Growth Notes · AI search for skincare brands
How to get your skincare brand recommended by ChatGPT
Shoppers ask ChatGPT which serum to buy, and it answers with a handful of brands. Here's what the brands it picks have in common, and how yours gets on the list.
By Monica Hacker, fractional CMO · October 26, 2026
The short answer
Own one concern. Prove it everywhere.
ChatGPT recommends skincare brands it can clearly connect to a skin concern, a key ingredient, and proof from other sources.
Brands that own one concern, explain their ingredients plainly, and show up in reviews and editorial lists get named. Brands that try to be everything to everyone usually don't.
What I found
The pharmacy brands own the basics.
I asked ChatGPT five common skincare questions, three times each. La Roche-Posay was named in 10 of 15 answers and CeraVe in 8.
Luxury and sensitive skin answers barely changed between runs. "Clean skincare" was the most open question, with twelve different brands named across three answers.
Step one
Check where you stand
Ask like a shopper
Ask ChatGPT the five questions your customers ask, in a fresh chat, three times each. Note who gets named and whether you do.
Find your open lane
Some questions are locked up and some are wide open. In my tests, clean skincare was open and sensitive skin was not. Pick the questions you can actually win.
Check what it says about you
Ask about your brand by name. Whatever it says about your ingredients and reviews is what every shopper who asks hears.
Ran this and didn't like what you saw? That's exactly what I fix.
Book a call →Step two
Get on the list
Own one concern per product
Give each hero product a page that names the concern it solves, who it's for, and how to use it. "Glowing skin" doesn't map to a question.
Lead with the ingredient and the strength
ChatGPT talked about retinoids, vitamin C and SPF before it named a single brand. Put your active and percentage in the product name, the first line and your FAQs.
Get on the lists it reads
Keep your retailer listings complete, pitch editorial "best of" lists in your category, and make it easy for real customers to leave reviews.
Is ChatGPT recommending your brand,
or the one next to you on the shelf?
Let's find out.
My AI Visibility Check tests the questions your customers ask, shows who gets recommended instead of you, and gives you a prioritized fix list. $2,500, done in 5 days.
Book a call →Or see how I work with skincare brands.
Monica Hacker, fractional CMO for CPG, ecommerce, beauty and wellness, and healthcare brands. I run these tests myself and rerun them every month.
Questions people ask me
How does ChatGPT decide which skincare brand to recommend?
In my tests it opened with ingredients and routine basics, then named brands it could tie to a specific concern, like La Roche-Posay and CeraVe for acne and sensitive skin.
How many skincare brands does ChatGPT recommend?
Usually four or five per answer. If your brand isn't one of them, that shopper never sees you.
Where can a newer skincare brand break in?
Clean skincare was the most open question in my tests, with twelve different brands named across three answers.
Want to know if ChatGPT is naming your brand?
Book a call →