Sunscreen Brands: AI Visibility Market Discovery Index
Tracking how AI platforms recommend sunscreen brands. This public AI Visibility 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: CeraVe
- 08Largest Decline: Supergoop
- 09Category Leader: La Roche-Posay
- 10Recommendation Placement Snapshot
- 11Buyer-Intent Distribution
- 12Historical Measurement Record
Benchmark Summary
Questions This Section Answers
- Which sunscreen brand leads AI recommendations, and by how much?
- Which brands moved beyond normal month-to-month variation in the latest benchmark?
La Roche-Posay led Sunscreen Brands in October 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 92.9%, up from 89.6% in July 2026. The gap to the next brand, CeraVe, was 16.7 percentage points in October 2026. The largest coverage increase belonged to CeraVe, which rose from 70.4% in July 2026 to 76.2% in October 2026. The largest coverage decline belonged to Supergoop, which fell from 65.5% in July 2026 to 52.2% in October 2026.
Five brands moved beyond normal month-to-month variation this month. CeraVe rose 9.7 percentage points from September 2026 to October 2026, and La Roche-Posay rose 9.2 points over the same span. Supergoop fell 10.6 points from September 2026 to October 2026, and Cetaphil rose 11.6 points from September 2026 to October 2026 even as its cumulative standing since July 2026 remained within normal variation. Neutrogena rose 6.1 points from September 2026 to October 2026, its second consecutive monthly increase, though its cumulative standing since July 2026 also remained within normal variation. EltaMD and Vichy each declined in all three months since July 2026.
The current benchmark began with 800 prompt-surface observations in October 2026 and produced 622 qualified observations after qualification.
AI recommendation trend
valid recommendation coverage, Jul 2026 to Oct 2026
- La Roche-Posay92.9%
- CeraVe76.2%
- EltaMD73.5%
- Neutrogena72.2%
- Supergoop52.2%
- Cetaphil31.7%
- Sun Bum10.3%
- Vichy1.6%
- Kopari Beauty0.0%
Current Benchmark at a Glance
Measure | Jul 2026 | Oct 2026 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
Qualified benchmark observations | 557 | 622 | Up 65 |
Tracked brands | 9 | 9 | No change |
Qualified surface breadth | 6 | 6 | No change |
Recommendation-shaped answer share | 75.0% | 79.4% | Up 4.4 points |
Valid recommendation shortlist share | 90.7% | 98.4% | Up 7.7 points |
Leader by valid recommendation coverage | La Roche-Posay (89.6%) | La Roche-Posay (92.9%) | Up 3.3 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 and September 2026 each recorded six qualified surface families, matching July 2026 and October 2026.
For the strategic interpretation of this benchmark, read CiteWorks Studio's analysis of How AI Search Is Recommending Sunscreen Brands
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Research Scope and Qualification
The public benchmark is narrower than the raw collection universe by design.
Research stage | Jul 2026 | Oct 2026 | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
Source prompt-surface observations | 800 | 800 | Total prompts collected |
Unique questions | 650 | 653 | Distinct questions asked |
Brand / competitor mentions | 800 | 800 | Prompts mentioning a tracked brand |
Relevant observations | 568 | 638 | On-topic observations |
Irrelevant observations | 232 | 162 | Off-topic observations |
Qualified benchmark observations | 557 | 622 | Public denominator |
Brand-level percentages use the qualified observations as the public denominator, not the raw collection. AI Visibility Market Discovery Methodology
Current Brand Standings
Questions This Section Answers
- How do the top sunscreen brands rank on valid recommendation coverage and top-three rate?
- Which brands rank first most often despite lower overall coverage?
- Which tracked sunscreen brands show minimal or no AI recommendation presence?
Brand | Presence rate | Valid recommendation coverage | Top-three rate | Rank-one rate | Net sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
La Roche-Posay | 95.8% | 92.9% | 72.0% | 18.8% | 1.0 |
CeraVe | 79.6% | 76.2% | 48.9% | 20.1% | 1.0 |
EltaMD | 74.4% | 73.5% | 53.2% | 31.4% | 1.0 |
Neutrogena | 75.7% | 72.2% | 31.8% | 5.1% | 1.0 |
Supergoop | 54.0% | 52.2% | 26.4% | 7.4% | 1.0 |
Cetaphil | 33.9% | 31.7% | 14.8% | 2.1% | 0.9 |
Sun Bum | 12.4% | 10.3% | 2.2% | 0.8% | 0.8 |
Vichy | 2.1% | 1.6% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.9 |
Kopari Beauty | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 |
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 Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions.
Recommendation Coverage Movement
Questions This Section Answers
- Which sunscreen brand gained the most recommendation coverage since the baseline?
- Which brand's recommendation coverage declined the most?
- What changed in La Roche-Posay's lead over the next-closest sunscreen brand?
Brand | Jul 2026 | Oct 2026 | Movement since baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
CeraVe | 70.4% | 76.2% | Up 5.8 points |
Cetaphil | 32.0% | 31.7% | Down 0.3 points |
EltaMD | 80.8% | 73.5% | Down 7.3 points |
Kopari Beauty | 0.4% | 0.0% | Down 0.4 points |
La Roche-Posay | 89.6% | 92.9% | Up 3.3 points |
Neutrogena | 68.9% | 72.2% | Up 3.3 points |
Sun Bum | 14.9% | 10.3% | Down 4.6 points |
Supergoop | 65.5% | 52.2% | Down 13.3 points |
Vichy | 3.6% | 1.6% | Down 2.0 points |
Cetaphil's 11.6-point September-to-October jump is essentially level with its July baseline. Neutrogena rose from 66.1% in September 2026 to 72.2% in October 2026, its second consecutive monthly increase. EltaMD's decline continued a three-month streak, with coverage falling from 80.8% in July 2026 to 73.5% in October 2026.
