1. Most Opella brand visibility is being built by ChatGPT, not by consumers. Across categories like Anti-Itch and Allergy, more than 90% of brand mentions originate from AI responses — not from consumers asking by name. Cortizone-10 and Nasacort are the clearest examples: nearly zero organic brand recall, but ChatGPT surfaces them in almost every relevant conversation.

2. Icy Hot and Xyzal are the exceptions — consumers ask for them unprompted. With Asked rates of 28.9% and 50.4% respectively, these two brands have real consumer equity that exists independent of AI recommendation. That's a competitive advantage worth protecting and measuring over time.

3. Allegra is carrying a hidden AI perception disadvantage. Its AI Favorability Index of 15.1% is the lowest of any Opella brand — driven by ChatGPT's frequent drug interaction and food-timing warnings. Xyzal, Opella's closest peer in the same category, scores 34.6%. This gap is visible, measurable, and actionable.

Panel growth amplifies the signal. Monthly consumers grew Xx from Jan 2025 (X) to peak Apr 2026 (X), but per-consumer engagement held steady at ~X–X conversations/month — confirming the audience is genuinely health-engaged, not just large. A notable +X% spike in Oct–Nov 2025 aligns with cold/flu season. April 2026's X conversations — the highest single month — likely reflects allergy season overlap with peak panel size.

Multi-category consumers are the norm. The sum of category-level consumers (X) is Xx the deduplicated total (X) — meaning the majority of OTC consumers discuss health across multiple categories in ChatGPT. Allergy and Sleep are nearly identical in reach (X vs. X), but Sleep generates deeper engagement — X conversations per consumer vs. X for Allergy.

Xyzal is Opella's strongest organic allergy brand — half of its conversations are consumer-initiated. Its X% Asked rate is the highest of any Opella brand in the dataset, meaning consumers proactively seek it out rather than waiting for ChatGPT to surface it. Nasacort sits at the opposite extreme: only X% Asked but X% Recommended, making it almost entirely dependent on AI surfacing. Allegra sits in the middle — decent consumer awareness (X%) backed by strong AI amplification (X%).

Icy Hot is Opella's most consumer-recalled topical pain brand. With X% of consumers actively asking about it — the second-highest Asked rate across all Opella brands — Icy Hot has genuine brand equity that Aspercreme lacks. Aspercreme's X% Asked rate and X% Recommended rate tell a different story: almost no one asks for it unprompted, but ChatGPT surfaces it in nearly every relevant conversation. Voltaren's lead in consumer reach remains the primary competitive gap for both Opella pain brands.

Dulcolax's #X position is largely AI-built. With X% of its conversations coming from ChatGPT recommendations and only X% from consumer-initiated asks, Dulcolax's visibility in this category depends heavily on AI surfacing. That's not a weakness — it's a moat. ChatGPT consistently recommends it alongside MiraLax when consumers ask about constipation, making it the default second option in the category. The primary gap remains MiraLax, which still commands nearly Xx Dulcolax's consumer reach.

Cortizone-10's dominance is almost entirely ChatGPT-built. With only X% of consumers asking about it unprompted but ChatGPT recommending it in X% of anti-itch conversations, Cortizone-10 has the highest Net AI Lift (+X%) of any Opella brand. This is the strongest example of AI acting as a brand's de facto sales rep — and a meaningful vulnerability if AI recommendation behavior shifts. Note on Aveeno's X ratio: this is a data anomaly driven by list-style AI responses at low sample volume.

Unisom has a healthy balance of organic and AI-driven visibility. Its X% Asked rate means nearly X in X conversations where Unisom appears was consumer-initiated — a solid organic floor. ChatGPT amplifies this further with a X% Recommended rate and a Net AI Lift of +X%. OLLY's AI:User ratio of X remains the standout in the category — the only brand where consumers ask more than AI recommends — but Unisom's combination of real consumer recall and strong AI endorsement makes it the most balanced brand in this report.

The user-AI sentiment gap tells two different stories about Opella's portfolio. Icy Hot stands out as the only brand with more positive than negative user sentiment (X% vs. X%) — consumers genuinely express satisfaction. Meanwhile, Dulcolax and Nasacort lead on AI favorability (X% and X%) despite higher user negativity, meaning ChatGPT is doing brand-building work that the consumer voice hasn't fully caught up to. Allegra's X% AI favorability index is the most actionable finding in this section — ChatGPT's frequent drug interaction and food-timing warnings for Allegra put it at a significant AI perception disadvantage compared to Xyzal (X%), its closest Opella sibling in the same category.