--- title: "Hill's vs Royal Canin: Which is searched more in New Zealand?" description: "Is Hill's or Royal Canin more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Kitten food brands set in New Zealand. 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/nz/categories/nz-kitten-food-brands/compare/hills-vs-royal-canin" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Hill's vs Royal Canin: Which is searched more in New Zealand? Is Hill's or Royal Canin more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Kitten food brands set in New Zealand. 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 - **Compared**: Hill's and Royal Canin - **Competitive set**: Kitten food brands - **Market**: New Zealand - **Month measured**: Sep 2026 - **Hill's Share of Search**: 29.1% - **Royal Canin Share of Search**: 34.7% ## Is Hill's or Royal Canin more popular in search? - In September 2026, Royal Canin had more branded searches than Hill's among kitten food brands in New Zealand. Royal Canin had about 3,150 branded searches, while Hill's had 2,640. Royal Canin made up 34.7% of all kitten food brand searches we track, and Hill's accounted for 29.1%. - Royal Canin was ahead of Hill's in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Hill's’ share of searches among kitten food brands in New Zealand moved from 28.9% to 29.1%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 2.4K to 2.6K. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Royal Canin’s share of searches among kitten food brands in New Zealand moved from 37.4% to 34.7%, and its estimated monthly branded searches held steady at 3.1K. ## Top kitten food brands in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, both Hill's and Royal Canin showed up in all five answers. Royal Canin was listed before Hill's in three of them. 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Royal Canin | 1st | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Hill's | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Purina | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 4 of 5 | | Whiskas | 4th | 1 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 1 of 5 | ## Every AI answer about kitten food brands - Asked ChatGPT "Which kitten food brand should I buy in New Zealand?": 1. Royal Canin, 2. Hill's, 3. Purina, 4. Whiskas - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best kitten food brands in New Zealand?": 1. Royal Canin, 2. Hill's, 3. Purina - Asked ChatGPT "What's the best kitten food brand in New Zealand for young cats?": 1. Royal Canin, 2. Hill's, 3. Purina - Searched Google, AI Overview "best kitten food": 1. Hill's, 2. Royal Canin - Searched Google, AI Overview "dry kitten food": 1. Royal Canin, 2. Hill's, 3. Purina Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in New Zealand on October 21, 2026. ## How did search popularity change for New Zealand kitten food brands in September 2026? - In September 2026, Hill's overtook Whiskas to rank 2nd among kitten food brands in New Zealand, with 29.1% of the searches. - Royal Canin’s share of searches among kitten food brands in New Zealand has gained ground for 3 months in a row, from 33.6% to 34.7% in September 2026. ## Month by month | Month | Hill's estimated searches | Hill's Share of Search | Hill's rank | Royal Canin estimated searches | Royal Canin Share of Search | Royal Canin rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 2.4K | 28.9% | 2 | 3.1K | 37.4% | 1 | | Nov 2025 | 2.4K | 32.5% | 2 | 2.5K | 34.4% | 1 | | Dec 2025 | 1.7K | 24.8% | 3 | 2.7K | 38% | 1 | | Jan 2026 | 1.8K | 22.6% | 3 | 2.8K | 35.1% | 1 | | Feb 2026 | 2K | 25.3% | 3 | 2.8K | 35.4% | 1 | | Mar 2026 | 2.7K | 28.2% | 2 | 3.5K | 36.2% | 1 | | Apr 2026 | 2.3K | 24.8% | 3 | 3.4K | 37.2% | 1 | | May 2026 | 2.3K | 27.1% | 3 | 3K | 34.3% | 1 | | Jun 2026 | 2.4K | 27.5% | 3 | 2.9K | 33.6% | 1 | | Jul 2026 | 2.1K | 23.6% | 3 | 3K | 33.9% | 1 | | Aug 2026 | 2.3K | 26% | 3 | 3.1K | 34.3% | 1 | | Sep 2026 | 2.6K | 29.1% | 2 | 3.1K | 34.7% | 1 | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Hill's’ and Royal Canin’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading. - **Hill's**: Measured on the search terms “hill's”, “hills”, “hills biome”, “hills derm complete”, “hills digestive care”, “hills gastrointestinal biome”, “hills metabolic”, “hills metabolic mobility”, “hills prescription diet”, “hills puppy food” and “hills science diet”, summed into one figure. - **Royal Canin**: Measured on the search terms “royal canin”, “royal canin gi”, “royal canin hypo”, “royal canin kitten” and “royalcanin”, summed into one figure. - [Hill's profile](/demand/nz/brands/hills) - [Royal Canin profile](/demand/nz/brands/royal-canin) - [All kitten food brands in New Zealand](/demand/nz/categories/nz-kitten-food-brands): The set both shares are measured inside, 4 brands. ## Methodology - [How is the Brand Demand Index measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Hill's or Royal Canin more popular in search? In September 2026, Royal Canin had more branded searches than Hill's among kitten food brands in New Zealand. Royal Canin had about 3,150 branded searches, while Hill's had 2,640. Royal Canin made up 34.7% of all kitten food brand searches we track, and Hill's accounted for 29.1%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Hill's vs Royal Canin: Which is searched more in New Zealand?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/categories/nz-kitten-food-brands/compare/hills-vs-royal-canin This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/categories/nz-kitten-food-brands/compare/hills-vs-royal-canin. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.