Census · Published 2026-10-17 · 60 answers · Claude with web search · recorded, not live

AI named melatonin in 40 of 60 answers. The top brand, Thorne, in 18.

Six questions a shopper might type about sleep supplements, each asked 10 times of Claude with web search: 60 answers. Ingredients led: melatonin in 40, magnesium glycinate in 31. The brand named most, Thorne, came up in 18; 21 other brands shared the rest, 17 of them in fewer than 10 answers each. In 26 answers no brand was named at all. The full list of questions is further down.

Brand names here are measurement results, not recommendations.

One real answer, annotated

One of the 60 answers in this census. Recorded 2026-10-17, not live.

Question 2 of 6 · answer 1 of 10

Which melatonin should I buy?

Claude with web search · recorded 2026-10-17 · not live

Best all-around / budget: Nature Made Melatonin […] USP-verified (independently tested for label accuracy), widely available, pharmacist-recommended.

Best if you want third-party purity testing: Thorne Melaton-5 (5mg) […] NSF/third-party certified, good if you need a higher dose.

Best value: Nutricost Melatonin […] cheap per-mg, decent quality.

  • Nature MadeBrandin 13 of 60 answers
    melatoninIngredientin 40 of 60 answers
  • ThorneBrandin 18 of 60 answers
  • Brands named here. In 26 of 60 answers, none was.Those 26 answers named an ingredient and stopped there.

Sources this answer cited

  • consumerlab.comIndependent supplement testing service
  • fortune.comBusiness magazine
  • darwin-nutrition.frFrench supplement guide site

Verbatim. […] marks a cut; bold and list marks dropped; no word changed. Marked: every name the census counts, including melatonin inside a product name.

Named melatonin

40 of 60

The name given most, an ingredient.

Claude with web search · 60 answers

Named Thorne

18 of 60

The brand named most.

Claude with web search · 60 answers

Stopped at the ingredient

26 of 60

An ingredient named, and no brand.

Claude with web search · 60 answers

Leaderboard

The names AI gave most

Bar: the range we would expect if the census ran again. Tick: what we saw. Top ten, plus any tied with the tenth.

  1. Melatonin Ingredient In 40 of 60 · range 33 to 100%
  2. Magnesium glycinate Ingredient In 31 of 60 · range 17 to 85%
  3. L-theanine Ingredient In 28 of 60 · range 12 to 83%
  4. Glycine Ingredient In 26 of 60 · range 13 to 77%
  5. Thorne Brand In 18 of 60 · range 3 to 63%
  6. Magnesium citrate Ingredient In 17 of 60 · range 0 to 62%
  7. Chamomile Ingredient In 15 of 60 · range 0 to 55%
  8. Ashwagandha Ingredient In 15 of 60 · range 0 to 60%
  9. Nature Made Brand In 13 of 60 · range 0 to 53%
  10. Pure Encapsulations Brand In 13 of 60 · range 0 to 55%

Sources

The sites the answers were built from

The twelve domains cited most, grouped by what they are. Five are magazines or portals, and one is a supplement maker’s own site.

Testing and comparison sites

  • sleepopolis.comcited in 13 of 60 answersMattress review site
  • verifiedsupplementdata.comcited in 11 of 60 answersSupplement cost-per-dose comparison site
  • consumerlab.comcited in 6 of 60 answersIndependent supplement testing service

Health information sites

  • sleepfoundation.orgcited in 12 of 60 answersSleep health publisher, part of the Sleep Doctor brand
  • medicalnewstoday.comcited in 9 of 60 answersHealth information site

Magazines and portals

  • fortune.comcited in 10 of 60 answersBusiness magazine
  • aol.comcited in 10 of 60 answersWeb portal
  • bestlifeonline.comcited in 10 of 60 answersLifestyle publication
  • bustle.comcited in 9 of 60 answersLifestyle magazine
  • marieclaire.comcited in 8 of 60 answersFashion magazine

Company sites

  • ringly.iocited in 9 of 60 answersSoftware company for online stores, off topic here
  • cymbiotika.comcited in 6 of 60 answersSupplement maker

Cited in: the number of the 60 answers that linked the domain at least once. Types checked on each site’s own homepage on 2026-10-17.

Full table

Every name, every number

Sleep supplements, 60 answers · engine: Claude with web search

60 answers across 6 questions at 10 repeats each, collected 2026-10-17. Engine: Claude with web search, through an internal research route (the Claude Code CLI, Sonnet); production audits use the Messages API.

Each row leads with a cluster-bootstrap range, which allows for the same question being asked again; the narrower Wilson range beside it assumes every answer is an independent draw. The method page explains why the bootstrap leads.

