AI Visibility Index: Contract Machining & Machine Shops in Minnesota

When a buyer asks an AI assistant for a contract machining & machine shops supplier in Minnesota, these are the companies that get named. This is what we found when the cell was last measured.

343 companies tracked
Last measured September 30, 2026
Next measurement October 30, 2026

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The headline numbers

Never named by AI

310 of 343

companies never appeared in a single buying question

They were asked the same 5 buying questions as everyone else in this cell and were not named once.

33 named at least once
310 never named

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Cell average: 0.19of 15
Across all 343 tracked companies.
Top ten average: 5.1of 15
The ten most visible companies in the cell.

A company's score is how many of the 15 measured answers named it.

The top ten in Minnesota

These are the companies AI assistants named most often when Minnesota buyers went looking for a supplier in this category.

Top 10 most AI-visible Contract Machining & Machine Shops companies in Minnesota, measured September 30, 2026
Rank	Company	Location	AI visibility
1	Blanda Inc. 12 employeesEagan, Minnesota	Eagan, Minnesota	8 of 15 answers
2	Challenge Machine 15 employeesBlaine, Minnesota 3 name variants Challenge Machinemost common4 Challenge Machine & Manufacturing2 Challenge Machine, Inc.2	Blaine, Minnesota	8 of 15 answers
3	Procut‑CNC Minnesota	Minnesota	8 of 15 answers
4	Unity Precision Manufacturing Minnesota	Minnesota	6 of 15 answers
5	C-Axis, Inc. 12 employeesHamel, Minnesota 2 name variants C-Axismost common3 C-Axis, Inc.1	Hamel, Minnesota	4 of 15 answers
6	Twin City EDM and Manufacturing Inc 40 employeesFridley, Minnesota	Fridley, Minnesota	4 of 15 answers
7	Colburn Manufacturing Company Minnesota	Minnesota	4 of 15 answers
8	Graham Research Inc 55 employeesMinneapolis, Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minnesota	3 of 15 answers
9	ICA Corporation 65 employeesMaple Grove, Minnesota 2 name variants ICA Corporationmost common2 Imperial Custom Manufacturing (ICA Corp)1	Maple Grove, Minnesota	3 of 15 answers
10	Tolerance Masters 47 employeesCircle Pines, Minnesota 2 name variants Tolerance Mastersmost common2 Tolerance Masters, Inc.1	Circle Pines, Minnesota	3 of 15 answers

48 more companies were named at least once. Companies outside the top ten are counted in the averages but not named here.

Also named, based in another state

AI assistants named these companies too, but MacRAE'S lists them in a different state, not Minnesota. They belong to that state's ranking, not this one.

Company	State	Mentions
Midwest Precision Manufacturing	Wisconsin	5 of 15
Vision Machine Inc.	Texas	3 of 15
Marshall Manufacturing Company	Virginia	2 of 15
Mendell, Inc.	New Jersey	2 of 15
Ideal Industries, Inc.	Illinois	1 of 15
IPM, Inc.	Connecticut	1 of 15

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The five questions we asked

Every company in this cell is measured on the same questions, written the way a buyer would type them. That is what makes the ranking a comparison rather than a collection of anecdotes.

1“Best contract machining and machine shop companies in Minnesota”
2“Who supplies precision CNC milled and turned components on contract in Minnesota”
3“I need a Minnesota contract machining partner for a 2,000-unit stainless steel medical device run, who should I talk to”
4“Top contract machining and machine shop suppliers in Minnesota for industrial OEM buyers”
5“Which Minnesota contract machining and machine shop providers can handle 5-axis CNC work with tight tolerance requirements”
6“List 20 contract machining and machine shop companies in Minnesota with their specialties.”the roster question

Each question is asked more than once, which is why a company's score is out of 15 answers rather than out of the number of questions.

Where AI drew its answers from

These are the sources the answers in this cell leaned on most, ranked by how many of the named companies each one stands behind.

thomasnet.comDirectory
5 companies
challengemachine.com
3 companies
c-axis.com
2 companies
icacorp.com
2 companies
mmeincmn.com
2 companies
tolerancemasters.com
2 companies
unitemfg.com
2 companies
procut-cnc.com
1 company
unityprecisionmfg.com
1 company
twincityedm.com
1 company
a1eng.com
1 company
agassiztool.com
1 company

76 sources were cited across this cell's answers from 66 domains. A directory page often stands behind several companies at once; a company's own site usually stands behind one.

Minnesota in context

Minnesota ranks 17th of 35 measured states in this category. Each bar is the share of that state's tracked companies that AI assistants named at least once; across every measured state in this category the share is 7%.

Minnesota (this report)Other measured statesCategory average (7%)

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