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Dated research · · For credit union marketing leaders

Which credit unions AI recommends, compared with who members choose

We asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity 480 questions a new member would ask, in eight metros, and compared the answers with NCUA membership data. In each metro, the largest local credit union holds on average 51.1% of members but received 34.4% of the local credit union mentions. And 114 of 480 answers named a credit union by a name it no longer uses.

34.4% vs 51.1%

The largest credit union's share of local mentions, compared with its share of members (average of eight metros).

114 of 480

Answers that named a credit union by a former name, most often one retired in a merger.

18 of 54

Eligibility statements we checked that differ from the credit union's own membership page (9 credit unions checked).

115 of 480

Answers that named a "credit union" we could not find in NCUA's list; 29 used a bank's name.

What stood out

Size does not carry into the answer. The largest credit union was the most named in 8 of 8 metros, but in 7 of them its share of mentions was below its share of members (the exception: Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN). Further down, the gap widens: TruStone has 19.3% of Twin Cities members and was named in 9 of 60 answers; A+ Federal has 18.2% in Austin and was named in 4; Horizon has 16.1% in Spokane and was named in 8; iQ has 7.6% in Portland and was named in 0. Meanwhile some small credit unions were named far more often than their size alone would suggest.

Old names live on. Answers used names retired in mergers and rebrands since 2019: Schools Financial in Sacramento, Dane County Credit Union in Madison, Advantis in Portland, RiverTrace in Richmond, Spire and Hiway in the Twin Cities, and several older names for Canyon View in Salt Lake City. Gemini did this in 55 of its 120 answers.

Eligibility is often described, and not always as the credit union describes it. 221 of 480 answers said who can join a named credit union. We checked 54of those statements against the credit union’s own membership page: 18 differ. For example, an answer said OnPoint is open to anyone who lives, works or attends school in Oregon or Washington; OnPoint’s page lists 33 Oregon counties and 4 Washington counties. In 14 of the 18, the credit union offers an easy route for nearly anyone (an association or foundation membership) that the answer misnamed or left out.

Some named credit unions do not exist under that name. 115answers named a credit union we could not match to NCUA’s June 30 list or to a confirmed former name, and 29put a bank’s name in front of “Credit Union.” Claude accounted for 73 of the 115.

Big banks rarely take the spot. A local credit union was named in 468 of 480 answers. A listed national or online bank appeared in 79, and only 4 named a bank with no local credit union alongside it. The competition in these answers is other credit unions, including 182 answers that named one headquartered outside the metro.

Assistants differ. Perplexity, which searches the web, named 3.7 local credit unions per answer on average; Claude named 1.5. A credit union can be well covered by one assistant and missing from another.

The eight metros

Member share is each credit union’s share of members among credit unions headquartered in the listed counties (NCUA, quarter ended June 30, 2026). Share of local mentions is its share of all answer mentions of those same credit unions, so the two columns are directly comparable. Gap is the difference in percentage points. Top ten by members shown; the rest are grouped.

Sacramento, CA

Credit unions headquartered in Sacramento County, CA; Placer County, CA; El Dorado County, CA; Yolo County, CA: 9 credit unions, 1,566,018 members. 60 answers.

Golden 1 has 76.6% of the members at credit unions headquartered here and was named in 47 of 60 answers. Sacramento Credit Union has 2.0% and was named in 45. 15 answers named Schools Financial Credit Union, which merged into SchoolsFirst in 2020.

