[DigitalToday reporter Hyunwoo Choo] AIBIX Lab on Wednesday released Korea’s first AI brand competitiveness index, AIBIX (AI Brand Index). It covers 715 brands in 30 categories in the food and beverage and franchise sector.

AIBIX is an index that analyzes, on a 100-point scale, brand appearance rates, share of mentions and the use of official sources by repeatedly asking the same questions to four leading generative AI models: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. The measurement period ran from July 20 to Aug. 4.

The analysis showed market rankings and AI competitiveness rankings did not always match. In 20 of the 30 categories, the No. 1 brand differed by AI. High Mune, the market leader in protein drinks, stayed in fourth place in the AIBIX protein food category. Franchise burgers also showed differences between the store-count ranking (Mom’s Touch, Lotteria, Burger King and McDonald’s) and the AIBIX ranking.

Mega MGC Coffee, which ranks No. 1 by number of stores, showed wide gaps by AI. It ranked No. 1 on Gemini, No. 3 on Claude, No. 5 on Perplexity and No. 7 on ChatGPT, leaving it fourth overall. For cup ramen, Shin Ramyun Cup ranked No. 1 on ChatGPT and Claude, while Yukgaejang Sabal Myeon ranked No. 1 on Gemini and Perplexity. For pizza, Domino’s Pizza led on three AI models, but Pizza School ranked ahead only on Perplexity. For soju, ChatGPT and Claude picked Chamisul as No. 1, while Gemini and Perplexity chose Jinro.

The rise of retailers’ private brands was also notable. In convenience-store boxed meals, GS25’s Hyejaro-un Jipbap ranked No. 1 on all four AI models. In frozen dumplings, Coupang’s Gomgom Wanggyoja ranked fourth with 26.2 points, closing to within 4.8 points of third-placed Gohyang Mandu at 31.0 points. For instant rice, No Brand ranked fourth, and for protein bars, Kirkland Protein ranked second.

Cases in which official brand materials were used as the basis for AI answers were rare. Among 29 kimchi brands, only Jongga was the sole brand whose official content was cited by all four AI models. Of the 715 brands, 127, or 17.8 percent, were not mentioned even once by any of the four AI models.

AIBIX Lab CEO Junhyun Kim (김준현) said, "There is no guarantee that the market leader is also No. 1 in AI, and even the same brand can face a different competitive landscape depending on which AI is asked." He added, "Companies must first check which AI and which questions their brand is falling behind on."

AIBIX Lab plans to expand the scope of its survey to areas such as fashion, beauty, automobiles, living and financial products, and to publish the AI brand competitiveness index each month.