Emirates is the most recommended brand in the United Arab Emirates and Saudia (Saudi Airlines) is the most recommended in Saudi Arabia, according to YouGov’s Most Recommended Brands 2026 report, which ranks brands by positive Recommend scores among current customers.
Emirates scored 92.8% in the UAE and Saudia 92.4% in Saudi Arabia. Airlines took the top spot in both markets.
“Strong brands are not built on visibility alone,” Imran Ahmed, Regional Vice President of YouGov MENA, said in the report’s foreword. He said brands earn trust by consistently delivering products, services and experiences that customers are willing to endorse.
Airlines lead both markets
Emirates also ranked third among airlines in Saudi Arabia at 83.9%, behind Qatar Airways (84.2%). Saudia placed fifth among UAE airlines at 83.4%, behind Etihad Airways (86.5%), Qatar Airways (86.4%) and Singapore Airlines (86.1%).
Riyadh Air ranked fourth in Saudi Arabia at 83.4%, followed by Egypt Air at 79.9%.
Both leaders scored highest on satisfaction, at 96.1% for Emirates and 94.9% for Saudia, and lowest on value, at 83.5% and 83.3% respectively.
Four brands feature in both top 10s
In the UAE, Galaxy (Samsung) ranked second at 90.8%, followed by iPhone (90.3%), Emaar (90.1%), Almarai (89.7%) and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (89.7%). Nike (89.5%), adidas (88.1%), Emirates Group (87.6%) and Dior Beauty (87.6%) completed the list.
In Saudi Arabia, Emaar ranked second at 89.3%, followed by adidas (89.1%), Qiddiya (88.9%), Hilton (88.6%) and Chanel Beauty (88.5%). Albaik (88.3%), Galaxy (Samsung) (87.8%), Dior Beauty (87.8%) and Huda Beauty (87.7%) rounded out the top 10.
Emaar, adidas, Galaxy (Samsung) and Dior Beauty appear in both markets’ top 10s.
Tiffany Break, Bupa Arabia post biggest gains
Tiffany Break was the UAE’s most improved brand, its score rising 8.5 points to 80.6% from 72.1% a year earlier. Property Finder followed with a 7.8-point gain to 75.3%, then Vanish (+6.1), Mentos (+5.8) and Président (+5.1).
The remaining UAE entries were du (+4.9), Alshaya Group (+4.8), Yas Bay (+4.6), X, formerly Twitter (+4.5), and Hilton Honors (+4.2).
In Saudi Arabia, Bupa Arabia led with a 7.3-point rise to 81.1% from 73.8%. Burger King gained 6.3 points to 72.8%, while Samsung Pay rose 6.0 points to 83.1%.
Calvin Klein (+5.8), Dubai Mall (+5.3), Booking.com (+5.2), Starbucks (+5.2), Hungerstation (+5.1), Aziz Mall, Jeddah (+5.0) and Hitachi (+5.0) completed the list.
Albaik leads dining in both countries
Albaik topped the quick-service restaurant and dining category in both markets, scoring 85.8% in the UAE and 88.3% in Saudi Arabia.
In the UAE, it was followed by Cheesecake Factory (82.4%), TGI Friday’s (79.4%), KFC (78.3%) and Pizza Hut (78.0%). In Saudi Arabia, Al Tazaj ranked second at 82.5%, ahead of Costa Coffee (76.5%), Pizza Inn (75.4%) and Steak House (75.4%).
In the UAE food category, Almarai led at 89.7%, followed by Baskin-Robbins (84.6%), Nestlé Fitness (84.4%), Britannia (83.4%) and Galaxy (Chocolate) (83.3%).
Consumers praise widely, complain directly
The report also surveyed how consumers share brand experiences. In the UAE, 95% of respondents shared an experience with a brand in the past three months, as did 90% in Saudi Arabia.
Positive experiences were shared by 78% of respondents in both countries, compared with 28% who shared negative ones. Neutral experiences were shared by 76% in the UAE and 64% in Saudi Arabia.
Negative feedback tended to go straight to brands. In the UAE, 26% of those who shared negative experiences contacted the brand directly, compared with 8% who posted on social media. In Saudi Arabia, the figures were 10% and 5%.
Positive experiences travelled more publicly. In the UAE, 70% of those sharing good experiences did so privately, 38% left a review or rating and 35% posted publicly on social media. In Saudi Arabia, the figures were 69%, 44% and 43%.
Motivations differed by market. UAE respondents shared positive experiences mainly to help others discover something good (46%), followed by sharing their enjoyment (37%) and expressing personal views or identity (33%). Saudi respondents cited the same top reason (43%), followed by expressing views or identity (36%) and sharing enjoyment (32%).
On negative experiences, the leading UAE reason was that the experience fell below expectations (30%), followed by warning others (27%) and validating their experience with others (27%). Warning others led in Saudi Arabia at 37%, followed by expressing frustration (29%) and falling below expectations (29%).
Rankings draw on YouGov’s BrandIndex data from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Scores reflect responses to the question of which brands people would recommend to a friend or colleague, among those who had bought from the brand in the past 30 days to 12 months.
Brands needed a minimum sample of 300 and at least six months of scores to qualify. Most-improved brands needed scores for at least 18 months.
The experience-sharing survey ran online from June 9 to July 8, 2026, with 946 respondents in the UAE and 1,002 in Saudi Arabia, weighted to be nationally representative of adults aged 18 and over.