Narrow screen: scroll the table sideways for more columns.

n=60 answers · 6 questions, 10 repeats each · collected 2026-10-17 · engine: Claude with web search
Name Kind Share of answers (bar: bootstrap range, tick: observed) Wilson range (assumes independent answers) Average position when named (1 = first) In the first three names
MelatoninIngredient

33 to 100% · 40 of 60

54 to 77%1.7536 of 60 (60%)
Magnesium glycinateIngredient

17 to 85% · 31 of 60

39 to 64%1.0631 of 60 (52%)
L-theanineIngredient

12 to 83% · 28 of 60

35 to 59%3.0022 of 60 (37%)
GlycineIngredient

13 to 77% · 26 of 60

32 to 56%2.5422 of 60 (37%)
ThorneBrand

3 to 63% · 18 of 60

20 to 43%3.725 of 60 (8%)
Magnesium citrateIngredient

0 to 62% · 17 of 60

19 to 41%2.5917 of 60 (28%)
ChamomileIngredient

0 to 55% · 15 of 60

16 to 37%4.804 of 60 (7%)
AshwagandhaIngredient

0 to 60% · 15 of 60

16 to 37%7.200 of 60 (0%)
Nature MadeBrand

0 to 53% · 13 of 60

13 to 34%3.238 of 60 (13%)
Pure EncapsulationsBrand

0 to 55% · 13 of 60

13 to 34%4.771 of 60 (2%)
NatrolBrand

0 to 48% · 11 of 60

11 to 30%4.453 of 60 (5%)
OllyBrand

0 to 47% · 10 of 60

9 to 28%2.808 of 60 (13%)
Natures CraftBrand

0 to 47% · 9 of 60

8 to 26%8.110 of 60 (0%)
Life ExtensionBrand

0 to 38% · 8 of 60

7 to 24%3.256 of 60 (10%)
ValerianIngredient

0 to 30% · 8 of 60

7 to 24%5.122 of 60 (3%)
NutricostBrand

0 to 30% · 7 of 60

6 to 22%4.141 of 60 (2%)
LemmeBrand

0 to 33% · 7 of 60

6 to 22%4.573 of 60 (5%)
NOW FoodsBrand

0 to 28% · 7 of 60

6 to 22%5.571 of 60 (2%)
Nordic NaturalsBrand

0 to 27% · 5 of 60

4 to 18%6.200 of 60 (0%)
MaryRuth OrganicsBrand

0 to 27% · 5 of 60

4 to 18%7.400 of 60 (0%)
VitafusionBrand

0 to 18% · 4 of 60

3 to 16%5.250 of 60 (0%)
Natural VitalityBrand

0 to 22% · 4 of 60

3 to 16%9.500 of 60 (0%)
GoliBrand

0 to 17% · 3 of 60

2 to 14%7.000 of 60 (0%)
Doctor's BestBrand

0 to 13% · 2 of 60

1 to 11%6.000 of 60 (0%)
Luma NutritionBrand

0 to 7% · 1 of 60

0 to 9%2.001 of 60 (2%)
LegionBrand

0 to 7% · 1 of 60

0 to 9%3.001 of 60 (2%)
REMfreshBrand

0 to 7% · 1 of 60

0 to 9%4.000 of 60 (0%)
AGZBrand

0 to 7% · 1 of 60

0 to 9%4.000 of 60 (0%)
MomentousBrand

0 to 7% · 1 of 60

0 to 9%5.000 of 60 (0%)
CarlsonBrand

0 to 7% · 1 of 60

0 to 9%7.000 of 60 (0%)
CVS HealthStore brand

0 to 7% · 1 of 60

0 to 9%8.000 of 60 (0%)
Trader Joe'sStore brand

0 to 7% · 1 of 60

0 to 9%9.000 of 60 (0%)
Kirkland SignatureStore brand

0% · 0 of 60

0 to 6%Not named0 of 60 (0%)
EquateStore brand

0% · 0 of 60

0 to 6%Not named0 of 60 (0%)
up & upStore brand

0% · 0 of 60

0 to 6%Not named0 of 60 (0%)
WalgreensStore brand

0% · 0 of 60

0 to 6%Not named0 of 60 (0%)
Spring ValleyStore brand

0% · 0 of 60

0 to 6%Not named0 of 60 (0%)

Store brands are counted by name here. Reading each mention for whether it names a product to buy, as the pain relief census did, is still to come.

In every health category

We measure and source. We do not write, edit or suggest any statement about what a product does; that stays as your label states it.

Brand names in our censuses are measurement results, not recommendations.

Method

The questions asked

  1. What is the best magnesium supplement for sleep?
  2. Which melatonin should I buy?
  3. Best natural sleep supplement that is not habit forming?
  4. Is magnesium glycinate better than magnesium citrate for sleep? Which brand should I get?
  5. What sleep supplement do doctors recommend?
  6. Best sleep gummies for adults?

How each question is run, counted and checked: the method page.

Log

Corrections

  • 2026-10-17: two tracked store labels are withheld from the public tables for presentation; one was named in 0 of 60 answers, and the answer-level shares on this page include both.
  • 2026-10-17: first publication.

The census

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