5W names Selkirk and JOOLA top pickleball brands in AI search rankings

Selkirk and JOOLA have become the names AI engines reach for first in pickleball, even as Wilson and Babolat still carry more retail muscle. That is the sharpest message from 5W’s first Pickleball AI Visibility Index 2026, a ranking that puts answer-engine visibility on the same stage as shelf space and Amazon presence.

5W said the index, released June 9, ran more than 65 consumer-intent prompts through ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. The firm ranked 25 brands by estimated AI citation share across paddles, facility chains, apparel and footwear, pro tours and governing bodies, and retail, tech and ratings. In that mix, Selkirk and JOOLA together accounted for an estimated 19.5% of all pickleball AI citations, a share that underscored how sharply conversational search can diverge from traditional distribution power.

The top 10 by AI citation share were Selkirk, JOOLA, Paddletek, Engage, CRBN, Six Zero, ProKennex, Vatic Pro, Gearbox and Diadem. Franklin Sports landed at No. 11 despite broad category awareness, a reminder that name recognition alone does not guarantee a strong showing when buyers ask an AI which paddle to buy. 5W also said smaller brands such as Six Zero, Vatic Pro and ProKennex punch above their commercial weight because of editorial authority and credentialed-player partnerships.

That matters because the prompts were the kind actual buyers use, including “best beginner pickleball paddle 2026,” “best pickleball shoes” and “what paddle do pros use.” In other words, the index is not measuring abstract brand fame. It is measuring who shows up when the consumer is already close to a purchase decision.

The numbers also show how crowded, but still fluid, the category remains. 5W said five paddle brands, Selkirk, JOOLA, Paddletek, Engage and Onix, account for roughly 52% of North American market share, with Selkirk alone at about 11%. At the same time, pickleball participation has surged from about 4.2 million players in 2020 to more than 24 million in 2025, with one 2026 SFIA-based report putting the figure at 24.3 million Americans.

The broader business backdrop is just as telling. The Professional Pickleball Association and Major League Pickleball completed their merger in February 2024 under the United Pickleball Association umbrella, and the merged structure said annual player payouts would rise by nearly 250% in 2024 versus 2023. Franklin Sports added more heat by signing Anna Leigh Waters in January 2026 and becoming title sponsor of the US Open Pickleball Championships in February 2026.

For brands chasing this sport, the lesson is blunt: AI search appears to reward sharper editorial proof, stronger performance associations and more machine-readable credibility than brute-force distribution alone. In pickleball, shelf leaders and answer-engine leaders are no longer the same thing.