Indian Sunscreen AI Visibility Index — probablyacomputer.com

AI VISIBILITY INDEX · INDIAN SKINCARE

Indian Sunscreen
AI Visibility Index

Which sunscreen brands do AI chatbots actually recommend when Indians search for sunscreen? We tested 5 prompts across 4 LLMs and tracked 15 brands.

LLMS TESTED

ChatGPT · Gemini · Claude · Google AIO

PROMPTS

5 buyer intent prompts

TOTAL RESPONSES

20 analysed

PUBLISHED

April 2026

Key Numbers

70%

THE DERMA CO
OVERALL VISIBILITY

UNIQUE BRANDS
CITED ACROSS LLMS

100%

GOOGLE AIO ALWAYS
CITES RE'EQUIL

#2.5

RE'EQUIL AVG
MENTION POSITION

8/20

DECONSTRUCT DIRECT
RECOMMENDATIONS

Brand AI Visibility Rankings

Percentage of 20 LLM responses where the brand was mentioned. Click any brand for a full breakdown.

VISIBILITY

AVG POSITION

DIRECT RECO

VISIBILITY BY LLM

VISIBILITY BY PROMPT

LLM × Brand Heatmap

Visibility % per LLM. Each model has its own favourites — AI optimization cannot be one-size-fits-all.

Visibility by Buyer Intent

Different search intents surface different brands. Select a prompt to see who wins.

Prompt Segment Comparison

Every dimension, across all 5 prompts, side by side. The same brand behaves very differently depending on what the consumer is asking.

DIMENSION	BEST SUNSCREENS IN INDIA	BEST FOR OILY SKIN	BEST UNDER ₹500	NO WHITE CAST	BEST TINTED SUNSCREEN
TOP BRAND	The Derma Co · 50%	The Derma Co · 75%	The Derma Co · 75%	Deconstruct · 75%	Lakme · 75%
#2 BRAND	Re'equil / Dot & Key · 75%	Re'equil / UV Doux · 75%	Lakme / Foxtale · 75%	Minimalist / Neutrogena · 50%	The Derma Co · 100%
BRANDS CITED	11 brands	10 brands	12 brands	9 brands	7 brands
DOMINANT KEYWORDS	SPF 50 · PA++++ · skin type	Matte · oil control · gel	Affordable · value · budget	Invisible · chemical filter · Indian skin	Tinted · shade · everyday · women
D2C BRAND DOMINANCE	High	High	Mixed	High	Low — legacy wins
INTERNATIONAL BRANDS CITED	Neutrogena · Cetaphil · Bioderma	Neutrogena · UV Doux · Cetaphil	Neutrogena only	Neutrogena · Cetaphil	None
GEMINI BEHAVIOUR	The Derma Co 100% Fixderma strong	UV Doux · Deconstruct strong	Re'equil · Aqualogica strong	Minimalist · Deconstruct strong	The Derma Co 100% Dot & Key strong
CHATGPT BEHAVIOUR	Fixderma 100% Minimalist strong	Fixderma · Re'equil strong	Minimalist · Deconstruct strong	Minimalist · Fixderma moderate	No clear winner
BIGGEST GAP BRAND	La Roche-Posay Claude only (60%)	UV Doux under-cited overall	Aqualogica AIO only (40%)	Re'equil · only 25% despite perfect fit	Every D2C brand missing from this intent
PROMPT OPPORTUNITY	Own general recommendation narrative	Win Gemini for oily skin queries	First to own budget wins highest-volume intent	Indian skin tone content gap is massive	D2C tinted sunscreen is wide open territory

What the Data Actually Says

FINDING 01

The Derma Co is the most AI-visible Indian sunscreen brand

At 70% overall visibility, The Derma Co appears in more LLM responses than any other brand. Gemini cites it in 100% of responses. Its Hyaluronic Sunscreen consistently appears early across all five prompt types. Its content strategy around skin concerns is clearly embedded in AI training data.

FINDING 02

Re'equil gets mentioned first, more than anyone else

55% visibility with the best average mention position of #2.5. When Re'equil appears, it appears early. Google AIO cites it 100% of the time. But it barely registers on Gemini (20%). That one model gap is a meaningful opportunity for any competitor to exploit.

FINDING 03

Deconstruct wins on recommendations, not just mentions

Despite 50% visibility, Deconstruct leads on explicit recommendations — 8 out of 20 responses. LLMs say "choose this" for Deconstruct more than any other brand, including The Derma Co. It dominates the oily skin and no-white-cast prompts. Being mentioned is not the same as being recommended.

FINDING 04

Model variance is enormous and brand-specific

Fixderma appears in ChatGPT 100% of the time but is completely absent from Claude. Neutrogena is invisible on ChatGPT but appears in 80% of Claude responses. La Roche-Posay exists only in Claude's world (60%) and gets zero mentions on the other three LLMs.

FINDING 05

Lakme owns tinted sunscreen on AI. D2C brands disappear.

For the tinted sunscreen prompt, Lakme jumps to 75% visibility — its highest across all prompts. Minimalist and Foxtale nearly vanish from this intent. Lakme's association with Indian women and everyday makeup gives it a structural AI advantage no D2C brand has challenged yet.

FINDING 06

Budget prompt has no winner. It is wide open.

The under-₹500 prompt surfaces the most fragmented brand set. Foxtale, Deconstruct, Lakme, Re'equil, Dr. Sheth's, Aqualogica all appear but no one dominates. This is the highest-volume consumer intent in Indian sunscreen and it has no AI-established owner yet.

What Brands Should Do About This

REC.01

Build intent-specific pages

Stop relying on one product page. Build dedicated pages targeting exact AI queries — "best sunscreen for oily skin India", "sunscreen no white cast Indian skin", "tinted sunscreen for Indian women." LLMs pull from topically focused content. Generic product pages do not win in AI search.

REC.02

Publish ingredient-level explainers

The most AI-visible brands have clear, findable content explaining why their formula works — PA++++, hybrid filters, no white cast on Indian skin tones. LLMs quote brand rationale, not just brand names. Content that explains the science gets cited. Content that only sells does not.

REC.03

Drive third-party review coverage

LLMs draw from review content — dermatologist blogs, YouTube skincare channels, beauty editorial sites. Brands with high AI visibility tend to have strong presence on Nykaa blog, Smytten, YouTube dermat reviews. Third-party validation is the citation fuel AI models run on.

REC.04

Track model-specific performance monthly

Run these same five prompts across all four LLMs once a month. Your visibility on Gemini is completely different to ChatGPT. Identify which model is your weakest link, investigate what content sources that model favours, and get cited there. AI visibility is not set-and-forget.

Indian SunscreenAI Visibility Index