Across 77 prompts, 12 brands, and 473 mentions analyzed on ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, the AI sunscreen landscape tells a fundamentally different story than the pharmacy shelf. Brand Share - which weighs where in the AI response a brand appears and how much detail is given, not just whether it's mentioned, so a brand featured prominently at the top with rich detail scores exponentially higher than one briefly listed at the end - reveals a market where La Roche-Posay and EltaMD command AI authority far beyond their mass-market footprints, while Neutrogena, the category's most-mentioned brand, consistently underperforms its mention volume in share terms. The most critical finding: 96% of all citations driving AI recommendations come from third-party sources, meaning brands that have not invested in earned media are entirely dependent on content they do not control.
| Rank | ChatGPT | Share | Gemini | Share | Claude | Share | Parent Co. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neutrogena | 25.1% | La Roche-Posay | 34.1% | EltaMD | 25.7% | Mixed |
| 2 | EltaMD | 18.8% | EltaMD | 23.8% | La Roche-Posay | 23.1% | Mixed |
| 3 | La Roche-Posay | 14.9% | Neutrogena | 17.4% | Neutrogena | 19.7% | Mixed |
| 4 | Banana Boat | 11.0% | Banana Boat | 11.4% | Banana Boat | 10.0% | Edgewell Personal Care |
| 5 | Coppertone Sport | 9.5% | CeraVe | 5.8% | CeraVe | 8.3% | Mixed |
Neutrogena leads all brands in total mentions (102) yet ranks third in Brand Share on both Gemini and Claude. Being frequently referenced is not the same as being authoritatively recommended. AI assistants reward depth and placement - not volume - making share-of-voice metrics from traditional media largely irrelevant here.
La Roche-Posay holds 34.1% share on Gemini but only 14.9% on ChatGPT - a 2.3x gap. Coppertone Sport captures 9.5% on ChatGPT and is completely absent on Gemini. A single cross-platform strategy will systematically underserve at least one major AI assistant.
Gemini's top brand (La Roche-Posay at 34.1%) commands more than double the share of ChatGPT's leader (Neutrogena at 25.1%). Gemini rewards dermatologist-endorsed, clinically-positioned brands - making it the highest-stakes platform for premium sunscreen players and the hardest for mass-market brands to crack.
With 96% of citations coming from third-party sources, AI recommendations are built almost entirely on earned media. nih.gov and aad.org together appear across 21 unique prompts - meaning a brand featured in clinical or dermatology content gains disproportionate AI authority. Brands with zero owned citations are fully exposed to third-party editorial decisions.
Brand-level data reveals who wins individual AI responses. But company-level aggregation - combining portfolio brands - reveals who controls the category. L'Oreal and Johnson & Johnson each field two brands, creating compounding AI presence that single-brand players cannot match through any one brand alone. Note that company-level shares are approximations, as Brand Share is position-adjusted per response and not strictly additive.
Brand Share measures position-adjusted influence across AI responses - not just whether a brand is mentioned, but how prominently. The table below shows how the top brands' share varies across platforms, revealing platform-specific strategies and blind spots.
| Brand | Parent Co. | ChatGPT Share | Gemini Share | Claude Share | What This Means |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Roche-Posay | L'Oreal | 14.9% | 34.1% | 23.1% | Gemini's dominant force - but critically underweight on ChatGPT |
| EltaMD | EltaMD | 18.8% | 23.8% | 25.7% | Remarkably consistent authority across all three platforms - the most balanced performer |
| Neutrogena | Johnson & Johnson | 25.1% | 17.4% | 19.7% | ChatGPT leader but loses ground on Gemini and Claude - platform strategy needed |
| Banana Boat | Edgewell Personal Care | 11.0% | 11.4% | 10.0% | Uniquely stable cross-platform presence - consistent but not dominant anywhere |
| CeraVe | L'Oreal | 6.5% | 5.8% | 8.3% | Strongest on Claude; underperforms its brand recognition on ChatGPT and Gemini |
| Coppertone | Beiersdorf | 7.8% | 4.4% | 7.3% | ChatGPT-skewed visibility; Gemini share is less than half its ChatGPT level |
| Coppertone Sport | Bayer | 9.5% | 0.0% | 2.0% | ChatGPT-only brand - completely invisible on Gemini, near-absent on Claude |
Neutrogena is the most-mentioned sunscreen brand across all platforms with 102 total mentions - yet it ranks third in Brand Share on Gemini (17.4%) and Claude (19.7%), trailing brands with fewer mentions. This gap signals that AI assistants are citing Neutrogena in supporting or list positions rather than as the primary recommendation. For CMOs, this is a critical warning: high mention volume without positional authority is wasted visibility. The strategic fix is not more content - it is content that earns top-of-response placement through clinical specificity and dermatologist endorsement.
