Sunscreen Brands: AI Market Discovery Index
Tracking how AI platforms recommend sunscreen brands. This public AI Market Discovery Index is updated monthly since July 2026.
On this page
- 01Benchmark Summary
- 02Current Benchmark at a Glance
- 03Research Scope and Qualification
- 04Current Brand Standings
- 05How to Read the Standings
- 06Recommendation Coverage Movement
- 07Largest Increase: Sun Bum
- 08Largest Decline: Cetaphil
- 09Largest Decline: La Roche-Posay
- 10Category Leader: La Roche-Posay
- 11Quiet Movers
- 12Recommendation Placement Snapshot
Benchmark Summary
La Roche-Posay led the Sunscreen Brands AI Market Discovery Index in September 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 83.7%, down from 89.6% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand, EltaMD, was 5.4 percentage points in September 2026. The largest month-over-month increase, though within normal month-to-month variation, belonged to Sun Bum, which rose from 9.0% in August 2026 to 11.9% in September 2026. The largest coverage decline belonged to Cetaphil, which fell from 27.8% in August 2026 to 20.1% in September 2026.
Two brands moved beyond normal month-to-month variation in September 2026: Cetaphil and La Roche-Posay both recorded significant declines. Cetaphil's valid recommendation coverage fell 11.9 percentage points from July to September, moving in each of the two months. La Roche-Posay declined from 89.6% in July 2026 to 83.7% in September 2026, down 5.9 percentage points, though its rank-one rate rose from 14.7% to 15.5% across the same period.
The current benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in September 2026 and produced 522 qualified observations after qualification.
AI recommendation trend
valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Sep 2026
- La Roche-Posay83.7%
- EltaMD78.3%
- CeraVe66.5%
- Neutrogena66.1%
- Supergoop62.8%
- Cetaphil20.1%
- Sun Bum11.9%
- Vichy1.9%
- Kopari Beauty0.4%
Current Benchmark at a Glance
Measure | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
Qualified benchmark observations | 557 | 522 | Down 35 |
Tracked brands | 9 | 9 | No change |
Qualified surface breadth | 6 | 6 | No change |
Recommendation-shaped answer share | 75.0% | 69.0% | Down 6.1 points |
Valid recommendation shortlist share | 90.7% | 85.6% | Down 5.0 points |
Leader by valid recommendation coverage | La Roche-Posay (89.6%) | La Roche-Posay (83.7%) | Down 5.9 points |
Qualified surface breadth counts the canonical AI/search surface families with at least one qualified observation: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. August 2026 recorded 557 qualified observations and six qualified surface families, matching July 2026.
For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Sunscreen Brands
Research Scope and Qualification
The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design.
Research stage | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
Source prompt-surface observations | 800 | 800 | Total prompts collected |
Unique questions | 650 | 667 | Distinct questions asked |
Brand / competitor mentions | 800 | 800 | Prompts mentioning a tracked brand |
Relevant observations | 568 | 540 | On-topic observations |
Irrelevant observations | 232 | 260 | Off-topic observations |
Qualified benchmark observations | 557 | 522 | Public denominator |
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Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. AI Market Discovery Methodology
Current Brand Standings
Brand | Presence rate | Valid recommendation coverage | Top-three rate | Rank-one rate | Net sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
La Roche-Posay | 95.6% | 83.7% | 51.7% | 15.5% | 1.0 |
EltaMD | 85.1% | 78.3% | 53.6% | 30.6% | 1.0 |
CeraVe | 79.1% | 66.5% | 25.9% | 9.6% | 0.9 |
Neutrogena | 78.5% | 66.1% | 19.0% | 3.5% | 0.9 |
Supergoop | 68.4% | 62.8% | 29.9% | 10.3% | 1.0 |
Cetaphil | 26.1% | 20.1% | 5.2% | 0.0% | 0.9 |
Sun Bum | 16.7% | 11.9% | 2.1% | 0.6% | 0.8 |
Vichy | 3.5% | 1.9% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.7 |
Kopari Beauty | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0 |
How to Read the Standings
- Presence rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand is mentioned at all.
- Valid recommendation coverage is the share of qualified observations where the brand receives a valid recommendation.
- Top-three rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand appears in the top three recommended positions.
- Rank-one rate is the share of qualified observations where the brand is the first recommended option.
- Net sentiment reflects the balance of positive versus negative mention tone, from 0 to 1.
For formulas and denominator rules, see AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions.
Recommendation Coverage Movement
Brand | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 | Movement since baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
CeraVe | 70.4% | 66.5% | Down 3.9 points |
Cetaphil | 32.0% | 20.1% | Down 11.9 points |
EltaMD | 80.8% | 78.3% | Down 2.5 points |
Kopari Beauty | 0.4% | 0.4% | No change |
La Roche-Posay | 89.6% | 83.7% | Down 5.9 points |
Neutrogena | 68.9% | 66.1% | Down 2.8 points |
Sun Bum | 14.9% | 11.9% | Down 3.0 points |
Supergoop | 65.5% | 62.8% | Down 2.7 points |
Vichy | 3.6% | 1.9% | Down 1.7 points |
CeraVe declined from 71.3% in August 2026 to 66.5% in September 2026, though that single-month move remained within normal variation. Sun Bum rose from 9.0% in August 2026 to 11.9% in September 2026, with its valid recommendation count increasing from 50 to 62.
