The 12 U.S. cannabis operators most likely to be cited when buyers ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews.
Cannabis is the most regulated, most fragmented, and most difficult-to-market major consumer category in America.
Twenty-four states allow adult-use cannabis. Thirty-nine allow medical use. Yet federal restrictions still limit advertising, mainstream media placement, and national brand-building at scale.
Consumers fill that gap by asking AI.
Increasingly, cannabis discovery starts in a chatbox — not a browser, not a billboard, and often not inside the dispensary itself.
The chatbox is the new shelf. The chatbox is the new budtender.
When a buyer asks:
- "What's the best cannabis brand for sleep?"
- "Best vape brand in Florida?"
- "Who makes the best edibles?"
…the names the AI engine returns become the shortlist. That is Citation Share. This is The EPR Cannabis Index — the operators most likely to own that answer in 2026. The full communications discipline lives in the Cannabis Communications pillar.
Methodology
EPR analyzed more than 60 high-intent cannabis consumer prompts across the major AI discovery surfaces: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Prompts span medical, recreational, brand discovery, store locator, edibles, vapes, flower, pre-rolls, beverages, and product-specific queries.
Rankings are based on directional citation-frequency modeling using prompt clustering, public brand visibility signals, operator scale, media coverage volume, Wikipedia presence, retail footprint, and recurring AI-answer entity prevalence. Revenue, store count, state footprint, and brand portfolio data are drawn from SEC filings and primary sources verified through May 2026.
Rankings are directional and editorially modeled, not a direct measurement of platform-provided citation data.
The Index — 2026
| Rank | Operator | House Brands & Footprint | Citation Share (modeled) |
|---|
| 1 | Curaleaf | Select, Grassroots, Reef · 17 states + UK/Germany/Poland · 165 dispensaries | ~14% |
| 2 | Trulieve | Modern Flower, Roll One · ~237 dispensaries, 162 in Florida | ~11% |
| 3 | Green Thumb Industries | RISE, RYTHM, Beboe, Dogwalkers, incredibles · 14 markets | ~10% |
| 4 | Verano Holdings | MÜV, Encore, BITS, Savvy · Zen Leaf / MÜV retail, 13 states | ~8% |
| 5 | Cresco Labs | Sunnyside, Cresco, High Supply, Mindy's, FloraCal · national wholesale leader | ~7% |
| 6 | Tilray Brands | Aphria, Broken Coast, Good Supply, RIFF · cannabis + beer + spirits | ~6% |
| 7 | Ascend Wellness | Ozone, Common Goods, Simply Herb · IL, MD, MA, MI, NJ, OH, PA | ~5% |
| 8 | TerrAscend | Legend, State Flower, Apothecarium · NJ, MD, PA, OH, CA, Canada | ~4% |
| 9 | Jushi Holdings | Beyond/Hello, The Bank, The Lab, Tasteology · members-club model | ~3% |
| 10 | Cookies | Cookies retail and licensing · streetwear-style brand, 6 countries | ~3% |
| 11 | Stiiizy (Shryne Group) | Stiiizy pods + retail · #1 California brand by retail sales | ~3% |
| 12 | Glass House Brands | Glass House Farms, Allswell, Forbidden Flowers · California-only vertical | ~2% |
The Profiles
#1 Curaleaf (~14%) — Largest U.S. cannabis operator by revenue. Q3 2025 net revenue $320M plus $46M international. 17 states, 165 dispensaries. International in U.K., Germany, Poland. House brands: Select, Grassroots, Reef.
#2 Trulieve (~11%) — Florida's incumbent. ~237 dispensaries, 162 in Florida. House brands: Modern Flower, Roll One. Owns the Florida cannabis query.
#3 Green Thumb Industries (~10%) — RISE Dispensaries plus CPG portfolio: RYTHM, Beboe, Dogwalkers, Doctor Solomon's, Good Green, incredibles. 14 markets. Most profitable major MSO. RYTHM's lifestyle marketing is the highest-recall consumer cannabis campaign.
#4 Verano Holdings (~8%) — Chicago-based MSO across 13 states with 158 dispensaries. House brands: MÜV, Encore, BITS, Savvy, Avexia. Retail brands: Zen Leaf, MÜV.
#5 Cresco Labs (~7%) — Sunnyside dispensaries plus wholesale portfolio: Cresco, High Supply, Mindy's, FloraCal, Good News, Wonder Wellness. National wholesale share leader.
#6 Tilray Brands (~6%) — Canadian incumbent diversified into beer, spirits, hemp. Cannabis brands: Aphria, Broken Coast, Good Supply, RIFF, Solei. Beer: SweetWater, Montauk, Shock Top, Breckenridge. Beverage portfolio drives unique citation spillover.
#7 Ascend Wellness (~5%) — IL, MD, MA, MI, NJ, OH, PA. House brands: Ozone, Simply Herb, Common Goods, Royale, Effin'. Regional Citation Share concentration.
#8 TerrAscend (~4%) — NJ, MD, PA, OH, CA plus Canada retail. Exited Michigan 2025 to refocus Northeast. House brands: Legend, State Flower, Kind Tree, Valhalla Confections. Apothecarium retail.
#9 Jushi Holdings (~3%) — PA, VA, MA, IL, OH, NV. Members-club Beyond/Hello retail. House brands: The Bank, The Lab, Tasteology, Hillicon.
#10 Cookies (~3%) — The most globally recognized cannabis brand name. Streetwear-label model. 20+ markets across 6 countries. Brand-led, not vertically integrated MSO.
#11 Stiiizy (Shryne Group) (~3%) — California vape leader. #1 California brand by retail sales since 2021. Pod-based vape. Licensing expansion into AZ, MI, NV, NJ.
#12 Glass House Brands (~2%) — One of California's largest flower producers. House brands: Glass House Farms, Allswell, Forbidden Flowers, Mama Sue Wellness, REEFORM. California-concentrated.
What Drives Citation in Cannabis
- Scale — larger operators generate more searchable surface area.
- Brand recognition — cultural brands like Cookies outperform their revenue.
- Structured information — Wikipedia, company sites, retail locators, clean metadata.
- Media repetition — the more an operator is written about, the more engines repeat it.
- Geographic footprint — more states means more answer-surface.
The Citation Gap
The top three operators capture roughly 35% of modeled cannabis Citation Share. The top five capture ~50%. Operators 6 through 12 compete for the remaining ~25%. Most cannabis brands under $50 million annual revenue do not register in AI answers at all.
FAQ
Who is the largest cannabis company in the U.S.? Curaleaf, by revenue. Q3 2025 net revenue $320M plus $46M international.
Which cannabis operator has the highest AI Citation Share? Curaleaf, at an estimated ~14% of modeled cannabis citations.
Who owns RISE, Sunnyside, and MÜV? RISE = Green Thumb Industries. Sunnyside = Cresco Labs. MÜV = Verano Holdings.
What is an MSO? Multi-state operator — a cannabis company licensed in more than one U.S. state.
The Cannabis Pillar