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Sacramento, CA: member share from NCUA data compared with how often AI answers named each credit union
Credit unionMembersMember shareNamed inShare of local mentionsGap
Golden 1 Credit UnionSacramento1,199,69176.6%47 of 6037.9%-38.7
SAFE Credit UnionFolsom245,94215.7%18 of 6014.5%-1.2
Sacramento Credit UnionSacramento31,4972.0%45 of 6036.3%+34.3
First U.S. Community Credit UnionSacramento27,2311.7%5 of 604.0%+2.3
Yolo Federal Credit UnionWoodland23,4591.5%1 of 600.8%-0.7
CAHP Credit UnionSacramento22,7291.5%0 of 600.0%-1.5
Heritage Community Credit UnionFair Oaks9,9420.6%3 of 602.4%+1.8
California Community Credit UnionSacramento4,0150.3%5 of 604.0%+3.7
Vision One Credit UnionSacramento1,5120.1%0 of 600.0%-0.1
Headquartered elsewhere, also named
SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union (Tustin, CA; 11 offices here): 19 answers; Patelco Credit Union (Dublin, CA; 5 offices here): 6 answers; California Credit Union (Glendale, CA; 0 offices here): 5 answers
Banks and names we could not match
A listed national or online bank appeared in 10 of 60 answers (0 with no local credit union alongside).

Spokane, WA

Credit unions headquartered in Spokane County, WA; Stevens County, WA: 13 credit unions, 648,463 members. 60 answers.

STCU leads on both measures: 48.4% of members, named in 54 of 60. Horizon, third by members at 16.1%, was named in 8. Canopy was named in 18, 5 of them under its pre-2019 name, Spokane Federal Credit Union.

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Spokane, WA: member share from NCUA data compared with how often AI answers named each credit union
Credit unionMembersMember shareNamed inShare of local mentionsGap
STCU (Spokane Teachers Credit Union)Liberty Lake313,59348.4%54 of 6039.1%-9.3
Numerica Credit UnionSpokane Valley179,42527.7%36 of 6026.1%-1.6
Horizon Credit UnionSpokane Valley104,35716.1%8 of 605.8%-10.3
Canopy Credit UnionSpokane13,5412.1%18 of 605 by a former name13.0%+10.9
PrimeSource Credit UnionSpokane6,8361.1%0 of 600.0%-1.1
Cheney Federal Credit UnionCheney6,4631.0%0 of 600.0%-1.0
Progressions Credit UnionSpokane5,7590.9%0 of 600.0%-0.9
Spokane City Credit UnionSpokane4,2480.7%12 of 608.7%+8.0
Safeway Federal Credit UnionSpokane4,2210.7%3 of 602.2%+1.5
Avista Corp. Credit UnionSpokane3,6710.6%1 of 600.7%+0.1
3 other headquartered credit unionsNamed: Spokane Firefighters Credit Union (6)6,3491.0%6 of 604.3%+3.3
Headquartered elsewhere, also named
Verity Credit Union (Seattle, WA; 0 offices here): 10 answers; WSECU (Olympia, WA; 4 offices here): 9 answers; BECU (Tukwila, WA; 5 offices here): 6 answers
Banks and names we could not match
A listed national or online bank appeared in 8 of 60 answers (0 with no local credit union alongside). Unmatched names: Banner Credit Union (2), Timberland Bancorp Credit Union (2), Washington Credit Union (1).

Salt Lake City, UT

Credit unions headquartered in Salt Lake County, UT; Davis County, UT; Weber County, UT; Utah County, UT: 32 credit unions, 4,180,529 members. 60 answers.

America First and Mountain America hold 72.9% of members between them but 33.9% of local credit union mentions. Canyon View was named in 32 answers, 29 of them under an older name such as University Federal Credit Union. 9 answers described Zions Bank as a credit union.

