--- title: "Bose vs Sony: Which is searched more?" description: "Is Bose or Sony more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Over-ear headphone brands set worldwide. 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/global-en/categories/over-ear-headphone-brands/compare/bose-vs-sony" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Bose vs Sony: Which is searched more? Is Bose or Sony more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Over-ear headphone brands set worldwide. 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**: Bose and Sony - **Competitive set**: Over-ear headphone brands - **Market**: Global - **Month measured**: Sep 2026 - **Bose Share of Search**: 8.3% - **Sony Share of Search**: 38.1% ## Is Bose or Sony more popular in search? - In September 2026, Sony had more branded searches than Bose among over-ear headphone brands worldwide. Sony had about 1.2 million branded searches, while Bose had 254,000. Sony made up 38.1% of all over-ear headphone brand searches we track, and Bose accounted for 8.3%. - Sony was ahead of Bose in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Bose’s share of searches among over-ear headphone brands worldwide moved from 8.9% to 8.3%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 309K to 254K. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Sony’s share of searches among over-ear headphone brands worldwide moved from 34% to 38.1%, and its estimated monthly branded searches held steady at 1.2M. ## Top over-ear headphone brands in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, both Bose and Sony showed up in all five answers. Sony was listed before Bose in every answer. 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Sony | 1st | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Bose | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Sennheiser | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 4 of 5 | | Apple AirPods Max | 4th | 2 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 2 of 5 | | Bowers & Wilkins | 5th | 1 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 1 of 5 | | Audio-Technica | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 0 of 5 | | Beyerdynamic | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 0 of 5 | ## Every AI answer about over-ear headphone brands - Asked ChatGPT "Which over ear headphone brand should I buy?": 1. Sony, 2. Bose, 3. Sennheiser - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best over ear headphone brands?": 1. Sony, 2. Bose, 3. Sennheiser, 4. Bowers & Wilkins, 5. Apple AirPods Max - Asked ChatGPT "What's the best over ear headphone brand for everyday listening?": 1. Sony, 2. Bose, 3. Sennheiser, 4. Apple AirPods Max - Searched Google, AI Overview "best over ear headphones": 1. Sony, 2. Bose, 3. Sennheiser - Searched Google, AI Overview "wireless over ear headphones": 1. Sony, 2. Bose Not named in any answer: Audio-Technica and Beyerdynamic. Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in the United States on October 21, 2026. ## How did search popularity change for over-ear headphone brands worldwide in September 2026? - In September 2026, Sony gained share of searches among over-ear headphone brands worldwide, from 37.5% to 38.1%. - In September 2026, Bose lost share of searches among over-ear headphone brands worldwide, from 10% to 8.3%. ## Month by month | Month | Bose estimated searches | Bose Share of Search | Bose rank | Sony estimated searches | Sony Share of Search | Sony rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 309K | 8.9% | 3 | 1.2M | 34% | 2 | | Nov 2025 | 562K | 11.2% | 3 | 1.7M | 33.2% | 2 | | Dec 2025 | 462K | 9.7% | 3 | 1.6M | 32.9% | 2 | | Jan 2026 | 309K | 8% | 4 | 1.2M | 30.8% | 2 | | Feb 2026 | 254K | 8.6% | 3 | 1M | 35.2% | 1 | | Mar 2026 | 254K | 7.8% | 3 | 1.1M | 34.3% | 2 | | Apr 2026 | 253K | 9% | 3 | 915K | 32.8% | 2 | | May 2026 | 253K | 8.3% | 3 | 1.1M | 36.8% | 1 | | Jun 2026 | 253K | 9.2% | 3 | 997K | 36.4% | 1 | | Jul 2026 | 253K | 9.3% | 3 | 997K | 36.9% | 1 | | Aug 2026 | 309K | 10% | 3 | 1.2M | 37.5% | 1 | | Sep 2026 | 254K | 8.3% | 3 | 1.2M | 38.1% | 1 | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Bose’s and Sony’s 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. - **Bose**: Measured on the search terms “bose headphone” and “bose quietcomfort”, summed into one figure. - **Sony**: Measured on the search terms “sony headphone”, “sony headphones”, “sony wh 1000xm5” and “sony wh 1000xm6”, summed into one figure. - [Bose profile](/demand/global-en/brands/bose) - [Sony profile](/demand/global-en/brands/sony) - [All over-ear headphone brands worldwide](/demand/global-en/categories/over-ear-headphone-brands): 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 Bose or Sony more popular in search? In September 2026, Sony had more branded searches than Bose among over-ear headphone brands worldwide. Sony had about 1.2 million branded searches, while Bose had 254,000. Sony made up 38.1% of all over-ear headphone brand searches we track, and Bose accounted for 8.3%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Bose vs Sony: Which is searched more?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/over-ear-headphone-brands/compare/bose-vs-sony This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/over-ear-headphone-brands/compare/bose-vs-sony. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.