Men's grooming brands and creators are cited unevenly by AI engines. In EPR's test of ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews between May 28 and June 5, 2026, the telehealth brand Hims earned the top brand grade (A+) and creator James Welsh the top creator grade (A). The grades are directional estimates modeled from observed retrieval, not exact market shares.
Originally published September 24, 2025. Updated November 4, 2026.
Key takeaways
- Hims scored A+, Ro and Beardbrand scored A, and Manscaped and Harry's scored A-, across the five engines tested.
- James Welsh scored A among creators, and Robin James, Jose Zuniga, Antonio Centeno and Patrick Starrr each scored B+.
- The test used logged-out, non-personalized, US English prompts run between May 28 and June 5, 2026.
- Reddit made up 46.7% of Perplexity's top-10 citation share in a Profound study, though only 6.6% of all its citations.
Part of the Beauty Citation Share Index 2026. Related: Why The Ordinary Wins AI Search in Beauty and Selena Gomez Beauty AI Visibility.
Has men's grooming discovery moved from YouTube to AI answers?
Men's grooming discovery appears to be moving toward AI answers, though EPR's test cannot measure how many shoppers have switched. EPR's view is that YouTube remains important after a shortlist forms, and that the first discovery step increasingly happens in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. This is EPR's reading of the results, not a survey finding.
The Beauty Citation Share Index 2026 mapped prestige and mass beauty. Men's grooming shows a different source mix, creator layer and set of brand winners, which this page maps.
How was the test run?
The findings come from a controlled prompt set run against ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews between May 28 and June 5, 2026. The runs were logged-out, with no personalization, in US English. Representative prompts were:
- best face wash for men
- best men's retinol
- skincare routine for men in their 30s
- beard oil recommendations
- men's anti-aging products that work
- best fragrance under $100
- how to treat male hair loss
- finasteride vs minoxidil
- best men's moisturizer for oily skin
- best men's cologne for the office
- best men's body wash for sensitive skin
- how to fix patchy beard growth
Citation share is directional, modeled from observed retrieval behavior across the prompt set.
Which men's beauty creators do AI engines cite?
AI engines cite James Welsh most often among men's beauty creators, with a grade of A. The table shows each creator's level by engine and overall grade, scored A through C.
| Creator | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini | Perplexity | Overall |
|---|
| James Welsh | High | High | Medium | High | A |
| Robin James (Man For Himself) | Med-High | Medium | Medium | Med-High | B+ |
| Jose Zuniga (Teaching Men's Fashion) | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B+ |
| Antonio Centeno (Real Men Real Style) | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B+ |
| Patrick Starrr | Medium | Medium | High | Medium | B+ |
| Wayne Goss | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B |
| Bretman Rock | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B |
| James Charles | Low | Low | Medium | Low | C |
These are directional estimates, modeled from observed retrieval.
Why does James Welsh score A?
James Welsh scores A because AI engines cite his long-form skincare videos on retinol, niacinamide, azelaic acid and mandelic acid alongside dermatologist sources on concern-driven prompts. His calm, technical style suits ingredient questions. EPR's reading is that his authority predates AI engines and the engines now surface it.
Why do Robin James, Jose Zuniga and Antonio Centeno score B+?
Robin James, Jose Zuniga and Antonio Centeno each scored B+ because their multi-year content archives anchor broad men's grooming and style prompts. Robin James's Man For Himself channel was the strongest single men's hair source in this test. Zuniga's Teaching Men's Fashion and Centeno's Real Men Real Style channels anchored general men's grooming advice prompts.
What do Patrick Starrr, Wayne Goss, Bretman Rock and James Charles show?
These four creators show how audience crossover affects citation. Patrick Starrr (B+) was the most-cited male prestige-beauty creator, with makeup authority, a founder role at One/Size Beauty and Sephora and Ulta distribution. Wayne Goss (B) is a British makeup artist whose technique content crosses men's and women's audiences. Bretman Rock (B), founder of Wing Beauty, was cited on identity-expressive beauty prompts. James Charles (C) surfaced mainly on category-vocabulary prompts such as "famous male makeup artists."
Which men's grooming brands do AI engines cite?
AI engines cite Hims most often among men's grooming brands, with a grade of A+. The table shows each brand's sub-category, level by engine and overall grade.
| Brand | Sub-category | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini | Perplexity | Overall |
|---|
| Hims | Telehealth skin + hair | High | High | High | High | A+ |
| Ro (Roman) | Telehealth skin + hair | High | High | High | High | A |
| Beardbrand | Beard + facial hair | High | High | Medium | High | A |
| Manscaped | Grooming + body | High | Medium | High | Medium | A- |
| Harry's | Grooming + body | High | Medium | High | Medium | A- |
| Geologie | Direct men's skincare | Medium | Medium | Medium | Med-High | B+ |
| Lumin | Direct men's skincare | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B+ |
| Jack Black | Beard + skincare | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B |
| Huron | Direct men's skincare | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B |
| Cardon | Direct men's skincare | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B |
| Disco | Direct men's skincare | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B |
| Cremo | Beard + facial hair | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | B |
| Faculty | Direct men's skincare | Low-Med | Low-Med | Low-Med | Medium | C+ |
Prestige men's fragrance brands such as Tom Ford for Men, Le Labo, Bleu de Chanel and Acqua di Parma ride the prestige beauty retrieval layer and are not scored separately here.
