Monthly census, no. 01, mechanical keyboards
Which keyboard brands AI actually names
Collected 2026-10-15 across six prompts about mechanical and ergonomic keyboards for programmers, through one route so far: the Claude Code CLI with web search, Sonnet, 3 repeats per prompt (18 answers). The next census moves Claude to the Messages API route and adds Google through a disclosed data vendor.
The table below covers the Claude route. A brand's row leads with a cluster-bootstrap range, which is wider than a simple proportion interval because it accounts for prompts repeating, not just answers; a narrower Wilson range sits beside it, which treats every answer as an independent draw. The method page explains why the bootstrap is the headline figure.
One brand, across every repeat
Keychron, the most-named brand on the Claude route, was named in 14 of 18 answers (6 prompts, 3 repeats each). Each square below is one answer: filled means Keychron showed up in it, outline means it did not.
Keychron, claude route: named in 14 of 18 answers (6 prompts, 3 repeats each)
Explore by route
Open the route below to see its table. More routes will open here as the public census grows past this first one.
Claude route · n=18
This is an internal research route: the Claude Code CLI with web search, Sonnet, 18 answers across 6 prompts at 3 repeats each, collected 2026-10-15. The next census uses the Claude API route, with Google covered through a disclosed data vendor.
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| Brand | Named | Wilson range (treats answers as independent) | Mean rank when named | Top 3 of answers | Brand type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keychron | 9 to 18 of 18 | 10 to 16 of 18 | 2.14 | 13 of 18 (72%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Logitech | 8 to 18 of 18 | 10 to 16 of 18 | 2.64 | 10 of 18 (56%) | Mass-market electronics |
| ZSA | 3 to 16 of 18 | 6 to 14 of 18 | 1.90 | 10 of 18 (56%) | Keyboard specialist |
| NuPhy | 2 to 15 of 18 | 4 to 12 of 18 | 2.62 | 5 of 18 (28%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Kinesis | 2 to 14 of 18 | 4 to 12 of 18 | 3.00 | 6 of 18 (33%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Cherry | 0 to 9 of 18 | 1 to 7 of 18 | 2.33 | 2 of 18 (11%) | Keyboard specialist |
| MoErgo | 0 to 7 of 18 | 1 to 7 of 18 | 3.67 | 1 of 18 (6%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Akko | 0 to 8 of 18 | 1 to 7 of 18 | 4.33 | 1 of 18 (6%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Royal Kludge | 0 to 9 of 18 | 1 to 7 of 18 | 5.00 | 0 of 18 (0%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Perixx | 0 to 6 of 18 | 1 to 6 of 18 | 2.50 | 2 of 18 (11%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Wooting | 0 to 7 of 18 | 1 to 6 of 18 | 3.50 | 1 of 18 (6%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Dygma | 0 to 6 of 18 | 1 to 6 of 18 | 4.50 | 0 of 18 (0%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Microsoft | 0 to 6 of 18 | 1 to 6 of 18 | 4.50 | 0 of 18 (0%) | Mass-market electronics |
| Epomaker | 0 to 4 of 18 | 0 to 5 of 18 | 5.00 | 0 of 18 (0%) | Keyboard specialist |
| HHKB | 0 to 4 of 18 | 0 to 5 of 18 | 5.00 | 0 of 18 (0%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Leopold | 0 to 4 of 18 | 0 to 5 of 18 | 6.00 | 0 of 18 (0%) | Keyboard specialist |
| Ducky | 0 to 4 of 18 | 0 to 5 of 18 | 7.00 | 0 of 18 (0%) | Keyboard specialist |
Named leads with a cluster-bootstrap range (10,000 resamples); the Wilson range beside it treats each answer as an independent draw, which is why it runs narrower. Brand type: keyboard specialist versus mass-market electronics, by primary business. Only Logitech and Microsoft are classed mass-market here; Cherry's core business is keyboard switches and keyboards, so it is a specialist despite being a large manufacturer.
What the engines cite
On the Claude route, RTINGS is the most-cited source in this pass (12 citations); we saw no Reddit or YouTube links from this route. The full check on whether a cited domain is what it claims to be, including the worked example of a flagged one, is on the method page.
Corrections
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