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Salt Lake City, UT: member share from NCUA data compared with how often AI answers named each credit union
Credit unionMembersMember shareNamed inShare of local mentionsGap
America First Credit UnionRiverdale1,588,68738.0%37 of 6020.6%-17.4
Mountain America Credit UnionSandy1,458,46734.9%24 of 6013.3%-21.6
Utah Community Credit Union (UCCU)Provo270,6766.5%16 of 608.9%+2.4
Goldenwest Credit UnionWashington Terrace221,7935.3%19 of 6010.6%+5.3
Cyprus Credit UnionWest Jordan163,8153.9%11 of 606.1%+2.2
Canyon View Credit UnionWest Jordan115,2272.8%32 of 6029 by a former name17.8%+15.0
Deseret First Credit UnionWest Valley City88,2402.1%15 of 608.3%+6.2
Utah First Credit UnionSalt Lake City45,9131.1%12 of 606.7%+5.6
Granite Credit UnionSalt Lake City41,5081.0%3 of 601.7%+0.7
Wasatch Peaks Credit UnionOgden32,0430.8%0 of 600.0%-0.8
22 other headquartered credit unionsNamed: Utah Power Credit Union (2), Jordan Federal Credit Union (1), American United Federal Credit Union (3), P & S Credit Union (3), Ridgeline Federal Credit Union (2)154,1603.7%9 of 606.2%+2.5
Headquartered elsewhere, also named
Chartway Credit Union (Virginia Beach, VA; 5 offices here): 8 answers; Chevron Credit Union (Concord, CA; 2 offices here): 1 answer; Navy Federal Credit Union (Vienna, VA; 0 offices here): 1 answer
Banks and names we could not match
A listed national or online bank appeared in 7 of 60 answers (0 with no local credit union alongside). Unmatched names: Zion's Bank Credit Union (7), Zions Bank Credit Union (2), Salt Lake City Credit Union (1).

Portland, OR

Credit unions headquartered in Multnomah County, OR; Washington County, OR; Clackamas County, OR; Clark County, WA: 26 credit unions, 1,401,009 members. 60 answers.

OnPoint (47.2% of members) was named in 60 of 60 answers. iQ Credit Union, with 7.6%, was named in none. 14 answers named Advantis Credit Union, which merged into Rivermark in 2024.

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Portland, OR: member share from NCUA data compared with how often AI answers named each credit union
Credit unionMembersMember shareNamed inShare of local mentionsGap
OnPoint Community Credit UnionPortland661,82347.2%60 of 6035.9%-11.3
Rivermark Community Credit UnionOregon City176,43812.6%24 of 6014 by a former name14.4%+1.8
Columbia Credit UnionVancouver121,9308.7%4 of 602.4%-6.3
Unitus Community Credit UnionTigard107,9907.7%45 of 6026.9%+19.2
iQ Credit UnionVancouver106,0617.6%0 of 600.0%-7.6
Consolidated Community Credit UnionPortland38,0692.7%7 of 604.2%+1.5
Embold Credit UnionMilwaukie36,4832.6%0 of 600.0%-2.6
Pacific NW Federal Credit UnionPortland23,3801.7%3 of 601.8%+0.1
Ironworkers USA Federal Credit UnionPortland18,5581.3%2 of 601.2%-0.1
Oregonians Credit UnionMilwaukie18,4771.3%12 of 607.2%+5.9
16 other headquartered credit unionsNamed: Ibew & United Workers Federal Credit Union (3), Nw Priority Credit Union (3), Trailhead Federal Credit Union (4)91,8006.5%7 of 606.0%-0.5
Headquartered elsewhere, also named
Oregon Community Credit Union (Eugene, OR; 0 offices here): 4 answers; Oregon State Credit Union (Corvallis, OR; 1 office here): 3 answers; I.L.W.U. Credit Union (Long Beach, CA; 1 office here): 2 answers
Banks and names we could not match
A listed national or online bank appeared in 6 of 60 answers (0 with no local credit union alongside). Unmatched names: Portland State University Credit Union (7), Portland Community Credit Union (1), South Coast ILWU Federal Credit Union (1).

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

Credit unions headquartered in Hennepin County, MN; Ramsey County, MN; Anoka County, MN; Dakota County, MN; Washington County, MN; Scott County, MN; Carver County, MN: 36 credit unions, 1,149,100 members. 60 answers.

Affinity Plus (26.4%) was named in 47 of 60. TruStone, with 19.3%, was named in 9. Wings Financial was named in 39 and has 21NCUA-listed offices in these counties, but NCUA lists its charter’s main office in Colorado Springs, CO, so it has no member share here.

