--- title: "Budget vs East Coast Car Rentals: Which is searched more in Australia?" description: "Is Budget or East Coast Car Rentals more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Car rental companies set in Australia. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/au/compare/budget-vs-east-coast-car-rentals" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Budget vs East Coast Car Rentals: Which is searched more in Australia? Is Budget or East Coast Car Rentals more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Car rental companies set in Australia. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Compared**: Budget and East Coast Car Rentals - **Competitive set**: Car rental companies - **Market**: Australia - **Month measured**: Sep 2026 - **Budget Share of Search**: 14.2% - **East Coast Car Rentals Share of Search**: 9.5% ## Is Budget or East Coast Car Rentals more popular in search? - In September 2026, Budget had more branded searches than East Coast Car Rentals among car rental companies in Australia. Budget had about 49,500 branded searches, while East Coast Car Rentals had 33,100. Budget made up 14.2% of all car rental company searches we track, and East Coast Car Rentals accounted for 9.5%. - Budget was ahead of East Coast Car Rentals in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Budget’s share of searches among car rental companies in Australia moved from 11.1% to 14.2%, and its estimated monthly branded searches held steady at 49.5K. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, East Coast Car Rentals’ share of searches among car rental companies in Australia moved from 6.1% to 9.5%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 27.1K to 33.1K. ## Top car rental companies in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, both Budget and East Coast Car Rentals showed up in all five answers. Budget was listed before East Coast Car Rentals in three of them. Brands get a higher AI rank if they are mentioned earlier in the answers that list options. | Brand | AI rank | ChatGPT answers that named it | Google AI Overviews that named it | All answers that named it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Sixt | 1st | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Budget | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Avis | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 4 of 5 | | East Coast Car Rentals | 4th | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Hertz | 5th | 2 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 4 of 5 | | Europcar | 6th | 2 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 2 of 5 | | Thrifty | 7th | 1 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 1 of 5 | ## Every AI answer about car rental companies - Asked ChatGPT "Which car rental company should I use in Australia?": 1. Avis, 2. Sixt, 3. Budget, 4. East Coast Car Rentals, 5. Hertz - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best car hire companies in Australia?": 1. East Coast Car Rentals, 2. Budget, 3. Avis, 4. Sixt, 5. Hertz, 6. Thrifty, 7. Europcar - Asked ChatGPT "What's the cheapest car hire company at Australian airports?": 1. East Coast Car Rentals, 2. Sixt, 3. Budget, 4. Avis, 5. Europcar - Searched Google, AI Overview "car rental": 1. Hertz, 2. Avis, 3. Sixt, 4. Budget, 5. East Coast Car Rentals - Searched Google, AI Overview "car hire": 1. Hertz, 2. Budget, 3. Sixt, 4. East Coast Car Rentals Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in Australia on October 22, 2026. ## How did search popularity change for Australia car rental companies in September 2026? - In September 2026, Europcar overtook Avis and Budget to rank 2nd among car rental companies in Australia, with 17.3% of the searches. - In September 2026, Sixt overtook Avis and Budget to rank 3rd among car rental companies in Australia, with 17.3% of the searches. - In September 2026, East Coast Car Rentals gained share of searches among car rental companies in Australia, from 7.1% to 9.5%. - In September 2026, Budget lost share of searches among car rental companies in Australia, from 15.8% to 14.2%. ## Month by month | Month | Budget estimated searches | Budget Share of Search | Budget rank | East Coast Car Rentals estimated searches | East Coast Car Rentals Share of Search | East Coast Car Rentals rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 49.5K | 11.1% | 5 | 27.1K | 6.1% | 6 | | Nov 2025 | 60.5K | 13.3% | 3 | 27.1K | 5.9% | 6 | | Dec 2025 | 60.5K | 13.4% | 2 | 33.1K | 7.3% | 6 | | Jan 2026 | 60.5K | 12.4% | 5 | 33.1K | 6.8% | 6 | | Feb 2026 | 60.5K | 13% | 4 | 27.1K | 5.8% | 6 | | Mar 2026 | 60.5K | 12.7% | 3 | 33.1K | 7% | 6 | | Apr 2026 | 60.5K | 14.5% | 2 | 33.1K | 7.9% | 6 | | May 2026 | 49.5K | 11.7% | 5 | 33.1K | 7.9% | 6 | | Jun 2026 | 49.5K | 13.1% | 5 | 27.1K | 7.1% | 6 | | Jul 2026 | 49.5K | 13.8% | 5 | 27.1K | 7.5% | 6 | | Aug 2026 | 60.5K | 15.8% | 3 | 27.1K | 7.1% | 6 | | Sep 2026 | 49.5K | 14.2% | 5 | 33.1K | 9.5% | 6 | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Budget’s and East Coast Car Rentals’ names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading. - **Budget**: Measured on the search term “budget car rental”. - **East Coast Car Rentals**: Measured on the search terms “east coast car rental” and “east coast car rentals”, summed into one figure. - [Budget profile](/demand/au/brands/budget) - [East Coast Car Rentals profile](/demand/au/brands/east-coast-car-rentals) - [All car rental companies in Australia](/demand/au/categories/au-car-rental-companies): The set both shares are measured inside, 7 brands. ## Methodology - [How is the Brand Demand Index measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Budget or East Coast Car Rentals more popular in search? In September 2026, Budget had more branded searches than East Coast Car Rentals among car rental companies in Australia. Budget had about 49,500 branded searches, while East Coast Car Rentals had 33,100. Budget made up 14.2% of all car rental company searches we track, and East Coast Car Rentals accounted for 9.5%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Budget vs East Coast Car Rentals: Which is searched more in Australia?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/au/compare/budget-vs-east-coast-car-rentals This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/au/compare/budget-vs-east-coast-car-rentals. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.