SpyderBot · June 8, 2026 · Press
Bunnings Leads AI Search in Australia, but Competitors Are Winning High-Intent Prompts
SpyderBot’s 2026 AI Visibility Report shows that Bunnings remains the strongest overall home improvement brand in generative search, while Amazon Australia, Reece, IKEA Australia and Mitre 10 gain visibility in specific buying-intent prompts.
AI search is changing the way retail brands are discovered.
For years, search visibility was mostly measured by how well a brand ranked on Google. That is no longer enough. Consumers are now asking ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and other AI systems for direct recommendations, product comparisons, local buying advice and project-specific shopping lists.
Instead of searching through multiple websites, a customer can ask one question and receive a shortlist of recommended brands.
For retailers, this creates a new kind of risk. A brand can remain strong in traditional search, but lose influence when AI systems decide which competitors to mention first.
A SpyderBot GEO report for Bunnings.com.au shows that this shift is already visible in the Australian home improvement market. Bunnings remains the strongest overall brand in the analyzed dataset, but competitors are gaining visibility in specific high-intent prompt clusters where customers may be closer to making a purchase.
SpyderBot analyzed 138 AI search prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot
The analysis is based on a SpyderBot GEO report for Bunnings.com.au, collected on June 8, 2026.
The report analyzed 138 prompt queries across three major AI systems: ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot. SpyderBot tracked brand mentions, Share of Voice, visibility score, prompt coverage, platform-level visibility, sentiment, competitor gaps, ecommerce mentions and estimated LLM referrals.
This matters because AI search is not only a traffic channel. It is also a brand interpretation layer.
When an AI system recommends a retailer, it is not simply ranking a web page. It is summarizing which brand appears most relevant, trusted and useful for the user’s intent.
That makes generative search different from traditional SEO. In Google search, brands compete for ranking positions. In AI search, brands compete for interpretation.
Bunnings leads overall AI visibility, but the lead is not uniform
Bunnings is not struggling with AI visibility. Its challenge is more precise: maintaining leadership in high-intent categories where competitors are gaining ground.
According to the SpyderBot report, Bunnings achieved 36.07% Share of Voice, 136 mentions out of 377 total competitor mentions, an 87.4 visibility score, 382 total tracked mentions and a 96 out of 100 industry rank score.
Amazon Australia followed with 27.85% Share of Voice and a 78.3 visibility score. IKEA Australia ranked third with 15.38% Share of Voice and a 63.6 visibility score. Mitre 10 and Reece trailed in overall visibility, but both remained important in specific prompt categories.
The finding is clear: Bunnings leads the overall AI visibility dataset, but GEO is no longer just about being mentioned. It is about being mentioned in the right context, for the right intent, before competitors shape the AI-generated answer.
Bunnings performs strongest in practical DIY and home improvement prompts
Across ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot, Bunnings is strongly associated with Australian home improvement, DIY projects, tools, garden supplies, local store access and budget-friendly renovation materials.
The report shows that Bunnings leads across all three analyzed platforms, with 52 mentions in Gemini, 43 in ChatGPT and 41 in Copilot.
That cross-platform consistency is important. A brand that appears across multiple AI systems is not relying on one model’s behavior. It is building a broader generative search footprint.
Bunnings performs especially well in practical DIY and traditional home improvement prompts.
For the prompt “Best DIY deck building materials and tools Australia,” Bunnings achieved 52.17% prompt coverage. Mitre 10 followed with 17.39%, while Amazon Australia reached 10.87%.
For “Where to buy heavy-duty cordless power tool sets in Australia,” Bunnings achieved 50.00% coverage. Mitre 10 reached 20.00%, while Amazon Australia reached 18.67%.
These results suggest that AI systems understand Bunnings as more than a retailer. The brand is being interpreted as a practical source for tools, materials and project execution.
That is one of Bunnings’ strongest GEO advantages.
Competitors are gaining ground where purchase intent becomes specific
The risk for Bunnings is not invisibility. The risk is that competitors become more visible when the customer’s question becomes more specific.
Broad prompts often show brand strength. Specific prompts often reveal buying intent.
That distinction is central to GEO. A brand may dominate general awareness prompts, but lose AI recommendations when users ask about delivery speed, product compatibility, premium specifications, local support or design preferences.
SpyderBot found that Amazon Australia, Reece, IKEA Australia and Mitre 10 each gain visibility in different prompt clusters.
Amazon Australia wins smart home and fast-delivery prompts
Amazon Australia is the clearest challenger in smart home and delivery-focused prompts.
For “Smart home security cameras and automated lighting setup Australia,” Amazon Australia achieved 40.00% coverage, while Bunnings reached 30.00%.
That 10-point gap matters because smart home queries often carry purchase intent. Users asking about security cameras, smart locks, automated lighting and connected devices are usually comparing products, checking compatibility and preparing to buy.
The fast-shipping gap is even wider.
