Evergreen monthly benchmark — May 13
Hair Growth Supplements
May 13INAUGURAL Hair Growth Supplements data establishes the most concentrated AI recommendation oligopoly we've documented in any supplement category: Nutrafol + Viviscal occupy the top 2 positions in EVERY single prompt across all 4 models. Viviscal hit 12-of-12 cross-prompt presence on the FIRST run. Nutrafol hit 8-of-12. This is the fastest brand authority lock-in we've documented in a supplement category, typically takes 2-3 runs to see this kind of consensus. Happy Head emerging as Gemini+Perplexity DTC challenger is the only interesting movement signal. Hers gets cross-model presence specifically because of the minoxidil prescription angle (which all 4 models cite as the most evidence-backed option).
Top Brands by AI Mention Frequency
Mention frequency counts how many times a brand appeared across all AI responses. This differs from top-pick rank, which reflects each model’s #1 choice.
Why These Brands Win
- All 4 models recommend Nutrafol Women's Balance as the premium pick for hormonal/perimenopause thinning.
- Every model emphasizes Viviscal as the value alternative with clinical study support.
- All flag biotin alone as overhyped and lab-test-interfering.
- Saw palmetto universally cited as DHT-blocking ingredient.
- Minoxidil (Rogaine) universally treated as more evidence-backed than any supplement.
- Bloodwork (ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid, B12) universally recommended before supplementing.
- 3-6 month timeline for visible results universal.
- Hair growth slowness universally cited as a buying caveat.
Cross-Agent Comparison
How 4 AI models rank the same category. Hover a brand to trace it across models.
4 agents · top 3 each
| Agent | #1 | #2 | #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| chatgpt | Nutrafol | Viviscal | Nature Made |
| claude | Nutrafol | Viviscal | Hers |
| gemini | Nutrafol | Viviscal | Happy Head |
| perplexity | Nutrafol | Viviscal | OUAI |
All 4 models agree on Nutrafol as the top pick
What This Means
- ChatGPT (commerce-formatted, medical-leaning): Surfaces specific budget alternatives (Nature Made Vitamin D3, Slow Fe, OLLY) that no other model recommends.
- Most explicit on "supplements are support not main treatment" framing.
- Cites American Academy of Dermatology, Harvard Health, Cleveland Clinic.
- Claude (most opinionated, premium-leaning): Recommends Vital Proteins Marine Collagen Peptides as a separate stack option in P2, interesting cross-category pull from our existing protein/collagen data.
- Most detailed visual-card formatted ranking with cost/timeline/Rx-required structure.
- Uniquely surfaces saw palmetto $10-15 standalone option.
- Gemini (lifestyle-formatted, hormonal-focused): Personality-typed framing ("Gold Standard," "Best Thickness," "Best Vegan/Liquid").
- Uniquely surfaces Happy Head (P2 #2 budget pick), Solgar (P2 #3).
- Most aggressive on DHT-blocking ingredient emphasis (Saw Palmetto, Pumpkin Seed Oil, Pygeum Bark).
- Perplexity (most consolidated, evidence-skeptical): Uniquely surfaces OUAI Thick and Full.
- Most balanced "supplements vs minoxidil" framing, explicitly ranks minoxidil ABOVE Nutrafol/Viviscal as evidence-backed.
- Happy Head appears as #2 in P3 ranking.
Opportunity for Brands
- OUAI only appears in Perplexity.
- Happy Head only appears in Gemini and Perplexity (interesting.
- This is the first time we've documented an emerging DTC challenger appearing in 2 specific models only).
- Solgar only appears in Gemini.
- OLLY only appears in ChatGPT.
- Vital Proteins surfaces only in Claude P2 as collagen recommendation.
- Nature Made only appears in ChatGPT.
- Slow Fe only appears in ChatGPT.
- Major Amazon-strong brands relevant for outreach ICP fit: Sugarbear Hair, Hairfinity, HUM Nutrition Hair Strong, Olly Heavenly Hair.
- Mary Ruth's ACV variants, Folexin are all absent from this run despite strong Amazon retail presence.
- Notable absent DTC: Hims, Roman, Keeps (all minoxidil-only), Vegamour Premium tier.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hair growth supplements does AI recommend most?▾
Which hair growth supplements brand ranks #1 across all AI models?▾
Why does ChatGPT recommend different hair growth supplements than Claude?▾
How we measure this
Each benchmark runs the same standardized prompts across multiple leading AI systems, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. We use consistent, category-specific questions designed to surface genuine product recommendations — not sponsored results.
Responses are parsed to extract brand mentions, rank position, and frequency. We then analyze cross-model agreement, identify which brands consistently appear in top positions, and flag where AI outputs diverge from marketplace trends.
Evergreen categories are benchmarked monthly. Results reflect organic AI behavior at the time of testing. Read the full methodology
Your competitors are showing up in AI results. Are you?
INAUGURAL Hair Growth Supplements run reveals an extremely concentrated AI recommendation oligopoly: Nutrafol And Viviscal occupy nearly every cross-model top-2 recommendation, with Hers/Hims as the minoxidil-included third option. Viviscal hit 12-of-12 cross-prompt presence on the inaugural run, fastest brand authority lock-in we've documented in supplements. For outreach ICP targeting (brands ranked 6-15 mid-tier), the structural problem in this category is severe: most Amazon-strong mid-tier brands (Sugarbear. Hairfinity, HUM, Folexin, OLLY beyond ChatGPT) have zero cross-model AI presence. The most fixable consulting target is Happy Head, emerging as Gemini+Perplexity-specific DTC challenger but invisible in ChatGPT and Claude. Vegamour holds branding-driven presence in ChatGPT and Claude but no clinical authority. MaryRuth's has ChatGPT+Gemini presence as the "vegan/liposomal" pick, niche but defensible. The premium/clinical framing is the moat in this category, brands without published RCT data are structurally locked out of cross-model recommendations.
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