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Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN: member share from NCUA data compared with how often AI answers named each credit union
Credit unionMembersMember shareNamed inShare of local mentionsGap
Affinity Plus Federal Credit UnionSaint Paul303,11126.4%47 of 6041.2%+14.8
Blaze Credit UnionFalcon Heights257,99522.5%17 of 608 by a former name14.9%-7.6
TruStone Financial Credit UnionPlymouth221,36619.3%9 of 603 by a former name7.9%-11.4
Topline Financial Credit UnionMaple Grove70,3196.1%18 of 6015.8%+9.7
City & County Credit UnionSaint Paul62,0045.4%1 of 600.9%-4.5
Ideal Credit UnionWoodbury48,0454.2%3 of 602.6%-1.6
MY Credit UnionBloomington22,1031.9%3 of 602.6%+0.7
SharePoint Credit UnionBloomington20,3321.8%0 of 600.0%-1.8
Building Trades Credit UnionMaple Grove19,3291.7%0 of 600.0%-1.7
Carpenters Credit UnionSaint Paul15,2861.3%3 of 602.6%+1.3
26 other headquartered credit unionsNamed: St. Paul Federal Credit Union (11), Heartland Credit Union (2)109,2109.5%11 of 6011.4%+1.9
Headquartered elsewhere, also named
Wings Financial Credit Union (Colorado Springs, CO; 21 offices here): 39 answers; Connexus Credit Union (Wausau, WI; 1 office here): 18 answers; Baxter Credit Union (Vernon Hills, IL; 7 offices here): 5 answers
Banks and names we could not match
A listed national or online bank appeared in 18 of 60 answers (2 with no local credit union alongside). Unmatched names: Sperry Credit Union (9), Minnesota Credit Union (5), Sperry Federal Credit Union (3).

Madison, WI

Credit unions headquartered in Dane County, WI: 6 credit unions, 719,264 members. 60 answers.

Heartland has 4.7% of members and was named in 32 answers, 22 of them as Dane County Credit Union, which merged into Heartland in 2022. Madison Credit Union (0.4%) was named in 16.

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Madison, WI: member share from NCUA data compared with how often AI answers named each credit union
Credit unionMembersMember shareNamed inShare of local mentionsGap
UW Credit UnionMadison396,81255.2%51 of 6039.8%-15.4
Summit Credit UnionCottage Grove281,96239.2%29 of 6022.7%-16.5
Heartland Credit UnionMadison33,6744.7%32 of 6022 by a former name25.0%+20.3
Madison Credit UnionMadison3,1170.4%16 of 6012.5%+12.1
WEA Credit UnionMadison2,8580.4%0 of 600.0%-0.4
Madison Fire Department Credit UnionMadison8410.1%0 of 600.0%-0.1
Headquartered elsewhere, also named
Landmark Credit Union (Brookfield, WI; 1 office here): 6 answers; Co-Op Credit Union (Black River Falls, WI; 0 offices here): 4 answers; Covantage Credit Union (Antigo, WI; 0 offices here): 3 answers
Banks and names we could not match
A listed national or online bank appeared in 10 of 60 answers (0 with no local credit union alongside). Unmatched names: Madison Community Credit Union (14), Monona Credit Union (3), University Credit Union (3).

Richmond, VA

Credit unions headquartered in City of Richmond, VA; Henrico County, VA; Chesterfield County, VA; Hanover County, VA: 12 credit unions, 633,642 members. 60 answers.

Virginia Credit Union has 75.8% of members and 38.8% of local mentions. Henrico Federal (5.0%) was named once. Call Federal was named in 26, 9 times as RiverTrace, which merged into it in 2020. 12answers named a “Xenith Bank Credit Union,” a name that matches no credit union in NCUA’s list.

