CiteLadder asked Claude Sonnet 5.5 20 buyer questions about wireless earbuds, three times each, in three conditions: from memory, with web search available, and told to search first. Sony was the brand Claude named most often in every condition. When Claude was told to search, the rest of the top five shifted: Samsung and Jabra dropped out, while Soundcore and CMF came in. This page reports what Claude said through the Anthropic API. It is not a ranking of which earbuds are best.
What we asked Claude
The 20 prompts cover the questions buyers type when they shop for earbuds. Some ask for an overall pick. Some describe a buyer or a use case. Others ask about budget, a single feature, or a comparison shortlist.
Examples:
- "What are the best wireless earbuds you can buy right now?"
- "Best earbuds for sleeping on my side comfortably?"
- "Good wireless earbuds under $50?"
Each prompt ran three times in each condition, for 60 answers per condition. A separate model listed the brands each answer named, and code did the counting. The requests did not include a current date.
Brands Claude named from memory
With no tools, Claude named 37 distinct brands across 60 answers, about 6.2 per answer. Sony appeared in 77% of answers. It was named first 20 times and appeared in all three runs for 15 of the 20 prompts.
Bose (67%) and Apple (65%) came next. Each was named in every run for 10 prompts. Samsung (53%) and Jabra (45%) completed the top five.
Soundcore appeared in 38% of answers, but it was named first 9 times. That is more often than Bose or Apple. It tended to lead on budget questions.
Run agreement from memory was 63.9%. A brand named in one run often did not return in the next run of the same prompt.
How often Claude searched when it could
When web search was available but not required, Claude searched in 15 of 60 answers. It ran 19 searches in total. For most earbud questions it answered from what it already knew.
The results in this condition stayed close to memory. Sony and Bose each appeared in 70% of answers, Apple in 65% and Samsung in 62%. EarFun entered the top ten at 30%.
What changed when Claude was told to search
When the system prompt told Claude to search before answering, it searched in all 60 answers and ran 254 searches. The answers named more distinct brands (51) but fewer per answer (5.1). Run agreement fell to 52.5%.
Sony stayed the leader. It appeared in 60% of answers and was named first 28 times, with an average position of 1.4. Apple (43%), Soundcore (40%) and Bose (37%) were also in the top five. Sony, Bose and Apple were in the top five in both conditions.
Two brands left the top five:
- Samsung fell from 53.3% from memory to 15% when told to search.
- Jabra fell from 45% to 13.3%.
Two brands entered it:
- Soundcore moved from 38.3% to 40%.
- CMF reached 25%. It was not in the memory top ten.
Technics and JLab also appeared in 20% of searched answers. Neither was in the memory top ten.
What Claude searched for
Most queries read like a shopper's search. 82.8% of them contained the word "best". Examples:
- "best true wireless earbuds 2025 rtings wirecutter"
- "best budget earbuds under $50 review Soundcore EarFun Anker"
- "Sony WF-1000XM6 vs AirPods Pro 3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Gen 2 comparison"
44.5% of queries included a year. 2025 appeared in 106 queries and 2026 in 8. The requests gave no date, so Claude chose these years on its own. Some queries named review sites or brands directly, so what Claude already knew shaped what it looked up.
None of the answers carried inline citations.
Sites Claude's searches returned
A small group of review sites showed up again and again. soundguys.com appeared in the results for 53 of the 60 searched answers (88%). tomsguide.com appeared for 52 (87%), rtings.com for 44 (73%) and techradar.com for 42 (70%).
whathifi.com, scarbir.com, recordingnow.com, techgearlab.com and rollingstone.com followed. treblab.com, an earbud brand's own site, appeared for 22 answers (37%).
What an earbud brand can take from this
From memory, Claude leaned on a familiar set of brands. When it searched, the answers followed the review sites it found. Brands with strong showings on review lists held their place or gained. Samsung and Jabra were named much less often when Claude searched.
A few practical points:
- Coverage on the review sites listed above matters for searched answers. These sites appeared in the results for most of the 60 answers.
