What Does 5W's Cannabis AI Visibility Index Show?

5W's Cannabis AI Visibility Index 2026 found that Curaleaf, Trulieve and Green Thumb Industries together hold an estimated 17.5% of cannabis AI citations. 5W, the PR, creative and GEO agency, ran more than 50 consumer prompts through major AI engines in Q1 2026. Curaleaf leads at 7.5% and Trulieve follows at 6.5%. About 28% of prompts drew a refusal, hedge or disclaimer, the highest rate 5W has measured in any consumer category.

By EPR Research. Originally published May 3, 2026. Updated October 22, 2026.

Summary: what did 5W find?

5W's study found a concentrated top tier, a separate citation pattern for each product type, and the highest refusal rate it has recorded in any consumer category.

• Curaleaf (7.5%), Trulieve (6.5%) and Green Thumb Industries (3.5%) hold about 17.5% of cannabis citations.
• Cookies leads branded consumer products at 5.5%, a 2.5 point lead over Wyld at 3.0%.
• Charlotte's Web leads CBD at 4.5%, fifth overall.
• Leafly (5.0%) and Weedmaps (3.5%) together hold 8.5%, more than Curaleaf alone.
• 5W reports that state-specific content is the strongest predictor of citation share, at about 2.8 times.

What does the Cannabis AI Visibility Index measure?

The Cannabis AI Visibility Index measures the estimated share of AI-generated brand citations held by each of the top 25 U.S. cannabis brands. 5W ran more than 50 consumer-intent prompts in Q1 2026 and recorded which brands each answer named. The full report is published on 5W's Cannabis AI Visibility Index page.

Citation share is the estimated proportion of brand citations across all tracked prompts. It shows how often an AI engine names a brand. It is not market share, and it does not rank product quality or regulatory compliance.

Example prompts included "best cannabis dispensary near me," "best cannabis edibles," "Curaleaf vs Trulieve," "Charlotte's Web vs Cornbread Hemp" and "how to get a medical cannabis card." 5W added more than 35 further variations on medical use, state availability, product choice and brand comparison.

Which cannabis brands do AI engines cite most?

Curaleaf, Trulieve and Cookies took the top three positions in 5W's Q1 2026 ranking. The table shows estimated citation share for the top 15 brands, which together hold 55.5% of citations.

Ranks 16 to 25 are Lazarus Naturals, Ascend Wellness, Wana Brands, CBDistillery, Dutchie, Eaze, Joy Organics, TerrAscend, MJBizDaily and Medterra. 5W's report does not publish share figures for these ten.

What does each cannabis sub-category show?

Each sub-category follows its own citation pattern, so one national ranking hides how different the four surfaces are. The readings below are 5W's, with EPR's arithmetic on the published shares.

Multi-state operators

Curaleaf, Trulieve and Green Thumb Industries account for 17.5% of citations, while Cresco Labs and Verano Holdings hold 2.5% each. 5W links Curaleaf's lead to its national footprint, Trulieve's to Florida, the largest medical market in the country, and Green Thumb's to a consumer portfolio that includes Rythm, Dogwalkers and Beboe.

Branded consumer products

Cookies holds 5.5% against 3.0% for Wyld and Stiiizy. That 2.5 point lead is wider than the 1.0 point gap between Curaleaf and Trulieve. 5W ties Cookies' position to its reach into lifestyle and fashion press, and notes that "best cannabis brand" and "best cannabis dispensary" return different answers.

CBD

Charlotte's Web leads CBD at 4.5%, followed by Cornbread Hemp at 2.0%. 5W connects the pattern to the 2018 Farm Bill, which made hemp-derived CBD federally legal and which 5W links to fewer hedged answers on CBD than on THC prompts.

Aggregators

Leafly at 5.0% and Weedmaps at 3.5% hold 8.5% together, ahead of Curaleaf at 7.5%. Aggregators are the largest combined citation surface in the category, which makes accurate listings on both sites a practical first task for any operator.

About 28% of the cannabis prompts 5W tested produced a refusal, hedge or prominent disclaimer, which 5W says is the highest rate of any consumer category it has measured. 5W ties the pattern to the layered legal setting: federal Schedule I status at the time of testing, 25 state adult-use regimes and 16 medical-only regimes.

The same "best cannabis dispensary near me" prompt returns different brands in California, Florida and Massachusetts, according to 5W. The firm reports that state-specific content is the strongest predictor of citation share, at a multiplier of about 2.8 times, the largest it has measured. EPR's related work is in the Restricted Category AI Visibility Index and in why ChatGPT won't recommend cannabis brands.

Why does federal rescheduling matter for cannabis AI visibility?

Federal rescheduling matters because AI engines hedge most on legality, and the legal status of cannabis changed in 2026. Medical marijuana is in Schedule III, and the decision on all other marijuana is still pending. A DEA final rule moved FDA-approved marijuana products and state-licensed medical marijuana to Schedule III in April 2026, according to Ogletree.

The DEA administrator issues the final determination after parties file exceptions, according to Morgan Lewis. The communications side is covered in cannabis communications in the Schedule III era.

What should cannabis brands do about AI visibility?

Cannabis brands should publish accurate, dated content on the exact topics AI engines hedge on, because a page that answers a hedged question gives the engine something specific to cite. 5W's reading is that brands building this content are gaining citation share from brands that wait for federal clarity.

1. Publish a legality page for each state where you operate, covering possession limits, medical card rules and retail availability, with the date of the last review.
2. Publish dosing and drug-interaction pages with a named clinical reviewer, since those prompts drew the most disclaimers.
3. Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini the questions buyers in your state ask, and record which brands each one names.
4. Check your listings on Leafly and Weedmaps, which together hold 8.5% of category citations.
5. Repeat the prompt check every quarter and compare it with the ongoing Cannabis Index leaderboard.

The through-line in 5W's data is that citation share follows specific, state-level answers more than footprint size. For a brand like Curaleaf, with the largest footprint but not the largest share in every sub-category, EPR's Curaleaf citation analysis shows where the gaps sit.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Cannabis AI Visibility Index 2026?

The Cannabis AI Visibility Index 2026 is a 5W study that ranks the top 25 U.S. cannabis brands by estimated share of AI citations, using more than 50 consumer-intent prompts run in Q1 2026.

Which cannabis brands did AI engines cite most?

Curaleaf led at an estimated 7.5% of citations, followed by Trulieve at 6.5% and Cookies at 5.5%. Leafly ranked fourth at 5.0% and Charlotte's Web fifth at 4.5%.

How often did AI engines refuse cannabis questions?

About 28% of tested cannabis prompts produced a refusal, hedge or prominent disclaimer, which 5W says is the highest rate of any consumer category it has measured.

Is cannabis federally legal after the April 2026 rule?

No. The rule moved FDA-approved marijuana products and state-licensed medical marijuana to Schedule III. Other marijuana remains in Schedule I until the broader rescheduling process ends.

Where is the current cannabis citation share data?

The ongoing leaderboard is The Cannabis Index: Who Owns the AI Answer in 2026.

Related EPR research

• Restricted Category AI Visibility Index
• Cannabis communications in the Schedule III era
• EPR Cannabis hub
• Citation Share Index 2026 hub
• Everything-PR Research Index