--- title: "How popular is Kirin? Searches and AI answers worldwide" description: "Kirin is a Japanese brewer known for Kirin Ichiban. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/brands/kirin" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # How popular is Kirin? Searches and AI answers worldwide Kirin is a Japanese brewer known for Kirin Ichiban. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Brand**: Kirin - **Market**: Global - **Measured month**: Oct 2026 - **Share of Search among Japanese beer brands**: 20.5% ## Where does Kirin compete? | Competitive set | Rank | Share of Search | Estimated monthly branded searches | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Japanese beer brands | 3 | 20.5% | 82.6K | - [Japanese beer brands](/demand/global-en/categories/japanese-beer-brands) ## Top Japanese beer brands in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, Kirin appeared in all five answers. Kirin is the third most recommended of the seven. Brands get a higher AI rank if they are mentioned earlier in the answers that list options. | Brand | AI rank | ChatGPT answers that named it | Google AI Overviews that named it | All answers that named it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Asahi | 1st | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Sapporo | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Kirin | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Yebisu | 4th | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Suntory | 5th | 1 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 3 of 5 | | Hitachino Nest | 6th | 2 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 4 of 5 | | Orion | 7th | 1 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 3 of 5 | ## Every AI answer about Japanese beer brands - Asked ChatGPT "Which Japanese beer should I try?": 1. Asahi, 2. Sapporo, 3. Kirin, 4. Yebisu, 5. Hitachino Nest - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best Japanese beer brands?": 1. Asahi, 2. Sapporo, 3. Kirin, 4. Yebisu, 5. Hitachino Nest, 6. Suntory, 7. Orion - Asked ChatGPT "What's a good Japanese beer to drink with sushi?": 1. Asahi, 2. Sapporo, 3. Kirin, 4. Yebisu - Searched Google, AI Overview "japanese beer": 1. Asahi, 2. Kirin, 3. Sapporo, 4. Suntory, 5. Orion, 6. Yebisu, 7. Hitachino Nest - Searched Google, AI Overview "japanese beer brands": 1. Asahi, 2. Kirin, 3. Sapporo, 4. Suntory, 5. Orion, 6. Hitachino Nest, 7. Yebisu Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in the United States on October 25, 2026. ## How has branded search demand for Kirin changed worldwide over the last 12 months? - Across the 12 months ending October 2026, estimated monthly branded searches for Kirin worldwide rose from 60.2K to 82.6K. - Across the 12 months ending October 2026, Kirin’s share of searches among Japanese beer brands worldwide increased from 18.9% to 20.5%. - Across the 12 months ending October 2026, Kirin’s share of searches among Japanese beer brands worldwide peaked at 22.2% in May 2026 and was lowest at 18.9% in November 2025. ## How did search popularity change for Japanese beer brands worldwide in October 2026? - In October 2026, Asahi overtook Sapporo to become the leader among Japanese beer brands worldwide, with 33.5% of the searches. - In October 2026, Suntory overtook Yebisu to rank 5th among Japanese beer brands worldwide, with 3% of the searches. - In October 2026, Kirin gained share of searches among Japanese beer brands worldwide, from 19.2% to 20.5%. - In October 2026, Sapporo lost share of searches among Japanese beer brands worldwide, from 38.4% to 33.5%. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Orion worldwide rose 50% over 12 measured months, from 14.8K to 22.2K in October 2026. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Hitachino Nest worldwide rose 24.1% over 12 measured months, from 2.9K to 3.6K in October 2026. ## Historical estimated branded-search demand | Month | Competitive set | Estimated monthly branded searches | Share of Search | Rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Nov 2025 | Japanese beer brands | 60.2K | 18.9% | 3 | | Dec 2025 | Japanese beer brands | 66.2K | 20.6% | 3 | | Jan 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 60.2K | 20.4% | 3 | | Feb 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 54.2K | 19% | 3 | | Mar 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 60.2K | 20.4% | 3 | | Apr 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 60.2K | 20.3% | 3 | | May 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 73.6K | 22.2% | 3 | | Jun 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 67.6K | 19.5% | 3 | | Jul 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 67.6K | 22.1% | 3 | | Aug 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 73.6K | 20.3% | 3 | | Sep 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 67.6K | 19.2% | 3 | | Oct 2026 | Japanese beer brands | 82.6K | 20.5% | 3 | ## How are Kirin’s branded searches counted? Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Kirin’s name. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brand is growing, holding steady, or fading. - “kirin beer” - “kirin ichiban” ## Which Japanese beer brands compete with Kirin? - [Asahi](/demand/global-en/brands/asahi-beer): Head-to-head: /demand/global-en/compare/asahi-beer-vs-kirin - [Sapporo](/demand/global-en/brands/sapporo-beer): Head-to-head: /demand/global-en/compare/kirin-vs-sapporo-beer - [Orion](/demand/global-en/brands/orion-beer): Head-to-head: /demand/global-en/compare/kirin-vs-orion-beer - [Suntory](/demand/global-en/brands/suntory-beer): Head-to-head: /demand/global-en/compare/kirin-vs-suntory-beer - [Yebisu](/demand/global-en/brands/yebisu): Head-to-head: /demand/global-en/compare/kirin-vs-yebisu - [Hitachino Nest](/demand/global-en/brands/hitachino-nest) ## Methodology - [How is the Brand Demand Index measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "How popular is Kirin? Searches and AI answers worldwide". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/brands/kirin This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/brands/kirin. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.