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Richmond, VA: member share from NCUA data compared with how often AI answers named each credit union
Credit unionMembersMember shareNamed inShare of local mentionsGap
Virginia Credit UnionNorth Chesterfield480,10075.8%54 of 6038.8%-37.0
Argent Federal Credit UnionChester35,3305.6%19 of 6013.7%+8.1
Henrico Federal Credit UnionHenrico31,6565.0%1 of 600.7%-4.3
Call Federal Credit UnionGlen Allen27,5084.3%26 of 609 by a former name18.7%+14.4
Dominion Energy Credit UnionNorth Chesterfield20,6863.3%8 of 605.8%+2.5
Connects Federal Credit UnionRichmond15,8582.5%11 of 607.9%+5.4
RVA Financial Federal Credit UnionRichmond10,5171.7%2 of 601.4%-0.3
Credit Union of RichmondRichmond3,9080.6%18 of 605 by a former name12.9%+12.3
Virginia United Methodist Credit UnionNorth Chesterfield2,7960.4%0 of 600.0%-0.4
Virginia State University Federal Credit UnionSouth Chesterfield1,8800.3%0 of 600.0%-0.3
2 other headquartered credit unions3,4030.6%0 of 600.0%-0.6
Headquartered elsewhere, also named
Chartway Credit Union (Virginia Beach, VA; 0 offices here): 4 answers; Members 1st Credit Union (Enola, PA; 0 offices here): 3 answers; Nasa Credit Union (Upper Marlboro, MD; 0 offices here): 2 answers
Banks and names we could not match
A listed national or online bank appeared in 11 of 60 answers (2 with no local credit union alongside). Unmatched names: Xenith Bank Credit Union (12), Dominion Employees Credit Union (5), Richmond Federal Credit Union (3).

Austin, TX

Credit unions headquartered in Travis County, TX; Williamson County, TX; Hays County, TX: 17 credit unions, 1,054,782 members. 60 answers.

UFCU has 40.8% of members and 21.5% of local mentions. A+ Federal, second by members at 18.2%, was named in 4 of 60. 14answers named an “Austin Energy Credit Union,” which is not in NCUA’s list.

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Austin, TX: member share from NCUA data compared with how often AI answers named each credit union
Credit unionMembersMember shareNamed inShare of local mentionsGap
University Federal Credit Union (UFCU)Austin429,86540.8%35 of 6021.5%-19.3
A+ Federal Credit UnionAustin191,61418.2%4 of 602.5%-15.7
Austin Telco Federal Credit UnionAustin94,2198.9%29 of 6017.8%+8.9
United Heritage Credit UnionAustin84,0148.0%8 of 604.9%-3.1
Greater Texas Federal Credit UnionAustin73,6347.0%23 of 604 by a former name14.1%+7.1
Velocity Credit UnionAustin69,1126.6%8 of 604.9%-1.7
Amplify Credit UnionAustin45,8444.3%20 of 6012.3%+8.0
Public Employees Credit Union (PECU)Austin20,7832.0%3 of 601.8%-0.2
Capitol Credit UnionAustin13,6901.3%11 of 606.7%+5.4
Government Employees Federal Credit UnionAustin9,3820.9%0 of 600.0%-0.9
7 other headquartered credit unionsNamed: Travis County Credit Union (2), Austin Federal Credit Union (20)22,6252.2%20 of 6013.5%+11.3
Headquartered elsewhere, also named
Empower Credit Union (Syracuse, NY; 0 offices here): 5 answers; Connexus Credit Union (Wausau, WI; 0 offices here): 3 answers; Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU) (Houston, TX; 0 offices here): 3 answers
Banks and names we could not match
A listed national or online bank appeared in 9 of 60 answers (0 with no local credit union alongside). Unmatched names: Austin Energy Credit Union (14), Texas Credit Union (12), Choice Credit Union (3).

What this means for your credit union

1. Claim your old names in plain text

114 of 480answers used a former name. If you merged or rebranded, say “formerly” with every old name on your About page and in branch listings, keep old domains redirecting, and update directory profiles that still carry the old name. The assistants keep reading those pages long after the sign changes.

