Toys in the US: which brands and retailers ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode recommend

We asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode 12 questions that US parents and collectors ask about toys: sensory toys for a baby, a ride-on for a three-year-old, STEM kits, family board games, a backyard swing set, anime figurines. The answers name 62 brands and retailers, almost half of them only once. No brand leads the category, and when the answers say where to buy, they say Walmart or Target.

• 14 · 39%Name a retailer
• 18 · 50%Name toy and collectible brands only
• 4 · 11%Name none of the brands and retailers

Walmart and Target get the shoppers

Retailers are named in 14 of the 36 answers, almost always Walmart (9 answers) or Target (7). Amazon is named once, by Google AI Mode. Toys“R”Us and Barnes & Noble are never named, not even on the questions about classic toys and board games. The specialists come up once each: Lakeshore Learning for a preschool classroom, BigBadToyStore for collectibles.

ChatGPT does most of this. It answers shopping questions with product cards that end in "Shop at Walmart" or "Shop at Target", with a price: 8 of its 12 answers name a retailer, against 3 for Gemini and 3 for Google AI Mode. The two retailers are also the websites cited most, target.com in 10 answers and walmart.com in 9.

1. Walmart9 · 25%
2. Target7 · 19%
3. Amazon1 · 3%
4. Nordstrom1 · 3%
5. Home Depot1 · 3%
6. Lakeshore Learning1 · 3%
7. BigBadToyStore1 · 3%
8. Toys“R”Us0 · 0%
9. Barnes & Noble0 · 0%

Name a retailerName toy and collectible brands onlyName none of the brands and retailers

1. ChatGPT831
2. Gemini372
3. Google AI Mode381

No brand owns toys

Melissa & Doug is the brand named most, in 8 answers out of 36, and the only one named on three themes: baby and toddler toys, puzzles and learning, arts and crafts. HABA follows with 5 answers, all on babies, toddlers and wooden toys. LEGO, the world's largest toy maker, is named in 2 answers; Fisher-Price in 3, Hasbro in 2.

The answers recommend products more than brands. Many items are listed under their product name only, and on family board games the three models name games (Ticket to Ride, Sequence, Carcassonne, UNO) rather than their publishers: 2 brands in 3 answers.

1. Melissa & Doug8 · 22%
2. HABA5 · 14%
3. Hot Toys5 · 14%
4. Sideshow5 · 14%
5. Fisher-Price3 · 8%
6. BRIO3 · 8%
7. Makeblock3 · 8%
8. Backyard Discovery3 · 8%
9. Nintendo3 · 8%
10. Anker3 · 8%
11. Prime 1 Studio3 · 8%
12. Iron Studios3 · 8%
13. Good Smile Company3 · 8%
14. Max Factory3 · 8%

Also named, in fewer than 3 answers each: 41 other toy and collectible brands.

ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, October 22, 2026. One answer can name several toy and collectible brands.

Each theme has its own short list

The names change completely from one theme to the next. On collectibles, Hot Toys and Sideshow are each named in 5 of the 6 answers, followed by Prime 1 Studio, Iron Studios and Good Smile Company, names no other theme mentions. On swing sets, the three models all name Backyard Discovery, and Gemini and Google AI Mode put Gorilla Playsets before it. On road-trip electronics, Nintendo and Anker are in all three answers. Baby and toddler toys are the most open theme: 20 different names in 9 answers.

RetailerToy or collectible brand

A bigger bubble is more answers on the theme. Small bubbles without a name are named in one answer: hover them to read it.

Where the three models agree

ChatGPT names the most: 4.6 brands or retailers per answer, against 2.9 for Gemini and 3.4 for Google AI Mode. Thirteen names are named by all three models, almost all of them on a narrow theme (collectibles, swing sets, electronics, robotics). Walmart and Target are the exception: they are mostly ChatGPT's.

Named in 3 answers or more	ChatGPT	Gemini	Google AI Mode
Walmart	8	1	·
Melissa & Doug	4	2	2
Target	5	·	2
HABA	2	1	2
Hot Toys	2	1	2
Sideshow	2	1	2
Nintendo	1	1	1
Backyard Discovery	1	1	1
Anker	1	1	1
Good Smile Company	1	1	1
Makeblock	1	1	1
Prime 1 Studio	1	1	1
Max Factory	1	1	1
Fisher-Price	2	1	·
BRIO	1	1	1
Iron Studios	1	1	1

Retailer pages are the sources

Product pages on target.com and walmart.com are cited far more than anything else. Media and guides come next: Forbes in 3 answers, Babylist, AARP and Wikipedia, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (cpsc.gov) on toys for toddlers. Brand sites are rare: habausa.com and melissaanddoug.com in 2 answers each.

Retailer websiteBrand websiteOther website

1. target.com10 · 28%
2. walmart.com9 · 25%
3. forbes.com3 · 8%
4. babylist.com2 · 6%
5. cpsc.gov2 · 6%
6. en.wikipedia.org2 · 6%
7. habausa.com2 · 6%
8. melissaanddoug.com2 · 6%
9. nordstrom.com2 · 6%
10. papaswoodentoys.com2 · 6%

What this means for toy brands and retailers

• The category is open. With no brand above 8 answers in 36, a toy brand that is well described on a precise need (a sensory toy for six months, a STEM kit for eight-year-olds) can be the name an assistant gives.
• Products are named, makers less. A product name the answers quote should carry the brand, and the brand's pages should tie each product to the need and age it serves.
• Walmart and Target listings are what ChatGPT reads. Their product pages, prices and reviews feed the shopping cards. For a brand, being well listed there counts as much as its own site.
• A famous retailer name is not enough. Toys“R”Us is not named in any of the 36 answers, Amazon in one. A retailer that wants to be recommended needs product pages and guides that the assistants find and cite, theme by theme.

Method

12 questions in English, written as US parents, grandparents and collectors would ask them, across the range of a US toy retailer. Each question was asked once to ChatGPT (gpt-6, with web search), Gemini (Flash-Lite) and Google AI Mode, from the US, on October 22, 2026: 36 answers. We looked in each answer for 74 toy, game and collectible brands and retailers (names and common spellings), counted the answers naming each, their position among those names in the answer, and the websites cited.

This is a snapshot: three models, one day and 12 questions. AI answers vary from one session to the next, so a difference of one or two answers between two names is not significant. Products named without their brand, and board games named without their publisher, are not counted for the brand.