Which spirits brands do AI assistants recommend in Japan? Q4 2026
In Japan, AI assistants most often recommend Bacardi, Jose Cuervo and Hennessy for spirits. Bacardi is named by 5 of 5 assistants.
What the data says
Bacardi (Bacardi Limited) is the spirits brand AI assistants recommend most in Japan, taking 5% of all recommendation points across 5 assistants. Jose Cuervo follows with 4.7% and Hennessy is third with 4.7%.
The top spot is close: only 0.3 points separate Bacardi and Jose Cuervo, so a small change in how either brand is described online could flip the order.
put Bacardi first, while ChatGPT favours Suntory Whisky, Claude favours Yamazaki, DeepSeek favours Smirnoff, Gemini favours Suntory and Grok favours Yamazaki.
The top five brands hold 24% of recommendations out of 72 brands named in total, leaving room for challengers to break into AI shortlists.
| # | Brand | Owner | AI share | ChatGPT | Claude | DeepSeek | Gemini | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bacardi | Bacardi Limited | 5% | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
| 2 | Jose Cuervo | Becle | 4.7% | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 25 |
| 3 | Hennessy | LVMH | 4.7% | 35 | 25 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
| 4 | Baileys | Diageo | 4.7% | 35 | 35 | 35 | 25 | 35 |
| 5 | Smirnoff | Diageo | 4.4% | 25 | 35 | 35 | 25 | 35 |
| 6 | Absolut | Pernod Ricard | 4.1% | 35 | 25 | 25 | 35 | 25 |
| 7 | Captain Morgan | Diageo | 3.6% | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| 8 | Suntory | Suntory | 3.5% | 25 | 35 | 8 | 55 | – |
| 9 | Roku | Beam Suntory | 3.2% | 35 | 35 | 35 | 8 | – |
| 10 | Kahlua | Pernod Ricard | 3% | 25 | 25 | – | 35 | 20 |
| 11 | Bombay Sapphire | Bacardi Limited | 2.8% | 12 | 12 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| 12 | Martell | Pernod Ricard | 2.5% | 20 | 12 | 25 | 12 | 20 |
| 13 | Yamazaki | Suntory | 2.3% | 12 | 35 | – | – | 35 |
| 14 | Grey Goose | Bacardi Limited | 2.3% | 12 | 20 | 20 | 8 | 20 |
| 15 | Hibiki | Beam Suntory | 2.2% | 20 | 12 | 20 | – | 25 |
| 16 | Tanqueray | Diageo | 2.2% | 8 | 25 | 12 | 12 | 20 |
| 17 | Don Julio | Diageo | 2.2% | 20 | 12 | – | 25 | 20 |
| 18 | Gordon's | Diageo | 2.1% | – | 20 | – | 20 | 35 |
| 19 | Patron | Bacardi Limited | 2% | 25 | 25 | – | 20 | – |
| 20 | Remy Martin | Rémy Cointreau | 2% | 25 | 20 | – | 25 | – |
Questions about AI spirits recommendations
- Which spirits brand does ChatGPT recommend most in Japan?
- ChatGPT recommends Suntory Whisky most often for spirits in Japan. Across all assistants, Bacardi leads with 5% of recommendations.
- Which spirits brand is improving fastest in Japan?
- Jose Cuervo has the strongest momentum among challengers: AI names it first in 4 of 5 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.
Spirits: AI rankings by country
Covers: Brandy & Cognac, Gin, Liqueurs, Rum, Tequila, Vodka, Whiskey.
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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