2. Put eligibility in one sentence, including the easy route

18 of the 54eligibility statements we checked did not match the credit union’s own page. List your counties and your catch-all route (association or foundation) in text on a page called Who can join, and link it from every product page.

3. Do not assume your size shows up

Several credit unions with large member bases were named in fewer than one answer in six. Publish a plain page for each question in this study: first checking account, joining without an employer, auto loans, first home, and moving to town. Write them in the words a new member types.

4. Check each assistant and each market separately

The four assistants named different credit unions, at different rates, with different mistakes. Measure the questions future members ask in every market you serve, read the answers, and re-check after each change.

How we measured

Questions. Five fixed questions per metro, with the metro’s name filled in:

  • What's the best credit union in [city] for someone opening their first checking account?
  • Can I join a credit union in [city] if I don't work for a specific company?
  • Which credit union in [city] has good auto loan rates right now?
  • Which [city] credit union is best for a first-time homebuyer?
  • I just moved to [city]. Should I bank with a credit union or a big bank?

Assistants. ChatGPT (openai/gpt-4o-mini), Gemini (google/gemini-2.5-flash), Claude (anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5), Perplexity (perplexity/sonar), through the OpenRouter API, with the system prompt MentionedOn’s public leaderboards use, temperature 0.3, and answers up to 700 tokens. Each question was asked 3 times per assistant: 60 answers per metro, 480 in all, collected on .

Who members choose. NCUA’s 5300 Call Report data for the quarter ended June 30, 2026: members (account 083), with the account meaning checked against the file’s own dictionary. A credit union belongs to a metro when NCUA’s branch file places its main office in one of the listed counties. NCUA reports totals per credit union, not per branch, so member share is a share among headquartered credit unions, not a share of all local deposits or accounts.

Matching names. Every credit union name in an answer was matched to an NCUA charter using its official name, trade names and common short forms, and counted once per answer. Former names count for the current credit union only when a merger or rebrand notice, or NCUA’s own records, confirm them. National and online banks were matched against a fixed list of brands.

Eligibility. We found statements about who can join, then checked the ones about 9frequently discussed credit unions against each credit union’s membership page on September 26, 2026. A statement counts as differing only where that page says something else. We did not judge statements about other credit unions.

Limits

  • Answers vary between runs. Each metro has 60 sampled answers (5 questions, 4 assistants, 3 samples each), not every question people ask.
  • Answers came from the assistants' APIs through OpenRouter using lower-cost model tiers; the consumer ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity apps can answer differently, especially when they browse.
  • Member share compares credit unions headquartered in the listed counties. NCUA reports each credit union's totals, not totals per branch, so it is not a local market share, and credit unions headquartered elsewhere with local branches are shown separately without a member share.
  • Names were matched to NCUA charters with aliases and a capitalization rule; a credit union named in an unusual way may be missed. Every match is kept in the audit file.
  • Eligibility statements were reviewed for the nine credit unions whose membership pages we checked; a statement is counted as differing only where that page, checked on the date shown, says something else. Statements about other credit unions were not judged.
  • Gemini reached the 700-token answer limit in 76 of its 120 answers, usually in closing advice after its list; names after the cut would be missed.
  • AI answers are AI output, not endorsements or rankings by MentionedOn.

Credit union names appear here because they are measured data. Being named or not named in these answers says nothing about a credit union’s quality, rates or service. See our measurement methodology for how MentionedOn samples AI answers.

Download the dataset (JSON): metros and counties, NCUA quarter and sources, questions, assistants, run date, per credit union rows, per metro summaries, reviewed eligibility statements and limits. Quoted excerpts are trimmed to one sentence, with markdown, citation markers and dashes normalized. Full answer text is kept in MentionedOn's evidence files.

Sources

Membership data

Former names

Membership pages checked

What do the assistants tell a new member about you?

Run the free scan on your credit union, or read what we see across credit unions and what to fix first.