Which household cleaning brands do AI assistants recommend in Japan? Q4 2026
In Japan, AI assistants most often recommend Kao, Lion and Cif for household cleaning. Kao is named by 3 of 5 assistants.
What the data says
Kao is the household cleaning brand AI assistants recommend most in Japan, taking 11.7% of all recommendation points across 5 assistants. Lion follows with 6.2% and Cif is third with 5%.
Kao's lead over Lion is 5.5 points, a clear advantage in how AI shortlists the category.
DeepSeek and Grok put Kao first, while ChatGPT favours Magiclean, Claude favours Cif and Gemini favours Magiclean.
The top five brands hold 32% of recommendations out of 84 brands named in total, leaving room for challengers to break into AI shortlists.
| # | Brand | Owner | AI share | ChatGPT | Claude | DeepSeek | Gemini | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kao | Kao | 11.7% | 40 | – | 235 | – | 250 |
| 2 | Lion | Lion | 6.2% | – | – | 145 | – | 135 |
| 3 | Cif | Unilever | 5% | – | 192 | – | – | 32 |
| 4 | Magiclean | Kao | 4.9% | 150 | – | – | 70 | – |
| 5 | Pledge | SC Johnson | 3.9% | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
| 6 | 3M | 3M | 3.7% | 95 | – | 48 | – | 25 |
| 7 | Dettol | Reckitt | 3.2% | – | 99 | 24 | – | 20 |
| 8 | Brasso | Reckitt | 3.2% | 25 | 35 | 35 | 12 | 35 |
| 9 | Quickle | Kao | 3% | 117 | – | – | 20 | – |
| 10 | Handy | Handy | 3% | – | 137 | – | – | – |
| 11 | Kincho | Kincho | 2.6% | 35 | – | 20 | 25 | 35 |
| 12 | Mr. Muscle | SC Johnson | 2.4% | – | – | 16 | – | 93 |
| 13 | Mr Muscle | SC Johnson | 2.3% | 102 | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | Pigeon | Pigeon | 2.2% | – | – | 100 | – | – |
| 15 | Mr. Clean | Procter & Gamble | 2.2% | – | 79 | – | – | 20 |
| 16 | Look | Lion | 1.9% | 75 | – | – | 12 | – |
| 17 | Raid | SC Johnson | 1.8% | 12 | 35 | 8 | – | 25 |
| 18 | Elecom | Elecom | 1.8% | 25 | – | 20 | 35 | – |
| 19 | Japanese | Generic | 1.6% | – | 72 | – | – | – |
| 20 | Pikal | Nihon Maryo Kogyo | 1.6% | 35 | – | – | 35 | – |
Questions about AI household cleaning recommendations
- Which household cleaning brand does ChatGPT recommend most in Japan?
- ChatGPT recommends Magiclean most often for household cleaning in Japan. Across all assistants, Kao leads with 11.7% of recommendations.
- Which household cleaning brand is improving fastest in Japan?
- Pledge has the strongest momentum among challengers: AI names it first in 5 of 5 answers where it appears, while holding 3.9% 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.
Household Cleaning: AI rankings by country
Covers: Bathroom Cleaners, Electronics Cleaners, Floor Cleaners, Furniture Polish/Wood Care, Glass Cleaners, Indoor Insect & Pest Control, Metal Cleaners, Multi-Purpose Cleaners, Surface Cleaners.
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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