--- title: "Costco vs Walmart: Which is searched more in the United States?" description: "Is Costco or Walmart more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Optical retail 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/costco-vs-walmart-us" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Costco vs Walmart: Which is searched more in the United States? Is Costco or Walmart more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Optical retail 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**: Costco and Walmart - **Competitive set**: Optical retail chains - **Market**: United States - **Month measured**: Sep 2026 - **Costco Share of Search**: 2.9% - **Walmart Share of Search**: 5.4% ## Is Costco or Walmart more popular in search? - In September 2026, Walmart had more branded searches than Costco among optical retail chains in the United States. Walmart had about 201,000 branded searches, while Costco had 110,000. Walmart made up 5.4% of all optical retail chain searches we track, and Costco accounted for 2.9%. - Walmart was ahead of Costco in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Costco’s share of searches among optical retail chains in the United States moved from 2.7% to 2.9%, and its estimated monthly branded searches held steady at 110K. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Walmart’s share of searches among optical retail chains in the United States moved from 5% to 5.4%, and its estimated monthly branded searches held steady at 201K. ## Top optical retail chains in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions, both Costco and Walmart showed up in all three answers. Costco was listed before Walmart in two 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 | All answers that named it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Costco | 1st | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 | | America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 | | Warby Parker | 3rd | 2 of 3 | 2 of 3 | | LensCrafters | 4th | 2 of 3 | 2 of 3 | | Walmart | 5th | 3 of 3 | 3 of 3 | | Pearle Vision | 6th | 1 of 3 | 1 of 3 | | Visionworks | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 | | Eyemart Express | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 | ## Every AI answer about optical retail chains - Asked ChatGPT "Where should I get an eye exam and glasses in the US?": 1. Costco, 2. Warby Parker, 3. America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, 4. LensCrafters, 5. Walmart - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best optical store chains in the US?": 1. Costco, 2. Warby Parker, 3. LensCrafters, 4. America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, 5. Pearle Vision, 6. Walmart - Asked ChatGPT "Which optical chain in the US has the cheapest glasses and eye exams?": 1. America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, 2. Walmart, 3. Costco Not named in any answer: Visionworks and Eyemart Express. 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 optical retail chains in September 2026? - In September 2026, Walmart lost share of searches among optical retail chains in the United States, from 6% to 5.4%. ## Month by month | Month | Costco estimated searches | Costco Share of Search | Costco rank | Walmart estimated searches | Walmart Share of Search | Walmart rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 110K | 2.7% | 8 | 201K | 5% | 7 | | Nov 2025 | 110K | 2.6% | 8 | 201K | 4.8% | 7 | | Dec 2025 | 135K | 3.1% | 8 | 201K | 4.5% | 7 | | Jan 2026 | 135K | 2.8% | 8 | 201K | 4.2% | 7 | | Feb 2026 | 110K | 2.7% | 8 | 201K | 5% | 7 | | Mar 2026 | 135K | 2.9% | 8 | 246K | 5.2% | 7 | | Apr 2026 | 135K | 3.4% | 8 | 201K | 5% | 7 | | May 2026 | 110K | 2.9% | 8 | 201K | 5.3% | 7 | | Jun 2026 | 110K | 3% | 8 | 201K | 5.5% | 7 | | Jul 2026 | 135K | 3.5% | 8 | 201K | 5.2% | 7 | | Aug 2026 | 135K | 3.3% | 8 | 246K | 6% | 7 | | Sep 2026 | 110K | 2.9% | 8 | 201K | 5.4% | 7 | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Costco’s and Walmart’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. - **Costco**: Measured on the search term “costco optical”. - **Walmart**: Measured on the search term “walmart vision center”. - [Costco profile](/demand/us/brands/costco) - [Walmart profile](/demand/us/brands/walmart-us) - [All optical retail chains in the United States](/demand/us/categories/us-optical-retail-chains): The set both shares are measured inside, 8 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 Costco or Walmart more popular in search? In September 2026, Walmart had more branded searches than Costco among optical retail chains in the United States. Walmart had about 201,000 branded searches, while Costco had 110,000. Walmart made up 5.4% of all optical retail chain searches we track, and Costco accounted for 2.9%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Costco vs Walmart: Which is searched more in the United States?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/us/compare/costco-vs-walmart-us This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/us/compare/costco-vs-walmart-us. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.