Evergreen monthly benchmark — Apr 27
Skincare
Apr 27The skincare category remains a CeraVe/La Roche-Posay duopoly at the foundation tier, with The Ordinary and EltaMD locked in as universal secondary picks. Premium recommendations split sharply by model: Claude prefers Asian imports (Beauty of Joseon, Biore), ChatGPT pushes legacy commerce brands (Lancome. RoC, L'Oreal), Gemini favors emerging clean brands (Naturium, Skinfix), and Perplexity surfaces clinical/luxury (SkinMedica, Tatcha, Drunk Elephant). This is the most brand-fragmented category at the secondary tier, meaning targeted optimization for specific AI surfaces is highly viable for challengers.
Rank Trend
How top brands moved week over week. Rank 1 is the top position.
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 4 models emphasize sunscreen as the single highest-ROI skincare product.
- Every model recommends a simple 4-step routine (cleanser, treatment, moisturizer, SPF) over complex multi-step routines.
- All flag retinoids as the proven anti-aging active for late-20s skin.
- Budget prompts universally feature CeraVe, The Ordinary, and La Roche-Posay.
- Models agree 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
| Agent | #1 | #2 | #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| chatgpt | e.l.f. | The Ordinary | CeraVe |
| claude | CeraVe | La Roche-Posay | Maelove |
| gemini | CeraVe | SkinCeuticals | Fresh |
| perplexity | CeraVe | La Roche-Posay | SkinCeuticals |
What This Means
- ChatGPT is the most commerce-formatted with explicit prices and ratings, uniquely surfacing Lancome, RoC.
- L'Oreal, Remedy Skin, Bubble, Peach & Lily, and Byoma that no other model recommends.
- Claude is the most opinionated, calling out Korean/Japanese sunscreens (Beauty of Joseon, Biore, Round Lab) as dramatically better than US options and explicitly skipping eye creams and peptide marketing, and Claude P3 declined to rank brands at all.
- Calling it "the wrong frame." Gemini introduces lifestyle/desk-job framing (blue light protection, tech neck, office air) and surfaces Skinfix, Farmacy, Kiehl's, Sephora Collection, Mario Badescu, and Aveeno that don't appear elsewhere.
- Perplexity is the most conservative and surfaces Vanicream, Eucerin, SkinMedica, Tatcha, Drunk Elephant, Versed, Cocokind, Aesop, and Philosophy in its rankings.
Opportunity for Brands
- Korean/Japanese imports (Beauty of Joseon, Biore, Round Lab) only appear in Claude.
- Maelove appears only in Claude and Gemini.
- Naturium only appears in Claude.
- Differin only appears in Claude and Perplexity.
- Lancome, RoC, L'Oreal, Remedy Skin, Bubble, Peach & Lily, Byoma only appear in ChatGPT.
- Skinfix, Farmacy, Kiehl's, Sephora Collection only appear in Gemini.
- Vanicream, Eucerin, SkinMedica, Tatcha, Drunk Elephant, Versed, Cocokind, Aesop, Philosophy primarily appear in Perplexity.
- Major brands like Olay, Estée Lauder, Murad, Glow Recipe, and Sunday Riley are largely absent from this run.
Frequently Asked Questions
What skincare does AI recommend most?▾
Which skincare brand ranks #1 across all AI models?▾
Why does ChatGPT recommend different skincare than Claude?▾
What skincare brands are invisible to AI?▾
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 market is locked at the foundation tier by CeraVe and La Roche-Posay in AI recommendations. Above that, premium and emerging brands have wildly different visibility per AI surface. Korean/Japanese sunscreens dominate Claude but are invisible to ChatGPT and Gemini. Legacy beauty brands (Lancome, RoC, L'Oreal) appear only in ChatGPT, a likely commerce-bias signal. If your skincare brand isn't CeraVe or La Roche-Posay, you're fighting for fragmented per-model visibility. Which means you can win specific AI surfaces with targeted optimization rather than competing for everywhere at once.
Book Your Free AuditNeed help getting your brand into these AI recommendations? Robert Hu offers strategic consulting for e-commerce brands