

Main Survey Results

Top 3 Brands Exceed 50% Mention Rate, Indicating a Concentrated Structure Among 64 Brands

Among the 64 analyzed brands, only the top three exceeded a 50% mention rate.

Rank

Brand

Mention Rate

Response Count

1

Ichijo Co.

68.0%

19,776

2

Sekisui House

54.1%

15,733

3

Sumitomo Forestry

51.1%

14,859

For rankings and mention rates from 4th place onward, please refer to:

As shown in the table, the top three brands—Ichijo Co. at 68.0%, Sekisui House at 54.1%, and Sumitomo Forestry at 51.1%—were all mentioned in over half of the responses.

Furthermore, looking across all 64 brands, lower-ranked brands dropped to mention rates in the 0.0% range, revealing a significant gap between top and bottom performers.

This result suggests that, in the context of considering housing and home builders, generative AI has a strong tendency to repeatedly recall and present specific major brands.

Same Brand Ranked First in 7 out of 8 AI Models, with Only One Model Showing Reversed Results

Among the 8 models, only ChatGPT showed different results.

AI Model

1st

2nd

3rd

Gemini

Ichijo Co. 69.8%

Sekisui House 63.8%

Sumitomo Forestry 54.3%

ChatGPT

Sekisui House 57.5%

Sumitomo Forestry 53.9%

Ichijo Co. 53.1%

Grok

Ichijo Co. 75.6%

Sekisui House 69.7%

Tamahome 59.7%

For results from Copilot, Claude, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overview, and Perplexity, please refer to:

https://optyino.ai/press/housing-homebuilder-brand-citation-rate

As shown in the table, Ichijo Co. ranked first in 7 models—Copilot, Claude, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overview, Grok, and Perplexity—with mention rates ranging from 53.3% to 75.6%.

Only ChatGPT had Sekisui House in first place at 57.5%, followed by Sumitomo Forestry at 53.9%, and Ichijo Co. in third at 53.1%.

The difference in mention rate between first and third place in ChatGPT was only 4.4%, showing less clear distinction compared to other models.

Differences in training data or search integration mechanisms across models may have influenced this reversal, but further verification is needed to identify specific causes.

Top Brand's Advantage Is Not a Temporary Trend—Maintaining Upper 60% Range for Six Consecutive Months

Ichijo Co.'s monthly mention rate remained in the upper 60% range from January to July 2026, indicating sustained high recall.

January 2026: 67.1%, February: 69.5%, March: 69.7%, April: 70.2%, May: 66.4%, June: 67.2%, July: 64.3%. Monthly fluctuations were minimal.

The gap in mention rate between Ichijo Co. and the second-place brand remained nearly constant between 10.7% and 15.6% during this period, with no significant widening or narrowing in any single month.

This suggests that Ichijo Co.'s high visibility is not due to temporary popularity but reflects a brand consistently recalled by AI.

Top 20 Brands Dominated by National Major and Mid-Sized Builders, All Below 21st Place Have Less Than 5% Mention Rate

There is a significant gap in mention rate ranges between top and lower-ranked brands.

Rank Range

Mention Rate Range

Trend

1st–10th

22.7%–68.0%

Dominance of major home builders and low-cost volume sellers

11th–20th

6.8%–22.4%

Mainly major and mid-sized home builders

61st–64th

0.0%

Regional-only brands (including companies from Kyushu region)

For details on ranks 21–30 and 31–42, please refer to:

https://optyino.ai/press/housing-hom