Indian AI brands account for 96% of AI brand responses in August: BuyingIntent.in
Indian task-specific AI brands have higher Buying Intent than global general-purpose AI brands
Mumbai, September 17, 2026: BuyingIntent.in released the first six-month reading of the AI category in its Buying Intent Index (BII), covering March to August 2026. AI entered the index as a category in May 2026, when under 1% of the monthly urban panel named an AI brand unprompted. By August, 12.5% did.
On Category Buying Intent, AI moved from the bottom half of all categories tracked in May (65th percentile) to the top 26% in June, the top 23% in July and the top 18% in August. The number of AI brands named more than doubled over the same period.
Indian task-specific names dominate the category. Four homegrown brands, Murf AI (voice generation), Gan AI (video creation), Wysa (mental-health chatbot) and Sarvam (AI platform), account for 96% of AI brand mentions in August and 96% of all AI mentions across the six months. Global generic AI brands were named in low numbers in the same period: ChatGPT and Google Gemini together hold under 4% of six-month AI mentions.
Murf AI led the category in August with a Buying Intent Index of 53.0 (29.1% of AI category), followed by Gan AI at 45.8 (25.2% of AI category), Wysa at 28.7 (15.8% of AI category) and Sarvam at 26.4 (14.5% of AI category). Murf AI has held the category lead through June, July and August, although the August gap with Gan AI is relatively narrow. Generic AI models like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic and Meta AI had Buying Intent at small fractions of the task-led AI brands.
“Analyzing 6-month Buying Intent data of AI category, the surprise is what people do not trust it for. The trust comes from the brands feeling easy to approach and from meaning what they say; sincerity is the one trait which scores high each month. On the desire side, people want AI as a way of staying current and socially capable. Emotional warmth is where these brands are weakest,” said the Buying Intent Index.
Read the full AI Category Report · Download the report (PDF)
AI category: reach and standing, May to August 2026
| Month | Share of respondents naming an AI brand | Share of AI mentions held by the four Indian brands | Category standing on Buying Intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | 0.9% | 60.0% | 65th percentile |
| June 2026 | 10.7% | 98.8% | Top 26% |
| July 2026 | 10.8% | 94.3% | Top 23% |
| August 2026 | 12.5% | 96.2% | Top 18% |
AI brands on Brand Buying Intent, August 2026 (brand index scale)
| Brand | Buying Intent | Trust | Desire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murf AI | 53.0 | 52.3 | 46.6 |
| Gan AI | 45.8 | 39.2 | 41.7 |
| Wysa | 28.7 | 14.7 | 33.5 |
| Sarvam | 26.4 | 19.6 | 26.6 |
Five further brands (Google Gemini, Anthropic, ChatGPT, Kint, Meta AI) are mentioned, but are far below the four given above.
About Buying Intent Index
The Buying Intent Index by TRA Research is a monthly measure of consumers' keenness to buy measuring more than 2,000 brands. It combines the underlying drivers of Trust and Desire to provide a forward-looking view of brand buying propensity across categories, audiences and markets.
The Buying Intent Index survey is conducted face-to-face with peer influencers asked to name brands on 22 behaviours, ten that build Trust and twelve that build Desire.