For “Best smart home security system with fast shipping to Sydney,” Bunnings scored 41, while Amazon Australia scored 89.
This suggests that AI systems may be rewarding Amazon’s product schema depth, review density, delivery signals and compatibility data.
For Bunnings, this is not a general brand weakness. It is a smart home and fast-delivery visibility gap.
Reece wins premium bathroom and plumbing authority
Bunnings also faces a clear challenge in bathroom and plumbing queries.
For “Modern bathroom renovators plumbing fittings and vanities Australia,” Reece led with 40.00% coverage, while Bunnings reached 29.17%.
The gap becomes more serious in premium intent. For “Best premium bathroom renovation fixtures and architectural tapware,” Bunnings scored 38, while Reece scored 83.
This is not a general retail weakness. It is a specialist authority gap.
AI systems appear to associate Reece more strongly with technical plumbing, architectural tapware, premium fixtures and specification-heavy renovation contexts.
Bunnings may sell relevant products, but AI does not interpret it as the strongest answer in this premium category.
IKEA Australia wins design-led and small-space prompts
IKEA Australia does not beat Bunnings in hardware or DIY authority. But it performs strongly when prompts contain design-led intent.
For “Affordable minimalist kitchen design with flat pack cabinets,” Bunnings scored 43, while IKEA Australia scored 87.
This shows that AI systems do not only compare product availability. They compare brand associations.
Bunnings is associated with practical home improvement. IKEA is associated with design, modularity, layout planning and small-space living.
If a user prompt contains aesthetic intent, AI may choose IKEA even when Bunnings sells relevant products.
Mitre 10 remains relevant in local and community narratives
Mitre 10 is smaller than Bunnings in overall visibility, but it remains relevant in regional, trade and community-based prompts.
The report shows that Mitre 10 performs better in queries related to independent hardware stores, rural communities and local support narratives.
This is not only an SEO signal. It is a brand perception signal.
AI systems learn from repeated third-party narratives. If Mitre 10 is frequently framed as local, independent and community-driven, that context can appear in AI answers even when Bunnings has broader national scale.
Bunnings’ sentiment profile remains a major strength
Visibility is only one part of AI search. Sentiment also matters because generative engines do not just mention brands. They summarize trust.
The report shows that Bunnings has a strong sentiment profile, with 77% positive sentiment, 19% neutral sentiment, 4% negative sentiment and an overall sentiment score of 87.
Bunnings also outperformed Amazon Australia in sentiment. Amazon recorded 59% positive sentiment, 32% neutral sentiment and 9% negative sentiment in the same dataset.
The strongest positive themes around Bunnings include home improvement and DIY project advice, gardening and nursery supplies, power tools and hardware availability, Price Beat Guarantee, Click & Collect, online delivery options, outdoor living, BBQ equipment, community engagement and in-store customer experience.
This reinforces Bunnings’ core brand advantage: AI systems understand it as useful, accessible and highly relevant to practical Australian home improvement.
Category ranking confirms Bunnings’ leadership
The ranking performance section shows that Bunnings holds a strong position in the broader Retail & Consumer Goods category.
Bunnings ranked first with a 96 out of 100 industry score. Amazon Australia followed with 93.
IKEA Australia, Mitre 10 and Reece remained important competitors, but Bunnings led the overall category.
The report also shows Bunnings ranking strongly in practical and local-intent queries such as “how to build a timber deck step by step,” “where to buy power tools near me in Sydney,” “how to fix a leaking tap guide,” and “where to buy garden soil and mulch in bulk Melbourne.”
This pattern matters because it proves Bunnings’ GEO strength is not abstract. It appears in the exact kinds of questions consumers ask AI systems before buying products or starting home improvement projects.
Trend data shows why Bunnings still needs to defend its lead
The trend data shows that Bunnings has strong GEO momentum, but not complete control.
Across the analyzed trend period, Amazon Australia outperformed Bunnings in total historical mentions in several months. At the same time, Bunnings remained highly competitive in instructional and comparison prompts, especially around DIY, garden beds, price match policies and tool hiring.
The report shows that How-to and Tutorial prompts represent the largest prompt type, accounting for 26.1% of analyzed prompt categories.
This favors Bunnings because the brand performs well when users ask practical project-based questions.
However, the report also flags areas that require attention, including competitor displacement in power tools, visibility drops linked to product availability and shipping data, and niche authority loss in bathroom renovation content.
This is where continuous AI visibility monitoring becomes important. A brand may look strong overall while still losing ground in the prompts that matter most commercially.
Ecommerce visibility points to a wider AI discovery opportunity
The ecommerce section shows Bunnings leading ecommerce-related AI mentions with 53.71% Share of Voice and 3,255 mentions.
Mitre 10 followed with 15.30% Share of Voice. Amazon Australia reached 13.32%, IKEA Australia reached 8.33%, and Reece reached 5.68%.
Estimated LLM referrals were also distributed across the three analyzed AI systems: 1,174 from Gemini, 1,071 from ChatGPT and 1,010 from Copilot.