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Largest Increase: CeraVe
CeraVe's valid recommendation coverage rose 5.8 percentage points from July 2026 to October 2026, moving beyond normal variation. Its top-three rate climbed from 28.7% in July 2026 to 48.9% in October 2026, a 20.1 point increase, and its rank-one rate rose from 10.6% to 20.1% across the same period. The single largest month-over-month move came between September 2026 and October 2026, when coverage rose 9.7 points.
Largest Decline: Supergoop
Supergoop's valid recommendation coverage fell 13.3 percentage points from July 2026 to October 2026, a decline beyond normal month-to-month variation. The brand's presence rate fell from 68.9% in July 2026 to 54.0% in October 2026, down 14.9 points. The steepest single-month drop came between September 2026 and October 2026, when coverage fell 10.6 points.
Category Leader: La Roche-Posay
La Roche-Posay remained the category leader in October 2026 with valid recommendation coverage of 92.9%, ahead of CeraVe at 76.2%. The gap between the two narrowed to 16.7 percentage points in October 2026 from 19.2 points in July 2026, even as La Roche-Posay's top-three rate climbed from 56.2% in July 2026 to 72.0% in October 2026. Its rank-one rate rose from 14.7% to 18.8% over the same span, remaining below EltaMD's first-position share.
Recommendation Placement Snapshot
Questions This Section Answers
- How does EltaMD's rank-one rate compare with La Roche-Posay and CeraVe despite lower coverage?
- What does the placement data show about first-position visibility among leading sunscreen brands?
Coverage alone does not show how prominently a brand is recommended. EltaMD trails La Roche-Posay on overall coverage but leads on first-position share.
Brand | Oct 2026 top-three rate | Oct 2026 rank-one rate | Jul 2026 top-three rate | Jul 2026 rank-one rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
La Roche-Posay | 72.0% | 18.8% | 56.2% | 14.7% |
EltaMD | 53.2% | 31.4% | 50.3% | 31.8% |
CeraVe | 48.9% | 20.1% | 28.7% | 10.6% |
EltaMD and CeraVe now sit within 2.7 percentage points of each other on valid recommendation coverage, yet EltaMD's rank-one rate of 31.4% is more than 11 points above CeraVe's 20.1%.
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The paid deep-dive adds competitor threat profiles, the gap matrix, citation failure map, platform-by-platform recovery roadmap, and client-specific economic modeling.
Buyer-Intent Distribution
Questions This Section Answers
- Which buyer-intent classes are represented in the qualified sunscreen brand observations?
- Does the public benchmark currently measure pricing or multi-brand comparison queries?
All qualified observations in both months fell into the Brand Recommendation class, which covers discovery and consideration queries.
Buyer-intent class | Jul 2026 | Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Brand Recommendation | 557 | 622 |
Pricing & Value | 0 | 0 |
Multi-Brand Comparison | 0 | 0 |
Total qualified observations | 557 | 622 |
Price, value, and head-to-head comparison have no public signal in this data.
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 |
Oct 2026 | 622 | La Roche-Posay | 92.9% | Supergoop down 10.6 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 — not 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
Top 10 Cited Domains
Questions This Section Answers
- Which domains are cited most often in AI-generated sunscreen brand recommendations?
- Are sunscreen brand-owned domains represented among the most-cited sources?
- What source types dominate the citation layer behind AI sunscreen recommendations?
Across all AI platform responses in October 2026, the benchmark observed 7,633 citations drawn from 1,406 unique domains.
Rank | Domain | Citations | Share | Platforms citing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | google.com | 751 | 9.8% | AI Mode, AI Overviews |
2 | youtube.com | 310 | 4.1% | ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
3 | allure.com | 229 | 3.0% | ChatGPT, Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
4 | nbcnews.com | 162 | 2.1% | ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
5 | amazon.com | 158 | 2.1% | Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
6 | instagram.com | 129 | 1.7% | AI Mode, AI Overviews |
7 | byrdie.com | 128 | 1.7% | Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
8 | nytimes.com | 122 | 1.6% | AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
9 | reddit.com | 113 | 1.5% | Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
10 | glamour.com | 103 | 1.3% | ChatGPT, Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity |
Citations are broadly distributed rather than concentrated: the top 10 domains account for 25.7% of all citations across 1,406 unique domains, and no single domain exceeds a 9.8% share. No tracked brand's own domain appears in the top 10. Editorial and beauty media sources dominate at the top of the list, with allure.com, byrdie.com, and glamour.com appearing alongside general news outlets including nbcnews.com and nytimes.com; retail (amazon.com), video (youtube.com), social (instagram.com), and community (reddit.com) sources also feature.
About This Benchmark
The LLM Authority Index AI Visibility 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 Visibility Market Discovery Methodology
- AI Visibility Market Discovery Metric Definitions
- AI Visibility Market Discovery Research Standards
- Modeled AI Visibility 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.
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