Which hair care brands do AI assistants recommend in Japan? Q4 2026
In Japan, AI assistants most often recommend Shiseido, Kao and L'Oréal for hair care. Shiseido is named by 5 of 5 assistants.
What the data says
Shiseido is the hair care brand AI assistants recommend most in Japan, taking 19.4% of all recommendation points across 5 assistants. Kao follows with 9% and L'Oréal is third with 8.7%.
Shiseido's lead over Kao is 10.4 points, a clear advantage in how AI shortlists the category.
ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Gemini and Grok put Shiseido first, while Claude favours L'Oréal.
The top five brands hold 49% of recommendations out of 45 brands named in total, leaving room for challengers to break into AI shortlists.
| # | Brand | Owner | AI share | ChatGPT | Claude | DeepSeek | Gemini | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shiseido | Shiseido | 19.4% | 142 | 70 | 120 | 150 | 100 |
| 2 | Kao | Kao | 9% | 80 | 35 | 55 | 24 | 75 |
| 3 | L'Oréal | L’Oréal | 8.7% | 20 | 87 | 37 | 80 | 36 |
| 4 | Tsubaki | Shiseido | 6.7% | – | 70 | 70 | 25 | 35 |
| 5 | Pantene | Procter & Gamble | 5.5% | 32 | 8 | 43 | 33 | 50 |
| 6 | Pigeon | Pigeon | 5.5% | – | 70 | 35 | – | 60 |
| 7 | Gatsby | Mandom Corporation | 4.7% | 35 | – | – | 35 | 70 |
| 8 | Johnson's | Johnson & Johnson | 3.3% | – | 20 | 45 | 35 | – |
| 9 | Schwarzkopf | Henkel | 2.9% | – | 72 | – | – | 16 |
| 10 | Dove | Unilever | 2.8% | 37 | – | 8 | 40 | – |
| 11 | Hoyu | Hoyu Co., Ltd. | 2.6% | 45 | 25 | 8 | – | – |
| 12 | Ichikami | Kracie Holdings | 2.3% | 25 | – | 25 | 20 | – |
| 13 | &honey | ViCREA | 2.3% | 8 | 12 | – | 25 | 25 |
| 14 | Milbon | Milbon | 2.1% | 28 | 28 | – | 8 | – |
| 15 | Luxe Organix | Independent | 2% | 20 | – | 20 | – | 20 |
| 16 | Essential | Kao | 1.9% | 8 | 25 | 25 | – | – |
| 17 | Mama & Kids | Natural Science | 1.9% | 20 | 12 | 25 | – | – |
| 18 | Kerastase | L'Oréal | 1.2% | – | – | – | 8 | 28 |
| 19 | Garnier | L’Oréal | 1.1% | – | 8 | 12 | – | 12 |
| 20 | I-ne (Botanist) | I-ne Co., Ltd. | 0.9% | – | – | – | 20 | 8 |
Questions about AI hair care recommendations
- Which hair care brand does ChatGPT recommend most in Japan?
- ChatGPT recommends Shiseido most often for hair care in Japan. Across all assistants, Shiseido leads with 19.4% of recommendations.
- Which hair care brand is improving fastest in Japan?
- Gatsby has the strongest momentum among challengers: AI names it first in 4 of 4 answers where it appears, while holding 4.7% share. This is the first Q4 2026 reading; change over time will be shown from the next update.
- How is the ranking calculated?
- We ask each AI assistant the questions shoppers ask in each category and market, record the top five brands it names, and give 35, 25, 20, 12 and 8 points for positions one to five. Share is a brand's points divided by all points awarded.
Hair Care: AI rankings by country
Covers: Baby Hair Care, Conditioners, Hair Color, Hair Treatments, Shampoo & Cleansers, Styling Products.
Method: each AI assistant is asked the shopper questions for every segment in the category and market; the top five brands named score 35, 25, 20, 12 and 8 points. Share is a brand's points divided by all points awarded. Rankings reflect AI answers, not sales.
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