The SetpointHQ Index · Sector hub · Last updated 13 July 2026
UK retail employer brands, scored for AI visibility.
Every week we score retail and consumer goods’ 10 biggest employer brands, Tesco to Unilever, on how visible they are to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. Current scores and findings below.
Key findings, July 2026
- The sector median is 57.0 against an Index median of 52.8, ranking retail 3rd of the 14 sectors we track.
- Citation is the weak dimension: median 27.5 out of 100. The machines know these brands (6 of 10 score 97+ on knowledge graph) and still rarely name them to candidates.
- The sector splits on structured data. John Lewis Partnership scores 80 on schema; Tesco 25, Marks & Spencer 5, Sainsbury’s 0.
- Sainsbury’s recorded 0 mentions across all 4 assistants on graduate employer questions, despite a 97.9 knowledge graph score.
The scores
| Brand | Composite | Citation | Schema | Knowledge graph | Crawlability | Social |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever UK | 67.9 | 42.5 | 55 | 100 | 100 | 80 |
| John Lewis Partnership | 61.3 | 25.0 | 80 | 82.7 | 85 | 76 |
| Tesco | 60.6 | 47.5 | 25 | 99.0 | 85 | 76 |
| ASDA | 58.7 | 30.0 | 70 | 91.8 | 68 | 68 |
| Reckitt | 57.6 | 22.5 | 45 | 97.8 | 100 | 74 |
| Diageo | 56.4 | 20.0 | 60 | 98.3 | 75 | 76 |
| Morrisons | 53.2 | 18.3 | 70 | 94.8 | 60 | 64 |
| Boots | 50.6 | 22.5 | 40 | 93.5 | 68 | 70 |
| Marks & Spencer | 48.4 | 32.5 | 5 | 98.3 | 68 | 74 |
| Sainsbury’s | 44.4 | 25.0 | 0 | 97.9 | 68 | 72 |
Composite out of 100. Latest weekly run: 12 July 2026.
One finding per brand
- Unilever UK leads the sector at 67.9, the only brand pairing a 40+ citation score with perfect knowledge graph and crawlability.
- John Lewis Partnership has the sector’s best structured data (schema 80) and out-scores rivals several times its size.
- Tesco holds the sector’s best citation score (47.5) on a schema score of just 25: fame is doing work the plumbing isn’t.
- ASDA is quietly solid: schema 70 with no dimension below 30.
- Reckitt pairs perfect crawlability with a 22.5 citation score: readable but rarely recommended.
- Diageo scores 98.3 on knowledge graph and 20 on citation, the sector’s recognition gap in miniature.
- Morrisons has the sector’s lowest citation score (18.3) despite schema at 70: structure in place, evidence still thin.
- Boots sits mid-table on every dimension, the profile of a brand nobody has decided to fix yet.
- Marks & Spencer runs on 5 out of 100 schema: near-total structural silence from a top-5 UK retail employer.
- Sainsbury’s is the sector’s cautionary tale: schema 0, composite 44.4, and 0 graduate query mentions across all 4 assistants.
How the scoring works
We probe all 4 major assistants weekly with real candidate questions and score 5 dimensions: citation (are you named), schema (structured data), knowledge graph (entity presence), crawlability (can AI crawlers reach you) and social footprint. Full weekly analysis: this week’s retail sector report. Methodology and all 100 brands: The SetpointHQ Index. To move your own scores, start with how to show up in AI answers.
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Book the auditSource: The SetpointHQ Index, 100 UK employer brands, scored weekly.