The analysis shows that the top 15 brands capture approximately 62% of the total AI citation share as patients increasingly use platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews to research treatments.
5WPR, a public relations and digital marketing agency, and Haute MD, a network for medical aesthetic practitioners, have released the Medical Aesthetics AI Visibility Index 2026, a new report ranking the top 25 medical aesthetics brands based on their citation share across artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
The index analyzed over 60 consumer-intent queries related to neurotoxins, dermal fillers, energy-based devices, medical-grade skincare, and surgical procedures. The findings identify which brands are leading in AI-driven patient discovery and which are underperforming as patient research behaviors change.
Key Index Findings
According to the report, five brands lead the rankings in their respective categories: Botox, Juvéderm, CoolSculpting, SkinCeuticals, and Morpheus8. The analysis shows that the top 15 brands capture approximately 62% of the total AI citation share, with the remaining share distributed among other brands and provider-specific citations.
The report also identifies two major trends impacting the aesthetics market and influencing AI search patterns:
- The increasing demand for GLP-1 weight-loss medications is reshaping patient interest in body contouring, skin tightening, and facial volume restoration.
- AI platforms are replacing traditional social media channels like Instagram and TikTok as the primary tool for patient research on treatments, devices, and providers.
“Medical aesthetics is the fastest-shifting healthcare sub-category we track for AI citation behavior, and it is the category where the gap between marketing spend and AI-visibility performance is most severe,” says Ronn Torossian, founder of 5WPR, in a release. “Brands built a decade of growth on Instagram-led influencer discovery. That channel is collapsing. The brands that are winning now are the ones treating AI citation as the category-defining infrastructure it has become.”
The index also provides strategic guidance for manufacturers, device companies, and practitioner networks on improving their AI citation share. It highlights the role of clinical authorities, peer-reviewed journals, trade media, and provider-authored content in influencing the outputs of large language models.
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