L'Oreal fields La Roche-Posay (clinical/dermatologist positioning) and CeraVe (accessible skincare science), creating a coordinated two-tier strategy. Combined, the portfolio approaches approximately 40% share on Gemini - the most concentrated platform. The brands serve distinct consumer needs, reducing cannibalization. This is the most strategically coherent portfolio in the category.
Johnson & Johnson combines Neutrogena (mass-market authority) and Aveeno (sensitive/natural positioning) for an estimated 31.5% combined share on ChatGPT - the highest company-level share on any platform. However, the portfolio drops to approximately 20% on Gemini, revealing a platform-specific vulnerability that a clinical content strategy could address.
On a pharmacy shelf, more facings mean more purchase opportunities. In AI, the assistant selects one primary recommendation per response. A company with two strong brands does not get two recommendations - it gets one, and the other is invisible. Portfolio managers must decide which brand earns the AI recommendation for each consumer need, rather than assuming both will benefit from broad category presence.
The AI consumer journey maps how brand visibility shifts from Discovery (awareness questions) through Research (comparison and evaluation) to Decision (purchase-intent queries). In sunscreen, the funnel reveals a category where early AI authority does not guarantee conversion - and where La Roche-Posay's dominance at Discovery collapses dramatically by the time consumers are ready to buy.
La Roche-Posay enters the funnel with commanding Discovery-stage share - 59.3% on Claude and 19.5% on Gemini - but hemorrhages visibility by Decision stage. On Claude, share collapses from 59.3% to 11.8%, a 47.5 percentage-point drop. On ChatGPT, it falls from 17.5% at Research to 9.3% at Decision. The brands capturing that lost share are Neutrogena (29.6% on ChatGPT, 30.0% on Claude), Coppertone (22.8% on ChatGPT, 18.1% on Claude), and Banana Boat (19.5% on ChatGPT, 15.2% on Claude) - brands that own the purchase-intent conversation through value, availability, and accessibility messaging. For any brand with strong awareness but weak conversion, this funnel pattern is the most urgent strategic problem in the category.
| Decision-Stage Prompt | ChatGPT Winner | Gemini Winner | Claude Winner | Winning Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where can I find SPF 70+ sunscreen? | Neutrogena (27%) | Neutrogena (56%) | Neutrogena (33%) | Occasion |
| Where can I find sport sunscreen? | Neutrogena (33%) | Banana Boat (51%) | Neutrogena (28%) | Use-case |
| Where can I buy SPF 50 suncreen? | Banana Boat (29%) | La Roche-Posay (42%) | - | Attribute |
| Where can I find SPF 30 sunscreen? | - | CeraVe (42%) | Neutrogena (33%) | Attribute |
| Where can I get sunscreen for sensitive skin? | EltaMD (22%) | La Roche-Posay (34%) | La Roche-Posay (32%) | Use-case |
| Where can I buy mineral sunscreen? | - | Neutrogena (27%) | EltaMD (33%) | Attribute |
| Where can I get fragrance-free sunscreen? | EltaMD (22%) | - | EltaMD (25%) | Attribute |
The brands that capture Decision-stage share are not the most famous - they are the most specifically associated with a consumer need. EltaMD wins fragrance-free and sensitive skin queries. Neutrogena owns SPF 70+ and sport sunscreen. Banana Boat dominates general availability and SPF 50 queries. The pattern is clear: brands that have built specific, attribute-level content authority convert AI awareness into purchase recommendations. Broad brand messaging earns Discovery mentions; specific use-case content earns Decision-stage wins.
