Best Sunscreen Under $20 According to AI (2026)
Tracked across 1 benchmark run from May 30, 2026 to May 30, 2026
The exact question we asked AI models
“I am a 32-year-old active woman who spends a lot of time outdoors with my family. I am looking for sunscreen under $20 for everyday use. What are my best options?”
Brand Recommendations
Aggregated across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity over 1 benchmark run.
| # | Brand | Mentions | Top-3 | First Picks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Banana Boat | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | Neutrogena | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Blue Lizard | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Sun Bum | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Trader Joes | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | elf | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Eucerin | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Innisfree | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Differin | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Badger | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | Biore | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | CeraVe | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | Cetaphil | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Aveeno | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Model-by-Model Breakdown
Top brands each AI model recommends for this prompt.
chatgpt
- 1.Blue Lizard
- 2.Banana Boat
- 3.Badger
- 4.Neutrogena
- 5.Sun Bum
claude
- 1.Banana Boat
- 2.Aveeno
- 3.Neutrogena
gemini
- 1.Neutrogena
- 2.Biore
- 3.Trader Joes
- 4.elf
- 5.Innisfree
perplexity
- 1.Trader Joes
- 2.elf
- CeraVe
Key Insights
Key Takeaway
For an active outdoor family buyer, AI consolidates around La Roche-Posay (face/premium), Blue Lizard (mineral-sport), EltaMD (Claude's derm pick), and Neutrogena (active spray and budget), with the two-product face-plus-body wardrobe as the cross-model consensus. A brand outside that core surfaces only by owning a specific slot (Supergoop premium-lifestyle, Banana Boat budget-family, SolRX extreme-water-resistance). Mineral and reef-safe positioning is the entry ticket for the family angle.
Top Brands Summary
La Roche-Posay and Blue Lizard are the most-mentioned brands this run, both appearing across multiple models, with Neutrogena close behind on volume (it surfaces in nearly every model as the active/spray and budget pick). EltaMD is Claude's clear top pick (its #1 in both P1 and P3) but barely registers for the other models. Supergoop, Banana Boat, and Sun Bum form the mid-tier. The cross-model framework is again the two-product wardrobe (a high-protection body sunscreen plus a lightweight face SPF). Note: Gemini P3 failed to generate (blank response on free tier after retries), so this run has 11 usable responses, not 12, and Gemini is represented by P1 and P2 only.
See the full Sunscreen benchmark
Cross-model rankings, trend data, and competitive landscape.
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