Which maternal care brands do AI assistants recommend in Japan? Q4 2026
In Japan, AI assistants most often recommend Pigeon, Mama & Kids and DHC for maternal care. Pigeon is named by 5 of 5 assistants.
What the data says
Pigeon is the maternal care brand AI assistants recommend most in Japan, taking 24.3% of all recommendation points across 5 assistants. Mama & Kids follows with 5.5% and DHC is third with 5.3%.
Pigeon's lead over Mama & Kids is 18.8 points, a clear advantage in how AI shortlists the category.
Every assistant tested (ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, Gemini and Grok) puts Pigeon first.
The top five brands hold 45% of recommendations out of 37 brands named in total, leaving room for challengers to break into AI shortlists.
| # | Brand | Owner | AI share | ChatGPT | Claude | DeepSeek | Gemini | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pigeon | Pigeon | 24.3% | 82 | 70 | 85 | 85 | 43 |
| 2 | Mama & Kids | Natural Science | 5.5% | 12 | – | 35 | 35 | – |
| 3 | DHC | DHC Corporation | 5.3% | 12 | – | 12 | 20 | 35 |
| 4 | Mustela | Laboratoires Expanscience | 5% | 25 | 25 | – | – | 25 |
| 5 | Elevit | Bayer | 4.8% | – | 35 | – | 25 | 12 |
| 6 | Sofy | Unicharm | 4.8% | 25 | – | 12 | – | 35 |
| 7 | Bio-Oil | Kao Corporation | 4.5% | 20 | – | 8 | 20 | 20 |
| 8 | Laurier | Kao Corporation | 4.5% | 35 | – | 20 | – | 12 |
| 9 | Blackmores | Blackmores | 3.2% | – | 20 | 8 | – | 20 |
| 10 | Whisper | Procter & Gamble | 3% | – | 20 | – | – | 25 |
| 11 | Meiji | Meiji | 2.7% | 8 | – | 20 | 12 | – |
| 12 | Merries | Kao Corporation | 2.5% | – | – | 37 | – | – |
| 13 | Wakodo | Asahi Group | 2.3% | – | – | 35 | – | – |
| 14 | Wacoal | Wacoal | 2.3% | – | – | – | 35 | – |
| 15 | Medela | Medela | 1.9% | – | 12 | – | 8 | 8 |
| 16 | Kotex | Kimberly-Clark | 1.9% | 8 | – | – | – | 20 |
| 17 | Fancl | Fancl | 1.9% | 20 | – | – | 8 | – |
| 18 | Nature’s Way | Schwabe Group | 1.7% | – | – | – | – | 25 |
| 19 | Asahi | Asahi | 1.7% | 25 | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | Nature Made | Otsuka Pharmaceutical | 1.7% | – | 25 | – | – | – |
Questions about AI maternal care recommendations
- Which maternal care brand does ChatGPT recommend most in Japan?
- ChatGPT recommends Pigeon most often for maternal care in Japan. Across all assistants, Pigeon leads with 24.3% of recommendations.
- Which maternal care brand is improving fastest in Japan?
- Mama & Kids has the strongest momentum among challengers: AI names it first in 2 of 3 answers where it appears, while holding 5.5% 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.
Maternal Care: AI rankings by country
Covers: Maternal Skin Products, Postpartum Recovery, Prenatal Supplements.
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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