Across 77 prompts, 13 instances of 100% monopoly were identified - prompts where a single brand captures all brand share on a given platform. These are not competitive battles; they are content vacuums where one brand has established unchallenged authority. Gemini accounts for 8 of the 13 monopolies, making it both the most concentrated and the most vulnerable platform for challengers.
La Roche-Posay holds monopolies on free shipping, under-makeup performance, fastest absorption, baby sunscreen, longest protection, and ingredient authority on Gemini - plus ingredient queries on Claude. These are high-intent, specific-attribute prompts where L'Oreal's clinical content strategy has created unchallenged positions.
EltaMD owns clear sunscreen comparisons on both Gemini and Claude, plus dark skin and best ingredients on Gemini. These monopolies cluster around formulation transparency and skin-type specificity - a content strategy that any dermatologist-endorsed brand could replicate with targeted investment.
| Consumer Prompt | ChatGPT | Gemini | Claude | Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How do clear sunscreens compare? | - | EltaMD ✓ | EltaMD ✓ | |
| Which sunscreen has the best ingredients? | - | EltaMD ✓ | La Roche-Posay ✓ | |
| What are the best reef-safe options for sunscreen? | Coppertone Sport ✓ | - | - | Reef-safe authority - growing regulatory concern |
| What are the best suncreens for babies? | - | La Roche-Posay ✓ | - | Baby segment - high-trust, high-value niche |
| What are the best sunscreens for dark skin? | - | EltaMD ✓ | - | Underserved dark skin segment - first-mover advantage |
| What ingredients should I look for for sunscreen? | - | - | La Roche-Posay ✓ | Ingredient authority - educational content gap |
| Where can I find sunscreen reef-safe options? | Coppertone ✓ | - | - | |
| Where can I get sunscreen with free shipping? | - | La Roche-Posay ✓ | - |
✓ = 100% monopoly. "-" = data not available for this platform.
The monopoly map inverts the traditional FMCG playbook. La Roche-Posay does not win 'best sunscreen overall' - it wins 'fastest absorbing,' 'best under makeup,' and 'best for babies.' EltaMD does not win on brand recognition alone - it wins 'clear sunscreen comparison' and 'best for dark skin.' AI assistants reward brands that have built deep, specific content authority in a niche over brands that have invested in broad awareness. A brand that owns three specific attribute monopolies has more durable AI visibility than one with high general mention volume but no owned territory.
Each AI assistant has developed distinct recommendation biases in the sunscreen category. ChatGPT favors accessible, mass-market brands with sport and activity credentials. Gemini rewards clinical, dermatologist-endorsed positioning with a strong premium skew. Claude takes the most balanced approach, distributing share across clinical and accessible brands. Understanding these personalities is the foundation of any platform-specific content strategy.
ChatGPT disproportionately favors Coppertone Sport (1.7x affinity) and Aveeno (1.6x affinity) - brands with activity, sport, and gentle-formula credentials. Neutrogena leads overall share at 25.1%. This platform rewards brands with broad retail availability and active-lifestyle positioning. Mass-market brands with sport or outdoor use-case content have the clearest path to ChatGPT authority.
Gemini strongly favors La Roche-Posay (1.4x affinity, 34.1% share) - the most concentrated single-brand dominance across any platform. Gemini rewards clinical credentials, dermatologist endorsement, and ingredient science. Brands without published clinical data or dermatology association coverage face a structural disadvantage on this platform.
Claude shows the most balanced distribution, with CeraVe (1.2x affinity) and EltaMD (1.1x affinity) both over-indexed. Claude rewards brands that combine accessible skincare science with dermatologist credibility - neither purely mass-market nor purely clinical. It is the most competitive platform for mid-tier brands seeking authority.