- Claude searched for specific needs like running, budget or reliability. A product that a reviewer names for one of these needs has a clear route into the answer.
- Queries carried years, mostly 2025. A current review that names the model year can match those searches.
- Answers varied from run to run. One test tells you little. CiteLadder repeats each prompt to measure how consistently a brand appears.
Brand shares in each condition
Share of the 60 answers (20 prompts, three runs) that named each brand. "Prompts named in every run" counts the prompts where the brand appeared in all three runs from memory.
| Brand | From memory | Prompts named in every run | Told to search |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sony | 76.7% | 15 | 60% |
| Bose | 66.7% | 10 | 36.7% |
| Apple | 65% | 10 | 43.3% |
| Samsung | 53.3% | 7 | not in top 15 |
| Jabra | 45% | 8 | not in top 15 |
| Soundcore | 38.3% | 3 | 40% |
| 38.3% | 5 | not in top 15 | |
| Nothing | 35% | 5 | 20% |
| Beats | 26.7% | 4 | not in top 15 |
| Sennheiser | 25% | 2 | 20% |
| CMF | not in top 15 | 25% | |
| Technics | not in top 15 | 20% | |
| JLab | not in top 15 | 20% | |
| EarFun | not in top 15 | 16.7% |
Sites Claude's searches returned
When told to search. Share of answers whose searches returned at least one page from the site.
| Site | Answers | Share of searched answers |
|---|---|---|
| soundguys.com | 53 | 88.3% |
| tomsguide.com | 52 | 86.7% |
| rtings.com | 44 | 73.3% |
| techradar.com | 42 | 70% |
| whathifi.com | 35 | 58.3% |
| scarbir.com | 32 | 53.3% |
| recordingnow.com | 29 | 48.3% |
| techgearlab.com | 24 | 40% |
| rollingstone.com | 24 | 40% |
| treblab.com | 22 | 36.7% |
The 20 prompts
- What are the best wireless earbuds you can buy right now? (best overall)
- Which wireless earbuds have the best sound quality overall? (best overall)
- Most reliable true wireless earbuds that people actually love long term? (best overall)
- Top rated wireless earbuds according to reviewers this year? (best overall)
- Best wireless earbuds for running that won't fall out? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Which earbuds work best with an Android phone? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Good wireless earbuds for taking work calls in a noisy office? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Best earbuds for sleeping on my side comfortably? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- What wireless earbuds are best for people with small ears? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Recommend earbuds for gaming with low latency on phone and PC (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Best wireless earbuds for long flights and frequent travel? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Which wireless earbuds are safe and durable for a teenager? (for a specific buyer or use case)
- Best cheap wireless earbuds that still sound decent? (budget or free)
- Good wireless earbuds under $50? (budget or free)
- Best value noise cancelling earbuds that aren't super expensive? (budget or free)
- Which earbuds have the strongest active noise cancellation? (feature-led)
- Wireless earbuds with the longest battery life per charge? (feature-led)
- Earbuds that support multipoint connection to laptop and phone at once? (feature-led)
- Compare the top three premium noise cancelling earbuds for me (comparison shortlist)
- Shortlist the best workout earbuds and how they differ (comparison shortlist)
Frequently asked questions
Which earbud brand did Claude name most often?
Sony, in every condition. From memory it appeared in 77% of answers. When told to search it appeared in 60% and was named first 28 times. This shows what Claude said, not which earbuds are best.
Does Claude search the web for earbud questions on its own?
Rarely. With search available, it searched in 15 of 60 answers and ran 19 searches. When told to search first, it searched in all 60 answers.
Which sites did Claude's searches return most?
soundguys.com, tomsguide.com, rtings.com and techradar.com. soundguys.com appeared in the results for 53 of the 60 searched answers.
Will the Claude app give the same answers?
Not necessarily. These results come from Claude Sonnet 5.5 through the Anthropic API at low effort, with no current date given. The Claude apps can behave differently, and answers also varied between runs of the same prompt.
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