Why Beauty Brands Must Master AEO & GEO to Win in AI Search

How to Get Your Products to Show Up as the Answers in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Other AI Tools

In 2026, search isn’t happening on a results page — it’s happening inside a chat window. As AI assistants like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity explode in usage, beauty consumers are increasingly asking their AI “What should I buy?” before they ever visit a website. And if your brand isn’t showing up in those answers, you’re essentially invisible. (Yotpo)

That’s the big idea behind the piece Who Will Win Beauty’s Arms Race for GEO? in WWD — today’s visibility landscape is no longer about traditional SEO alone, it’s about AI-ready content that gets cited as the answer. (Women's Wear Daily) This is where Sloane’s AEO services optimize product page content, connect with PR and topic experts to answer AI’s validation questions, and creates content to drive a brand’s products as answers to common consumer questions across AI search.

If AI is already influencing your customers, it’s already influencing your revenue.

AEO content for AI search is a strategy beauty brands can no longer ignore. Speed and technical validation is integral for products to surface as answers across AI Search.

From SEO to AEO to GEO: What’s Changed

Traditional SEO was about ranking pages and getting clicks. But AI search engines don’t serve ten blue links anymore. They serve one curated, conversational answer — often with citations pulled from multiple sources. That shift demands two new optimization strategies:

• AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) — Structuring content so it answers questions directly and earns placements in AI summaries, featured snippets, and voice responses.

• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) — Crafting content that AI models understand, trust, and reuse when generating conversational answers.

In other words:

SEO gets you discovered.
AEO gets you cited in AI answers.
GEO gets your products recommended inside AI commerce channels.

Why Beauty Needs to Pay Attention (Especially Skincare)

The WWD article highlights something striking about beauty brands in AI discovery:
Brands that lean into clinical clarity, ingredient transparency and expert validation dominate AI recommendations — while others are falling behind. (Yotpo)

Here are a few trends the analysis uncovered:

• Ingredient-first content wins. Brands that name ingredients clearly and explain their functions outperform those with vague descriptors. LLMs understand structured, specific language — and recommend it. (Yotpo)

• Use-case specificity matters. AI tools reward content that answers precise questions (e.g., “best serum for sensitive skin with melasma”) rather than generic claims. (Yotpo)

• Expert validation signals AI trust. Mentions of dermatologists, research citations, clinical trials and credible sources are what AI models lean on when choosing which brands to recommend. (Yotpo)

In short: beauty categories that are explainable and data-rich — like skincare ingredients — naturally create more pathways for AI discovery than aesthetic categories like color cosmetics. (Yotpo)

AEO & GEO in Practice: What Beauty Brands Should Do Now

If your goal is to move beyond being just a website and into being an AI-recommended product, here are concrete steps:

1. Build AI-friendly Content Ecosystems

AI loves structure. Content that answers questions clearly and concisely is more likely to be used as an answer.

• FAQ and “Advice Hub” pages targeted at long-tail, conversational prompts (“What retinol is best for rosacea?”) increase your share in AI responses. (Digital Marketing Agency | 12AM Agency)

• Structured data and schema markup for products, ingredients, reviews, and FAQs improves machine readability — crucial for AI engines to understand context and recommend your products. (CakeCommerce)

2. Think Like a Human and a Machine

AI is trained on human language — so brands must adopt human-centric content patterns:

• Use clear, direct answers at the top of pages (the “AEO way”).

• Mirror the phrasing consumers actually use in AI queries. (Wellows)

• Avoid vague claim statements — specificity yields trust signals.

3. Design for Trust, Not Just Rankings

AI models look for signals of authority. Earned mentions from reputable sources, citations on industry publications, and expert-backed content all improve your AI trustworthiness. (Women's Wear Daily)

• Encourage UGC (user-generated content) with good visuals and real use-case context — AI often pulls these as supporting evidence. (Yotpo)

• Partner with professionals for expert quotes or reviews that reinforce credibility. (Digital Marketing Agency | 12AM Agency)

4. Monitor AI Citations & Adjust

Unlike traditional SEO rankings, AI visibility isn’t binary — you may show up for some queries and not others. Tools that track how and when LLMs mention your brand are becoming essential. (Wellows)

The Bottom Line

Beauty brands aren’t competing for search rankings anymore — they’re competing for AI recommendations. If your brand isn’t crafted to answer the questions consumers ask AI tools, you’re missing a massive discovery channel where purchase intent is already happening first.

AI search is the new front door. Make sure you don’t just show up — make sure you get chosen.

Originally inspired by insights from WWD’s race for beauty brands in AI search visibility. (Women's Wear Daily)