Why do Hims and Ro lead the brand results?
Hims and Ro led the brand results, with Hims at A+ and Ro at A on all four engines scored High. A likely reason, which EPR has not tested, is that their health pages read to AI engines as neutral reference content rather than promotion. This section is EPR's hypothesis for brands to test, not a finding from the prompt set.
The hypothesis rests on three observations about the category. First, searches such as finasteride, minoxidil and tretinoin are medical in nature, so engines tend to prefer sources that look medical. Second, a telehealth brand has prescribers behind its recommendations, which is a credibility signal other brands lack. Third, the telehealth brands' content sits near health references on the same prompts. EPR recommends checking their pages directly for dates, cited literature and named clinicians before drawing conclusions.
Hims and Ro may also act as a gateway to the wider category. If prescription-grade men's skincare became routine through telehealth, over-the-counter brands such as Geologie, Lumin, Cardon, Disco, Huron and Faculty now compete in a market those brands helped open. That is also a hypothesis.
For brands without prescribers, the transferable idea is to publish condition and ingredient explainers that read as neutral reference material, cite primary literature and name the formulators. A brand site that works as a reference library gives engines something to retrieve beyond marketing copy.
Which celebrity men's beauty brands do AI engines cite?
Celebrity men's beauty brands show moderate or emerging citation in this test. The table lists the levels EPR observed and what each brand brings that engines may treat as a differentiator.
| Brand | Celebrity | Citation level observed | Prompt context |
|---|
| Pleasing | Harry Styles | Moderate | Gender-fluid beauty prompts; anchored more in nail polish and prestige beauty |
| S'able Labs | Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre Elba | Moderate | Black men's skincare and unisex skincare prompts |
| Le Domaine | Brad Pitt | Moderate | Prestige men's skincare and grape-derived ingredient prompts |
| Twentynine Palms | Jared Leto | Emerging | Prestige men's grooming prompts; the corpus is still thin |
| Wing Beauty | Bretman Rock | Moderate | Gen Z gender-expressive beauty prompts |
The pattern is that celebrity launches surface when they bring a product, audience or identity story, such as Le Domaine's wine-estate origin or S'able's focus on Black skincare. Launches that lead only with a famous name did not show durable citation in this test. See also EPR's Selena Gomez beauty AI visibility analysis and The Beauty Founder Playbook.
How do men's beauty AI citations differ from women's?
Men's beauty citations differ in four ways, based on the test and EPR's reading of the category.
| Difference | What EPR observed or infers |
|---|
| Reddit weighting | Men's grooming prompts draw on subreddits such as r/malegrooming, r/wicked_edge, r/beards and r/Hairloss, according to EPR's reading |
| Telehealth gateway | Hims and Ro dominate retinoid, finasteride and minoxidil prompts in the results |
| Creator format | Men's creators built authority through routine walkthroughs and ingredient explainers rather than tutorials |
| Editorial concentration | GQ, Esquire, Men's Health and Robb Report appear as editorial anchors, according to EPR's reading |
On Reddit, Profound's study of 30 million citations from August 2024 to June 2025 found it was Perplexity's top source, at 6.6% of all citations and 46.7% of its top-10 citation share, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable and other outlets. EPR's Perplexity Citation Source Index covers the sources in more detail.
What do winning men's beauty brands share?
Winning men's beauty brands share five traits in EPR's analysis. This is a synthesis of the results, not a controlled finding.
| Trait | What it looks like |
|---|
| Condition-coded content | Hims, Ro and Geologie publish ingredient and condition explainers |
| Reddit-native presence | Recommendation threads and community participation |
| Men's editorial coverage | Coverage in GQ, Esquire, Men's Health and Robb Report |
| Founder or celebrity equity | Eric Bandholz at Beardbrand and the founder stories at Manscaped, Hims and Ro |
| Retailer-page depth | Category pages at Sephora, Ulta, Target and Amazon |
EPR's working rule is that distribution depth on at least two of the four retailers is a threshold for citation share. That rule comes from the results and is not a published standard. The same source-graph logic appears in Why The Ordinary Wins AI Search in Beauty.
What should brands and creators do next?
Brands should work on their source graph, and creators should work on depth and cadence. These steps are EPR recommendations.
- Publish ingredient and condition depth that reads as reference material.
- Build retailer-page depth on at least two of Sephora, Ulta, Target and Amazon.
- Earn coverage in GQ, Esquire and Men's Health.
- Encourage authentic creator advocacy and avoid paying for forum participation.
- For creators, keep a long archive with technical density and steady cadence, because engines reached for creators with sustained expert content in this test.
The finding matches the broader Beauty Citation Share Index: the brands at the top of retrieval had the deepest source graphs, not necessarily the largest budgets. Read EPR's full index for the wider comparison.
Related: Beauty Citation Share Index 2026 · Why The Ordinary Wins AI Search · Selena Gomez beauty AI visibility · The Beauty Founder Playbook
