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The Most Recommended Brands in the World, According to YouGov
Globally, travel and transportation brands reigned, while in the U.S., alcoholic beverage companies and a lingerie brand took the top spots.
Guinness topped the list of the most recommended brands in the U.S. market, according to a new report by YouGov.
New York—Market research and data analytics firm YouGov has released a new report outlining the world’s most recommended consumer brands in 2025.
According to the report, Dubai-based airline Emirates is the No. 1 most recommend brand in the world, followed by Toyota and then Levi’s, the denim company founded in San Francisco in the 1800s.
In fourth is Adidas, followed by Nintendo and then Nike, with vehicle brands Mercedes-Benz and BMW in seventh and eighth, respectively.
Travel tech company Trivago came in at ninth, and Neutrogena rounds out the top 10.
The rankings are compiled using YouGov’s BrandIndex—its “always on” business tool for tracking brand health using data collected daily from consumer surveys.
The lists are based on the brands’ Positive Recommend score among current customers over the last 12 months. The Positive Recommend score measures how likely current customers are to recommend a brand to a friend, family member, or acquaintance.
Insights are fueled by YouGov’s consumer research panel, the company said, which has 29 million registered members from more than 55 markets.
In the list of the top 10 most recommended brands for the U.S. market, alcoholic beverage brands reigned, with Guinness at the top with a score of 90.9 percent, followed by Heineken.
Savage x Fenty, the lingerie brand founded by Rihanna in 2017, is third, followed by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), a game in the Counter-Strike video games series.
Durex ranks fifth, followed by Dutch brewery Amstel in sixth and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in seventh.
In eighth is Qatar Airways, followed by two companies both boasting scores of 89 percent, Adidas and then Black Rifle Coffee Company, a veteran-founded coffee company based in Salt Lake City known for its mission to hire veterans and its controversial marketing.
“With consumer voices carrying more weight than ever, the strongest brands are built not just on visibility, but on trust, relevance, and advocacy. Recommendations have become one of the most powerful indicators of brand strength,” YouGov founder and CEO Stephan Shakespeare said.
As far as jewelry and watch brands go, Rolex is the No. 1 most-recommended brand in Australia, according to the report.
The popular watch brand also appears on the most-recommended lists for France (No. 10) and Germany (No. 4).
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According to the report, Dubai-based airline Emirates is the No. 1 most recommend brand in the world, followed by Toyota and then Levi’s, the denim company founded in San Francisco in the 1800s.
In fourth is Adidas, followed by Nintendo and then Nike, with vehicle brands Mercedes-Benz and BMW in seventh and eighth, respectively.
Travel tech company Trivago came in at ninth, and Neutrogena rounds out the top 10.
The rankings are compiled using YouGov’s BrandIndex—its “always on” business tool for tracking brand health using data collected daily from consumer surveys.
The lists are based on the brands’ Positive Recommend score among current customers over the last 12 months. The Positive Recommend score measures how likely current customers are to recommend a brand to a friend, family member, or acquaintance.
Insights are fueled by YouGov’s consumer research panel, the company said, which has 29 million registered members from more than 55 markets.
In the list of the top 10 most recommended brands for the U.S. market, alcoholic beverage brands reigned, with Guinness at the top with a score of 90.9 percent, followed by Heineken.
Savage x Fenty, the lingerie brand founded by Rihanna in 2017, is third, followed by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), a game in the Counter-Strike video games series.
Durex ranks fifth, followed by Dutch brewery Amstel in sixth and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in seventh.
In eighth is Qatar Airways, followed by two companies both boasting scores of 89 percent, Adidas and then Black Rifle Coffee Company, a veteran-founded coffee company based in Salt Lake City known for its mission to hire veterans and its controversial marketing.
“With consumer voices carrying more weight than ever, the strongest brands are built not just on visibility, but on trust, relevance, and advocacy. Recommendations have become one of the most powerful indicators of brand strength,” YouGov founder and CEO Stephan Shakespeare said.
As far as jewelry and watch brands go, Rolex is the No. 1 most-recommended brand in Australia, according to the report.
The popular watch brand also appears on the most-recommended lists for France (No. 10) and Germany (No. 4).
The report also featured a breakdown of most-recommended brands in the United States by category.
Ikea tops the list for retail brands with a Positive Recommend score of 87.4 percent, followed by outdoors outfitters REI and Cabela’s, then Costco—one of the largest sellers of fine jewelry in the U.S.—and Crate & Barrel, which posted a score of 84 percent.
For clothing, Savage x Fenty leads the way, boasting a score of 90.1 percent, followed by Adidas and then Nike.
LVMH-owned brand Louis Vuitton came in fourth, and fast-fashion retailer Zara, with a score of 88.7 percent, came in fifth.
Also included in the report is a list of the top 10 most-improved brands in U.S., with data based on year-on-year increase in Positive Recommend scores among current customers.
Topping the list is X (formerly Twitter), with Positive Recommend scores up 14.1 percentage points from last year, followed by London-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology company GlaxoSmithKline, which jumped 10.8 percentage points.
In third was financial services company Robinhood, followed by Chuck E. Cheese and then Coinbase.
Cars.com landed in sixth, followed by Tex-Mex fast food chain Taco Bueno and then insurance company Cigna.
Rounding out the list is Aquafina in ninth with CarGurus behind it.
Other sectors included in the report are automotive, beverages, dining, financial services, grocery stores, CPG (consumer packaged goods) food and snacks, and cable, satellite and streaming TV.
To view the full report, click here.
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