Deepsee.io pulled store data on 4,346 AI character and companion apps and found that the age rating a media buyer would use to screen out risky inventory is the rating most of that inventory already carries. The research, published by the ad quality firm and last updated on July 15, 2026, covers 1,464 listings on Google Play, representing roughly 610 million combined downloads, and 2,882 on Apple's App Store. Across both stores, 2,589 apps, or 60 percent of the set, carry a rating that classifies them as accessible to minors: Teen or lower on Google Play, 12+ or lower on the App Store. Rocky Moss, co-founder and chief executive of Deepsee.io, wrote in a LinkedIn post, "It's why we flag AI Companion Apps as a High Risk brand suitability signal," and asked, "What else are you screening app inventory on right now." Dr. Augustine Fou, independent ad fraud researcher behind FouAnalytics, replied, "super good data here." Deepsee.io defines an AI companion app as a chatbot built around a persistent persona and an ongoing relationship. The research team analysed titles and store descriptions, finding signature terms like character, companion, girlfriend, virtual and friend in titles, and overrepresented words like conversations, talk, personalities, she and her in descriptions. Mental health ranks among the most overrepresented phrases in companion-app titles on Google Play and descriptions on the App Store. On the