Showing 5 of 20 consumer questions that appear across all 3 AI assistants where no tracked brand is mentioned on any platform. These are true content vacuums:
| Consumer Question | Journey Stage | Content Opportunity |
|---|---|---|
| How do chemical vs minera sunscreens compare? | Research | High-intent research void - format comparison |
| How do different SPF levels compare for sunscreen? | Research | SPF education gap - purchase decision driver |
| Are there any safety considerations with sunscreen? | Discovery | Safety authority - builds category trust |
| Can I use sunscreen on babies? | Discovery | Baby safety - high-trust, high-value audience |
| How often should sunscreen be reapplied? | Discovery | Reapplication guidance - usage behavior gap |
20 consumer questions appear across all three AI platforms with zero brand mentions - meaning every AI assistant answers these questions without recommending any tracked brand. These are not niche queries; they include high-intent research questions like 'How do chemical vs mineral sunscreens compare?' and 'How do different SPF levels compare?' One authoritative content piece filling these voids earns brand visibility across all three platforms simultaneously, with zero competitive resistance.
Brand Share shows who AI recommends. Citation analysis shows why - revealing the sources AI models use to inform their recommendations.
| Brand | Most Cited Content | Platforms | Cited in Answers To | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coppertone Sport | coppertone.com | Gemini | What's the difference between chemical and physical sunsc...; What's SPF and how does it work?; Can sunscreen expire? | 8 |
| CeraVe | cerave.com | Gemini | What's the difference between chemical and physical sunsc...; What ingredients should I look for for sunscreen?; How do clear sunscreens compare? | 4 |
| Neutrogena | neutrogena.com | Gemini | How much sunscreen should I apply?; What's reef-safe sunscreen?; What's the difference between SPF 70+ and face sunscreen? | 3 |
| Eucerin Sun | eucerinus.com | Gemini | How long before sun exposure should I apply suncreen? | 1 |
| Banana Boat | bananaboat.com | Gemini | What's broad spectrum protection for sunscreen? | 1 |
Several brands in this category appear in AI responses with meaningful Brand Share but hold zero owned citations in the analyzed data. Their entire AI visibility is built on third-party editorial decisions - reviews, articles, and databases they do not control. If a key third-party source changes its recommendation or removes a brand mention, that brand's AI visibility can evaporate overnight with no owned content to fall back on.
| Region | Top Sources (citations) |
|---|---|
| Singapore | sephora.sg (8), guardian.com.sg (7), watsons.com.sg (6) |
| Australia | littleurchin.com.au (4), shadeskin.com.au (2), sunzapper.com.au (2) |
| United Kingdom | nhs.uk (2), cantabrialabs.co.uk (2), laroche-posay.co.uk (1) |
| Canada | mcgill.ca (2), vichy.ca (1) |
| India | ponds.in (1), mamaearth.in (1) |
Singapore-based domains (sephora.sg, guardian.com.sg, fairprice.com.sg) account for the largest regional citation cluster with over 20 combined citations. Australian and UK domains also appear, suggesting AI assistants are drawing on geographically diverse retail and health sources - a signal for brands with regional market ambitions to prioritize local retailer and health authority relationships.
Of the 19 owned citations identified, 100% appear on Gemini - with Coppertone Sport (8 citations), CeraVe (4 citations), and Neutrogena (3 citations) leading. This concentration means brands have built owned citation equity on only one platform. ChatGPT and Claude recommendations are driven entirely by third-party sources, creating a structural dependency that no brand in this category has yet addressed. The brands with the strongest earned media backing - those appearing in nih.gov and aad.org content - have the most durable cross-platform AI positions.
