---
title: "Chili's vs Olive Garden: Which is searched more in the United States?"
description: "Is Chili's or Olive Garden more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Casual dining chains set in the United States. 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/us/compare/chilis-vs-olive-garden"
publisher: "Brandwave"
---

# Chili's vs Olive Garden: Which is searched more in the United States?

Is Chili's or Olive Garden more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Casual dining chains set in the United States. 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**: Chili's and Olive Garden
- **Competitive set**: Casual dining chains
- **Market**: United States
- **Month measured**: Sep 2026
- **Chili's Share of Search**: 17.6%
- **Olive Garden Share of Search**: 13.1%

## Is Chili's or Olive Garden more popular in search?

- In September 2026, Chili's had more branded searches than Olive Garden among casual dining chains in the United States. Chili's had about 6.7 million branded searches, while Olive Garden had 5 million. Chili's made up 17.6% of all casual dining chain searches we track, and Olive Garden accounted for 13.1%.
- Chili's was ahead of Olive Garden in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026.
- Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Chili's’ share of searches among casual dining chains in the United States moved from 18.4% to 17.6%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 8.2M to 6.7M.
- Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Olive Garden’s share of searches among casual dining chains in the United States moved from 11.2% to 13.1%, and its estimated monthly branded searches held steady at 5M.

## Top casual dining chains in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews

In three ChatGPT questions, both Chili's and Olive Garden showed up in all three answers. Olive Garden was listed before Chili'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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The Cheesecake Factory | 1st | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
| Texas Roadhouse | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
| Olive Garden | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
| Chili's | 4th | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 |
| LongHorn Steakhouse | 5th | 2 of 3 | 2 of 3 |
| Cracker Barrel | 6th | 2 of 3 | 2 of 3 |
| Buffalo Wild Wings | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 |
| Applebee's | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 |
| Red Lobster | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 |
| TGI Fridays | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 |

## Every AI answer about casual dining chains

- Asked ChatGPT "Which casual dining chain is the best in the US?": 1. Texas Roadhouse, 2. The Cheesecake Factory, 3. Olive Garden, 4. Chili's, 5. LongHorn Steakhouse
- Asked ChatGPT "What are the best sit-down restaurant chains in the US?": 1. The Cheesecake Factory, 2. Texas Roadhouse, 3. Olive Garden, 4. LongHorn Steakhouse, 5. Chili's, 6. Cracker Barrel
- Asked ChatGPT "Which restaurant chain in the US is best for a family dinner?": 1. The Cheesecake Factory, 2. Olive Garden, 3. Texas Roadhouse, 4. Cracker Barrel, 5. Chili's

Not named in any answer: Buffalo Wild Wings, Applebee's, Red Lobster and TGI Fridays.

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

## How did search popularity change for United States casual dining chains in September 2026?

- In September 2026, Olive Garden overtook Applebee's to rank 4th among casual dining chains in the United States, with 13.1% of the searches.
- In September 2026, Chili's gained share of searches among casual dining chains in the United States, from 16.6% to 17.6%.

## Month by month

| Month | Chili's estimated searches | Chili's Share of Search | Chili's rank | Olive Garden estimated searches | Olive Garden Share of Search | Olive Garden rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oct 2025 | 8.2M | 18.4% | 2 | 5M | 11.2% | 5 |
| Nov 2025 | 10M | 20.5% | 2 | 5M | 10.3% | 5 |
| Dec 2025 | 8.2M | 17.4% | 2 | 5M | 10.6% | 5 |
| Jan 2026 | 8.2M | 17.6% | 2 | 5M | 10.7% | 5 |
| Feb 2026 | 8.2M | 17.5% | 2 | 5M | 10.7% | 5 |
| Mar 2026 | 8.2M | 17.8% | 2 | 5M | 10.9% | 5 |
| Apr 2026 | 6.7M | 16.6% | 2 | 4.1M | 10.1% | 5 |
| May 2026 | 8.2M | 17.5% | 2 | 4.1M | 8.7% | 6 |
| Jun 2026 | 6.7M | 16.6% | 2 | 4.1M | 10.1% | 5 |
| Jul 2026 | 6.7M | 16.6% | 2 | 4.1M | 10.1% | 5 |
| Aug 2026 | 6.7M | 16.6% | 2 | 4.1M | 10.1% | 5 |
| Sep 2026 | 6.7M | 17.6% | 2 | 5M | 13.1% | 4 |

## How each brand is measured

Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Chili's’ and Olive Garden’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.

- **Chili's**: Measured on the search terms “chili's” and “chilis”, summed into one figure.
- **Olive Garden**: Measured on the search term “olive garden”.

- [Chili's profile](/demand/us/brands/chilis)
- [Olive Garden profile](/demand/us/brands/olive-garden)
- [All casual dining chains in the United States](/demand/us/categories/us-casual-dining-chains): The set both shares are measured inside, 10 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 Chili's or Olive Garden more popular in search?

In September 2026, Chili's had more branded searches than Olive Garden among casual dining chains in the United States. Chili's had about 6.7 million branded searches, while Olive Garden had 5 million. Chili's made up 17.6% of all casual dining chain searches we track, and Olive Garden accounted for 13.1%.

## Cite this page

Brandwave. "Chili's vs Olive Garden: Which is searched more in the United States?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/us/compare/chilis-vs-olive-garden

This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/us/compare/chilis-vs-olive-garden. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.
