The highest-scoring DTC brand we have tested. And ChatGPT still returns zero.
Caraway achieves 41% AI visibility — highest in the audit set — with an extraordinary 82% on Gemini. But ChatGPT returns 0% across 50 tests. Same brand, same day, three different realities.
Executive Summary
- Brand: Non-toxic ceramic cookware, bakeware, and kitchen accessories. DTC plus Target and Nordstrom. Estimated $50-100M+ revenue
- AI visibility score: 62/150 tests surfaced the brand (41%)
- The pattern: Highest combined score in the audit set. 82% Gemini (highest single-platform score ever), 42% Copilot, 0% ChatGPT
- Key competitor gap: GreenPan owns #1 for ceramic pans; Made In leads DTC cookware on ChatGPT's absent recommendations
- Root cause for ChatGPT gap: Unknown — product data was inaccessible (all 404s), but editorial coverage is clearly strong on Gemini/Copilot
- Fix complexity: Low for Trustpilot claim; medium for ChatGPT investigation — the brand is doing most things right already
The brand
Caraway is a direct-to-consumer home and kitchen brand best known for its ceramic-coated, non-toxic cookware. The core proposition: beautiful, non-toxic cookware that looks good enough to leave on the stovetop. The brand launched in 2019 and has expanded into bakeware, food storage, kitchen textiles, and prep tools.
The positioning is the non-toxic, aesthetically elevated alternative to both legacy non-stick (Teflon/PTFE) and utilitarian cast iron. Caraway owns the intersection of "PFAS-free" and "Instagram-worthy." Where GreenPan leads on technical performance claims and Our Place leads on multi-function versatility, Caraway leads on the combination of safety narrative and design.
With retail partnerships at Target and Nordstrom, estimated revenue of $50-100M+, and significant venture backing, this is not a scrappy DTC-only brand. Caraway has meaningful omnichannel presence.
The test
We ran 150 automated browser-based tests using Playwright — 10 repeats × 5 queries × 3 platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot). Queries targeted Caraway's core positioning: non-toxic cookware, ceramic pan, cookware for a new kitchen, non-stick without Teflon, and best DTC cookware brands.
The results
| Query | ChatGPT | Copilot | Gemini | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best non-toxic cookware set | 0/10 | 6/10 | 10/10 | 16/30 | 53% |
| Ceramic pan easy to clean | 0/10 | 0/10 | 10/10 | 10/30 | 33% |
| Cookware set for new kitchen | 0/10 | 7/10 | 6/10 | 13/30 | 43% |
| Non-stick without Teflon | 0/10 | 2/10 | 5/10 | 7/30 | 23% |
| Best DTC cookware brands | 0/10 | 6/10 | 10/10 | 16/30 | 53% |
| Total | 0/50 (0%) | 21/50 (42%) | 41/50 (82%) | 62/150 | 41% |
Gemini's 82% is the highest single-platform score in the entire audit series. Caraway appears in 41 out of 50 Gemini tests, consistently positioned at #2 or #3, with detailed descriptions referencing ceramic coating, PFAS-free formulation, magnetic storage racks, colour palette, and even the caveat about coating lifespan. Gemini does not just know the brand — it knows the products intimately.
100% surfacing on three different queries on Gemini. Non-toxic cookware, ceramic pan, and DTC cookware brands all return Caraway every single time. This is consistency no other brand in the audit set achieves.
Copilot's 42% shows the value of shopping integration. Copilot surfaces Caraway with product listing data and live pricing, suggesting active Bing Shopping feeds and marketplace presence. When it appears, Caraway is often positioned as the lead recommendation for non-toxic ceramic.
ChatGPT: 0/50. The largest platform disparity in the audit set. The same brand that Gemini recommends 82% of the time does not exist in ChatGPT's response space. Fifty tests, zero mentions. This gap — 82% vs 0% — demands explanation.
Why this is happening
The non-toxic/PFAS-free positioning maps perfectly to AI query patterns. Queries about non-toxic cookware, Teflon alternatives, and ceramic pans are exactly how consumers phrase requests to AI agents. Caraway's positioning is the answer to questions people actually ask. This is positioning-product-query fit.
Editorial coverage is doing heavy lifting. Across both Gemini and Copilot, the detail and accuracy of Caraway descriptions — specific product features, honest caveats about coating lifespan, competitive comparisons — suggest strong editorial roundup presence. The brand appears in "best non-toxic cookware", "best DTC cookware", and "best ceramic pan" roundups.
Product data could not be directly assessed. All product URLs returned 404 errors via the Shopify JSON API. However, the consistency of AI agent descriptions suggests product data or editorial content is rich somewhere in the digital ecosystem — it is reaching Gemini and Copilot even if the standard API endpoints are inaccessible.
Trustpilot is an unclaimed asset. 4.8/5 with 488 reviews is excellent — a significant signal of customer satisfaction. But the profile appears unclaimed. Claiming it would strengthen the review signal that AI agents check.
The ChatGPT gap is likely an editorial source issue. ChatGPT's retrieval mechanism draws from different sources than Gemini. Legacy cookware brands (All-Clad, Cuisinart, T-fal) may monopolise ChatGPT's recommendation space for cookware queries. The editorial roundups that Gemini synthesises from may not overlap with ChatGPT's sources.
What Caraway could do, in priority order
Phase 1 (quick wins):
- Claim the Trustpilot profile — 4.8/5 with 488 reviews is a strong asset being left unmanaged
- Investigate the ChatGPT gap — test whether ChatGPT's browsing mode surfaces the brand; identify which editorial sources ChatGPT draws from for cookware
- Verify structured data on product pages — the API 404s do not necessarily mean rendered pages lack JSON-LD
Phase 2 (medium effort):
- Ensure product data is accessible to crawlers through multiple channels (HTML, XML sitemap, Shopping feeds)
- Add explicit comparison content: "Caraway vs GreenPan", "Caraway vs Our Place", "Caraway vs HexClad"
- Strengthen the PFAS-free narrative with structured product attributes and certifications
Phase 3 (longer term):
- Target ChatGPT-specific editorial sources — identify which "best cookware" roundups ChatGPT cites when recommending All-Clad and Cuisinart
- Build specification-rich product data: weight, dimensions, heat tolerance, induction compatibility, piece count, material composition
- Maintain the Gemini advantage — whatever is driving 82% visibility, do not change it
Close
Caraway demonstrates what strong brand positioning and editorial presence can achieve: near-total visibility on Gemini and solid performance on Copilot. The non-toxic, design-forward positioning maps directly to how consumers ask AI agents for recommendations. This is positioning-product-query fit executed at scale. But the ChatGPT gap proves that AI visibility is platform-specific, not universal. A brand can do almost everything right — 82% on Gemini, 42% on Copilot, 4.8/5 on Trustpilot — and still be invisible on the platform its customers might be using. Optimising for "AI visibility" as a single concept is like optimising for "search engines" in 2005. Which engine matters enormously.