---
title: "Five Guys vs McDonald's: Which is searched more in the United Kingdom?"
description: "Is Five Guys or McDonald's more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Burger chains set in the United Kingdom. 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/uk/compare/five-guys-vs-mcdonalds"
publisher: "Brandwave"
---

# Five Guys vs McDonald's: Which is searched more in the United Kingdom?

Is Five Guys or McDonald's more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Burger chains set in the United Kingdom. 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**: Five Guys and McDonald's
- **Competitive set**: Burger chains
- **Market**: United Kingdom
- **Month measured**: Sep 2026
- **Five Guys Share of Search**: 1.9%
- **McDonald's Share of Search**: 86.8%

## Is Five Guys or McDonald's more popular in search?

- In September 2026, McDonald's had more branded searches than Five Guys among burger chains in the United Kingdom. McDonald's had about 9.1 million branded searches, while Five Guys had 201,000. McDonald's made up 86.8% of all burger chain searches we track, and Five Guys accounted for 1.9%.
- McDonald's was ahead of Five Guys in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026.
- Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Five Guys’ share of searches among burger chains in the United Kingdom moved from 2.8% to 1.9%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 301K to 201K.
- Across the 12 months ending September 2026, McDonald's’ share of searches among burger chains in the United Kingdom moved from 85.4% to 86.8%, and its estimated monthly branded searches held steady at 9.1M.

## Top burger chains in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews

In three ChatGPT questions, Five Guys appeared in all three answers. McDonald's was mentioned in two out of three: in two of the three ChatGPT answers. Five Guys was listed before McDonald's 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 | All answers that named it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Five Guys | 1st | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
| Honest Burgers | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
| Shake Shack | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
| Burger King | 4th | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
| McDonald's | 5th | 2 of 3 | 2 of 3 |
| GBK | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 |
| Byron | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 |

## Every AI answer about burger chains

- Asked ChatGPT "Which burger chain has the best burgers in the UK?": 1. Five Guys, 2. Honest Burgers, 3. Shake Shack, 4. Burger King, 5. McDonald's
- Asked ChatGPT "What are the best burger chains in the UK?": 1. Honest Burgers, 2. Five Guys, 3. Shake Shack, 4. Burger King, 5. McDonald's
- Asked ChatGPT "Where can I get the best burger from a chain restaurant in the UK?": 1. Five Guys, 2. Honest Burgers, 3. Shake Shack, 4. Burger King

Not named in any answer: GBK and Byron.

Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in United Kingdom on October 22, 2026.

## How did search popularity change for United Kingdom burger chains in September 2026?

- Estimated monthly branded searches for Five Guys in the United Kingdom fell 33.2% over 12 measured months, from 301K to 201K in September 2026.

## Month by month

| Month | Five Guys estimated searches | Five Guys Share of Search | Five Guys rank | McDonald's estimated searches | McDonald's Share of Search | McDonald's rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oct 2025 | 301K | 2.8% | 3 | 9.1M | 85.4% | 1 |
| Nov 2025 | 301K | 3.4% | 3 | 7.5M | 84.2% | 1 |
| Dec 2025 | 368K | 3.4% | 3 | 9.1M | 84.6% | 1 |
| Jan 2026 | 301K | 3.3% | 3 | 7.5M | 82.8% | 1 |
| Feb 2026 | 301K | 3.4% | 3 | 7.5M | 84.7% | 1 |
| Mar 2026 | 301K | 2.8% | 3 | 9.1M | 85.5% | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | 201K | 1.9% | 3 | 9.1M | 86.6% | 1 |
| May 2026 | 246K | 2.3% | 3 | 9.1M | 84.5% | 1 |
| Jun 2026 | 201K | 1.9% | 3 | 9.1M | 87% | 1 |
| Jul 2026 | 246K | 2.3% | 3 | 9.1M | 86.4% | 1 |
| Aug 2026 | 246K | 1.9% | 3 | 11.1M | 86.8% | 1 |
| Sep 2026 | 201K | 1.9% | 3 | 9.1M | 86.8% | 1 |

## How each brand is measured

Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Five Guys’ and McDonald'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.

- **Five Guys**: Measured on the search term “five guys”.
- **McDonald's**: Measured on the search terms “mcdonald's” and “mcdonalds”, summed into one figure.

- [Five Guys profile](/demand/uk/brands/five-guys)
- [McDonald's profile](/demand/uk/brands/mcdonalds)
- [All burger chains in the United Kingdom](/demand/uk/categories/uk-burger-chains): 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 Five Guys or McDonald's more popular in search?

In September 2026, McDonald's had more branded searches than Five Guys among burger chains in the United Kingdom. McDonald's had about 9.1 million branded searches, while Five Guys had 201,000. McDonald's made up 86.8% of all burger chain searches we track, and Five Guys accounted for 1.9%.

## Cite this page

Brandwave. "Five Guys vs McDonald's: Which is searched more in the United Kingdom?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/uk/compare/five-guys-vs-mcdonalds

This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/uk/compare/five-guys-vs-mcdonalds. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.
