Evergreen monthly benchmark — 2026-04
Skincare
2026-04The skincare category has a two-tier AI recommendation structure: CeraVe And La Roche-Posay dominate as universally-recommended foundations, while premium (SkinCeuticals) and budget (The Ordinary) fill specific niches. Legacy drugstore brands (Neutrogena, Olay) hold modest ground. Celebrity-driven brands (Drunk Elephant, Sunday Riley) appear mostly in ChatGPT, a signal they're commerce-influenced rather than evidence-backed.
Top Brands by AI Mention Frequency
Mention frequency counts how many times a brand appeared across all AI responses. This differs from top-pick rank, which reflects each model’s #1 choice.
Why These Brands Win
- All four models emphasize that sunscreen is the single highest-ROI product in skincare.
- Every model recommends CeraVe or La Roche-Posay as the foundation cleanser/moisturizer.
- Every model warns against over-complicated 10-step routines.
- Budget prompts universally feature CeraVe, The Ordinary, and La Roche-Posay.
- Models agree that consistency matters more than brand selection.
Cross-Agent Comparison
How 4 AI models rank the same category. Hover a brand to trace it across models.
4 agents · top 3 each
The Ordinary leads in total mentions (8) but doesn’t appear below. High mention volume doesn’t always equal top-pick authority.
| Agent | #1 | #2 | #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| chatgpt | NY Post Remedy | CeraVe | La Roche-Posay |
| claude | CeraVe | La Roche-Posay | Beauty of Joseon |
| gemini | La Roche-Posay | CeraVe | SkinCeuticals |
| perplexity | CeraVe | La Roche-Posay | Cetaphil |
The Ordinary·8 mentions, outside top 3 for all models | |||
What This Means
- ChatGPT is the most brand-diverse, uniquely surfacing Drunk Elephant, Sunday Riley, Shiseido, Olay, and Dermalogica in its top picks.
- Claude is the most opinionated, explicitly calling out brands to skip (Drunk Elephant, Sunday Riley, Tatcha, Augustinus Bader) as overpriced marketing.
- Gemini surfaces the widest range of niche and trending brands (Naturium, Prequel, Dieux, Timeless, Skinfix, Good Molecules, Cosrx, Alastin) that no other model mentions.
- Perplexity is the most conservative and consolidated, sticking to the 5 most-cited evidence-based brands.
Opportunity for Brands
- Timeless, Dieux, Prequel, Skinfix, Cosrx, and Naturium only appear in Gemini.
- Drunk Elephant only appears in ChatGPT and Gemini.
- Sunday Riley and Shiseido only appear in ChatGPT.
- Good Molecules only appears in Gemini.
- Alastin only appears in Gemini.
- only appears in Perplexity.
- Cetaphil only appears in Perplexity.
- SkinMedica appears only in Claude and Gemini.
- Obagi only appears in Claude.
- Major brands like Olay, Kiehl's, Clinique, Estée Lauder, and Murad are largely absent or barely mentioned.
How we measure this
Each benchmark runs the same standardized prompts across multiple leading AI systems, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. We use consistent, category-specific questions designed to surface genuine product recommendations — not sponsored results.
Responses are parsed to extract brand mentions, rank position, and frequency. We then analyze cross-model agreement, identify which brands consistently appear in top positions, and flag where AI outputs diverge from marketplace trends.
Evergreen categories are benchmarked monthly. Results reflect organic AI behavior at the time of testing. Read the full methodology
Your competitors are showing up in AI results. Are you?
The skincare category is a CeraVe/La Roche-Posay duopoly in AI recommendations. If your brand isn't one of those two, you're fighting for visibility in a crowded tier-2 space. Emerging brands like Naturium and Prequel have strong presence in Gemini but are invisible in other models. A significant discovery gap for brands trying to scale beyond a single AI surface.
Book Your Free AuditNeed help getting your brand into these AI recommendations? Robert Hu offers strategic consulting for e-commerce brands