Largest Increase: Sun Bum
Sun Bum's valid recommendation coverage rose from 9.0% in August 2026 to 11.9% in September 2026, an increase of 2.9 percentage points. Its presence rate also recovered from 13.5% in August 2026 to 16.7% in September 2026, though the brand remained below its July 2026 baseline of 14.9% coverage.
Largest Decline: Cetaphil
Cetaphil's valid recommendation coverage fell 11.9 percentage points from July to September, a decline beyond normal month-to-month variation. The brand declined in each of the two months, and its presence rate fell from 36.6% in July 2026 to 26.1% in September 2026. Valid recommendation count dropped from 178 in July 2026 to 105 in September 2026.
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Largest Decline: La Roche-Posay
La Roche-Posay's coverage declined 5.9 percentage points beyond normal variation, even as its presence held steady near 95.6%. The leader's top-three rate fell from 56.2% to 51.7%, while its rank-one rate rose from 14.7% to 15.5%. Valid recommendation count dropped from 499 in July 2026 to 437 in September 2026.
Category Leader: La Roche-Posay
La Roche-Posay remained the category leader in September 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 83.7%, ahead of EltaMD at 78.3%. The gap between the two narrowed to 5.4 percentage points, with EltaMD nearly doubling La Roche-Posay's rank-one rate at 30.6% versus 15.5%.
Quiet Movers
Among the stable brands, EltaMD, Neutrogena, Supergoop, CeraVe, Sun Bum, Vichy, and Kopari Beauty all remained within normal month-to-month variation. Several moved in the second half of the series: Neutrogena rose from 64.6% in August 2026 to 66.1% in September 2026, Sun Bum rose from 9.0% to 11.9%, and Supergoop rose from 62.3% to 62.8%, while CeraVe fell from 71.3% to 66.5% and Vichy fell from 2.9% to 1.9%.
Recommendation Placement Snapshot
Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. EltaMD nearly doubles La Roche-Posay on first-position share despite trailing on overall coverage.
Brand | Sep 2026 top-three rate | Sep 2026 rank-one rate | Jul 2026 top-three rate | Jul 2026 rank-one rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
La Roche-Posay | 51.7% | 15.5% | 56.2% | 14.7% |
EltaMD | 53.6% | 30.6% | 50.3% | 31.8% |
CeraVe | 25.9% | 9.6% | 28.7% | 10.6% |
Buyer-Intent Distribution
All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class, which covers discovery and consideration queries.
Buyer-intent class | Jul 2026 | Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Brand Recommendation | 557 | 522 |
Pricing & Value | 0 | 0 |
Multi-Brand Comparison | 0 | 0 |
Total qualified observations | 557 | 522 |
The current public series contains no qualified observations for Pricing & Value or Multi-Brand Comparison queries.
Historical Measurement Record
This is an evergreen benchmark URL. New measurements are added to the same report.
Measurement | Qualified observations | Coverage leader | Leader coverage | Largest coverage movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 2026 | 557 | La Roche-Posay | 89.6% | Baseline month (no prior data) |
Aug 2026 | 557 | La Roche-Posay | 85.5% | Sun Bum down 5.9 points |
Sep 2026 | 522 | La Roche-Posay | 83.7% | Cetaphil down 7.7 points |
Evidence and Source Layer
The benchmark is built from prompt-level observations that retain the query, AI/search surface, answer, brand outcome, recommendation placement, sentiment, and, where exposed, citations or attributable evidence sources. Source presence is evidence about the information environment. It is not automatically proof that the source caused the recommendation.
Scope Boundaries
This public benchmark does not measure:
- Market share or sales attribution
- Every possible AI response to a given query
- Organic-search ranking performance
- Social media mention volume or engagement
- Private or sponsored AI channels and placements
- Causality from a metric movement alone
About This Benchmark
The LLM Authority Index AI Market Discovery Index is a neutral, monthly industry benchmark that tracks how AI and search surfaces present and recommend brands across defined verticals. The index is built from qualified prompt-level observations and reports presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment as distinct signals. Canonical research links:
- AI Market Discovery Methodology
- AI Market Discovery Metric Definitions
- AI Market Discovery Research Standards
- Modeled AI Authority Value
Get a Company-Level Authority Index
The public industry benchmark shows category-level standings. A company-level Authority Index can go deeper into your brand's specific AI presence, recommendation coverage, placement, and sentiment across the six canonical AI/search surface families. The public percentage cannot identify the prompts, competitors, or sources causing the result.
Want the full Authority Index
The paid deep-dive adds competitor threat profiles, the gap matrix, citation failure map, platform-by-platform recovery roadmap, and client-specific economic modeling.
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