The AI Love Threesome: Brands, Sources, and the Algorithms Between Them

This Valentine's Day, millions of people will ask AI for gift recommendations. We analyzed which brands AI is falling for - and who's playing matchmaker.

It's February 14th. Someone types into ChatGPT: "Best perfume gift for Valentine's Day." Within seconds, AI delivers its answer - a curated list of brands, confidently presented, no ads, no sponsored results. Just recommendations.

But here's the thing most brands don't realize: that answer didn't come from nowhere. Behind every AI recommendation is a love triangle - the brand, the sources talking about it, and the algorithm deciding who gets the date.

We tracked AI visibility across six Valentine's Day verticals - jewelry, perfumes, lingerie, wines & champagnes, sex toys, and sexual wellness - to find out which brands AI is recommending, and more importantly, who's setting them up.

The Favorites: Who AI Can't Stop Recommending

Some brands have AI wrapped around their finger. Across all six categories, here are the ones showing up most when people ask for Valentine's gift ideas:

Perfumes: Chanel dominates at 82% visibility - when someone asks AI about perfume, Chanel comes up in more than 4 out of 5 responses. Dior (75%) and Tom Ford (65%) round out a strong top 3. But the drop-off is steep: YSL sits at just 26% and Valentino at 22%. In AI search, the rich get richer.

Lingerie: Victoria's Secret leads at 77%, proving the brand still has serious pull in AI recommendations despite its public reinvention narrative. Savage x Fenty (69%) is the strong runner-up - Rihanna's brand is clearly resonating with the sources AI trusts. Bluebella (55%), Agent Provocateur (49%), and Fleur du Mal (43%) complete the top 5.

Jewelry: Cartier (72%) and Tiffany (59%) are the obvious power couple, but Van Cleef & Arpels at 58% is practically breathing down Tiffany's neck. Harry Winston (43%) and Chopard (30%) trail behind - luxury heritage alone isn't enough if AI's sources aren't talking about you.

Wines & Champagnes: This is the tightest race in our data. Veuve Clicquot (74%), Laurent-Perrier (73%), and Dom Pérignon (72%) are separated by just two percentage points. It's a three-way love triangle within the love triangle. Ruinart (54%) and Moët & Chandon (53%) sit a tier below - surprising for Moët, arguably the most recognizable champagne brand in the world.

Sex Toys: LELO (73%) and We-Vibe (70%) are practically inseparable at the top. Womanizer holds a solid third at 52%, while Lovense and Maude are tied at 25% - a significant gap from the leaders.

Sexual Wellness: SKYN leads at 79%, followed by ONE (65%), Durex (63%), and Trojan (60%). LELO appears here too at 52%, making it the only brand to crack the top 5 in two different categories - the cross-category Casanova of AI search.

The Matchmakers: Who's Getting Brands the Date

Here's where it gets really interesting. Brands don't get recommended by accident. AI models cite specific sources to form their answers - and some sources have way more influence than others.

Reddit is the ultimate wingman. It appears in the top 3 sources across 5 of 6 verticals. It's the #1 source for lingerie (38.9%), sex toys (30.0%), and jewelry (25.3%). When real people discuss products in Reddit threads, AI listens. For brands, this means user-generated content isn't just nice-to-have - it's your primary introduction to the algorithm.

Forbes is the serial dater. It's the top source for wines & champagnes (45.6%) and shows up prominently for jewelry (20.4%), perfumes (26.1%), and lingerie (32.8%). Forbes' product roundups and gift guides are essentially AI's trusted recommendation engine. If Forbes writes about you, AI will mention you.

The "trust type" shifts by category. This is perhaps the most fascinating pattern in the data. For sexual wellness, the top source is Healthline (46.1%) - AI defaults to health authority. For wines, it's Forbes and luxury editorial like The Luxe Review (27.8%). For lingerie and sex toys, it's community (Reddit) plus lifestyle media (Cosmopolitan, Vice). AI picks different matchmakers depending on the intimacy level of the purchase.

Niche sites punch way above their weight. Sohumshoppe.com - a boutique perfume retailer - is the #1 source for perfumes at 28.9%, beating Reddit and Forbes. John Atencio, a Colorado jeweler, ties Forbes at 20.4% for jewelry. Condomdepot.com (26.1%) outranks the New York Times (20.0%) for sexual wellness. In the AI love triangle, you don't need to be the biggest - you need to be the most relevant.

Who's Getting Ghosted

The data also reveals some notable absences. Moët & Chandon - arguably the world's most famous champagne - sits at just 53% despite massive brand recognition. In perfumes, YSL and Valentino are below 30%. These are household names getting outperformed in AI recommendations.

Why? Because AI visibility isn't built on brand awareness alone. It's built on being discussed, reviewed, and cited by the sources AI trusts. If the matchmakers aren't talking about you, the algorithm won't introduce you.

How to Get a Second Date

So what can brands learn from AI's Valentine's preferences?

Get discussed where AI looks. Reddit, Forbes, and niche editorial are doing the heavy lifting. Brands that show up in genuine community discussions and trusted editorial roundups get recommended more. This isn't something you can buy - it's something you earn.

Match the trust type for your category. If you're in wellness, AI wants health authority. If you're in luxury, it wants editorial credibility. If you're in intimacy-adjacent categories, it wants real user voices. Know which matchmaker your category trusts and build relationships there.

Don't ignore the niche players. A boutique perfume blog can outrank the New York Times in AI influence. Specialist sources carry disproportionate weight because AI values topical authority - being the expert on one thing matters more than being a generalist that covers everything.

Your own site matters too. Tiffany.com appears as a top source for jewelry at 17.8%. AI cites brand-owned content when it's authoritative and well-structured. Invest in content that answers the exact questions people ask AI.

The Takeaway

This Valentine's Day, the brands winning AI's heart aren't necessarily the biggest or the most famous - they're the ones with the best relationships. Not with customers (though that helps), but with the sources, publications, and communities that AI trusts to form its recommendations.

In AI search, you don't get to ask someone out. You get recommended - or you don't.

The love triangle is real. The question is: are you in it?

Data collected by GetMentioned across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. We track which brands AI recommends, which sources drive those recommendations, and how visibility changes over time. Want to see how your brand shows up?