This suggests that AI search visibility is not only a brand awareness issue. It can also influence ecommerce discovery and high-intent referral behavior..
What retailers can learn from Bunnings
The biggest lesson from the Bunnings report is that AI visibility is not one score.
It is a pattern across many prompts.
Retail brands should not only ask whether they are visible in AI search. They should ask which prompts they are winning, which prompts competitors are winning, and which buying intents they are losing.
Bunnings dominates broad DIY, garden, power tool and local home improvement prompts. Amazon Australia is stronger in smart home and fast-delivery prompts. Reece is stronger in premium bathroom and plumbing authority. IKEA Australia is stronger in design-led and small-space prompts. Mitre 10 still holds relevance in local and community-driven narratives.
That is the shift from SEO to GEO.
In traditional SEO, brands compete for rankings.
In generative engine optimization, brands compete for interpretation.
What Bunnings should do next
Based on the SpyderBot report, Bunnings should focus on five GEO priorities.
First, Bunnings should strengthen regional stock and delivery signals. Amazon performs strongly where AI systems can detect fast shipping, review density and structured product data. Making regional stock levels, pickup windows, delivery timeframes and next-day options easier for AI systems to retrieve would help Bunnings compete in delivery-sensitive prompts.
Second, Bunnings should build deeper smart home compatibility content. Smart home prompts require clear information about Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Alexa, Matter, Wi-Fi and Zigbee compatibility. More structured compatibility content could help close the smart home visibility gap against Amazon Australia.
Third, Bunnings should create stronger premium bathroom specification pages. To compete with Reece, Bunnings needs deeper technical and design-oriented content for premium bathroom and plumbing queries, including WELS ratings, material specifications, finish comparisons, installation requirements, warranty details and curated bathroom design guides.
Fourth, Bunnings should make Kaboodle and flat-pack kitchen content more AI-readable. IKEA wins design-led prompts because AI systems associate it with planning, layouts and modular design. Bunnings can improve its position by making Kaboodle content easier to parse, with room dimensions, cabinet sizes, layout examples, pricing ranges and practical comparison guides.
Finally, Bunnings should strengthen local store authority. Its physical reach is a major advantage, but local GEO can be improved if store pages go beyond location and opening hours. Local services, popular regional categories, community projects, trade support, workshops and local event information can help AI systems understand store-level relevance more clearly.
Data quality note
The report identifies some data consistency issues between platform-level mention totals and summed competitor-level mention totals.
This does not remove the directional value of the findings, but the numbers should be validated before being used in executive reporting, investor materials or public benchmark claims.
For content strategy, the most important takeaway remains clear: Bunnings leads overall, but competitors are winning specific AI search intents.
Final takeaway
Bunnings is not losing AI search. It is leading it.
But AI visibility is becoming more category-specific.
Bunnings dominates broad DIY, garden, power tool and local home improvement prompts. Amazon Australia is stronger in smart home and fast-delivery prompts. Reece is stronger in premium bathroom and plumbing authority. IKEA Australia is stronger in design-led and small-space prompts. Mitre 10 still holds relevance in local and community-driven narratives.
The brands that win the next stage of search will be the ones that make their expertise, inventory, trust signals and product context easy for both people and AI systems to understand.
The question for every retailer is no longer only:
“Do we rank on Google?”
It is:
“When customers ask AI who to choose, are we the brand being recommended?”
FAQ
What is AI visibility?
AI visibility measures how often and how accurately a brand appears in AI-generated answers across systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude and Grok.
What is GEO?
GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization, is the process of improving how a brand appears in AI-generated answers.
What did SpyderBot find about Bunnings?
SpyderBot found that Bunnings leads overall AI visibility in the analyzed Australian home improvement dataset, but competitors win specific high-intent prompts in categories such as smart home, premium bathroom, design-led kitchen and local community narratives.
Why does prompt-level visibility matter?
Prompt-level visibility matters because broad prompts and buying-intent prompts can produce different AI recommendations. A brand may win general category prompts while competitors win the questions that happen closer to purchase.
Which competitors challenged Bunnings in AI search?
Amazon Australia challenged Bunnings in smart home and fast-delivery prompts. Reece performed strongly in premium bathroom and plumbing prompts. IKEA Australia won design-led and small-space prompts. Mitre 10 remained relevant in local and community-driven prompts.
How can retailers improve AI visibility?
Retailers can improve AI visibility by strengthening trusted sources, improving structured product data, publishing clearer comparison content, improving local store pages, monitoring sentiment and tracking prompt-level performance over time.
Tags: AI Citations, AI Search, AI search visibility, AI visibility, Brand Mentions, Bunnings, Bunnings GEO report, Bunnings vs Amazon Australia, ChatGPT brand mentions, Competitor Analysis, generative engine optimization, GEO, LLM brand visibility, LLM Monitoring, Share of Voice