| Channel | Top Sources | Prompts | Strategic Implication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical & Health Institutions | nih.gov, aad.org, texashealth.org, clevelandclinic.org | 35 | Clinical authority channels drive the highest-trust AI recommendations |
| Beauty & Skincare Retail | sephora.sg, guardian.com.sg, fairprice.com.sg, standardprocedure.com | 20 | Retail platform presence directly influences purchase-intent AI responses |
| Outdoor & Lifestyle Media | treelinereview.com, worldofasaya.com | 11 | Activity-specific media drives sport and outdoor sunscreen recommendations |
| Brand & Specialty Commerce | isdin.com, colorescience.com, littleurchin.com.au | 12 | Specialist brand sites signal category authority to AI training data |
| Environmental & Ocean Advocacy | people4ocean.com | 3 | Reef-safe and sustainability sources are emerging citation drivers |
nih.gov (13 prompts), sephora.sg (8 prompts), and aad.org (8 prompts) are the three highest-leverage outreach targets in the category. A brand featured in NIH or AAD content gains clinical credibility that AI assistants treat as authoritative across research and discovery queries. Sephora's regional platform signals that retail content partnerships are as strategically valuable as clinical citations for purchase-intent prompts.
Medical and health institution citations (nih.gov, aad.org, clevelandclinic.org) dominate Discovery and Research-stage AI responses, where consumers seek education. Retail citations (sephora.sg, fairprice.com.sg) drive Decision-stage responses. A brand that invests only in clinical earned media will build awareness authority but miss the conversion moment - and vice versa. Channel diversification across the funnel is the strategic imperative.
A single citation from nih.gov or aad.org does not influence one AI response - it influences every response that draws on that source across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude simultaneously. With 96% of all citations third-party, earned media is the primary lever for AI visibility. One well-placed clinical study, dermatologist endorsement, or retail feature can generate compounding AI recommendations across dozens of prompts with no additional investment.
| Archetype | Who You Are | Immediate Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Premium / Clinical Leader | La Roche-Posay, EltaMD | Convert Discovery authority into Decision-stage wins. La Roche-Posay drops 47.5 percentage points from Discovery to Decision on Claude - the largest funnel decay in the category. Build purchase-intent content (availability, value, accessibility) to defend share at the moment of conversion. |
| Mass-Market Leader | Neutrogena, Banana Boat | Shift from mention volume to positional authority. Neutrogena leads in mentions but ranks third in share on Gemini and Claude. Invest in clinical specificity and dermatologist-endorsed content to earn top-of-response placement, not just list inclusion. |
| Niche / Single-Platform Brand | Coppertone Sport, Coppertone | Address platform concentration risk urgently. Coppertone Sport holds 9.5% share on ChatGPT but is completely absent on Gemini. A single-platform AI strategy creates existential visibility risk as consumer AI usage diversifies across assistants. |
20 brand-void prompts represent zero-competition content opportunities across all three platforms. Filling these voids with authoritative educational content is the highest-ROI investment available - one piece of content earns visibility on ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude simultaneously.
With 96% of citations third-party, earned media is the primary AI visibility lever. Prioritize placement in nih.gov-adjacent research and aad.org-level dermatology content - these 13-prompt sources drive more AI authority than any owned channel.
One 100% monopoly is worth more than 20 also-mentioned appearances. Identify two to three specific attribute prompts - fragrance-free, reef-safe, dark skin - and build content depth that makes displacement by competitors structurally difficult.
Gemini's 8 monopoly prompts are currently owned by La Roche-Posay and EltaMD - but monopolies built on content vacuums, not brand identity, can be displaced. Track competitor content investment in these specific attribute territories quarterly.
AI search is a growing but not yet dominant discovery channel. Weight these insights relative to your overall channel mix - but note that early movers in AI visibility build positions that compound over time.
(1) AI Brand Share rewards positional authority and depth, not mention volume - the most-mentioned brand rarely wins.
(2) Platform divergence is structural: a single content strategy will systematically underperform on at least one major AI assistant.
(3) Brands that own specific attribute monopolies have more durable AI visibility than those with broad but shallow category presence.
(4) With 96% of citations third-party, earned media placements in clinical and retail channels are the primary AI visibility investment.
(5) Early movers who fill content vacuums today build entrenched AI positions that become progressively harder for competitors to displace.