Are you ChatGPT visible? 

Brooklinen pioneered direct-to-consumer luxury bedding, building a $100M+ business by making hotel-quality sheets accessible without department store markups. Their Instagram-worthy aesthetic and "luxury for everyone" positioning disrupted traditional bedding retail.

But as AI shopping reshapes how customers discover home goods, brand recognition doesn't guarantee visibility. So I tested how Brooklinen actually performs when people use ChatGPT to shop for bedding.

Brooklinen appeared in 5 out of 11 purchase scenarios I tested. Despite being a DTC bedding pioneer, they were completely absent from searches like "buy luxury bedding online" and faced strong competition from traditional and emerging brands.

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The 5-Dimension AI Discovery Audit

I tested Brooklinen across 11 strategic queries representing different ways customers search for bedding and home textiles:

1. Category Authority (4 queries)

Tests: Do you own luxury bedding categories?

• Buy luxury bedding online
• Buy best bed sheets under $150
• Buy hotel-quality bedding
• Where to buy premium bedding?

2. Competitive Positioning (2 queries)

Tests: How do you rank against direct competitors?

• Buy Parachute alternative
• List brands for parachute alternative

3. Material Specificity (2 queries)

Tests: Do you appear for specific fabric searches?

• Order breathable bamboo bed sheets
• Buy affordable luxury linen

4. Category Expansion (2 queries)

Tests: Do you capture adjacent home categories?

• Best brands for luxury bedding and bath
• Shop bathrobes and towel sets

5. Product Lines (1 query)

Tests: Do you appear for specific product types?

• Buy premium duvet

Scoring Your Results:

• 80%+ mentions = AI optimized (you're winning AI commerce)
• 40-60% mentions = Repositioning needed (fix now before competitors do)
• <40% mentions = Invisible in AI commerce (urgent optimization required)

Brooklinen's final score

5 out of 11 queries (45% visibility)

Scoring approach: 8+ mentions = strong visibility | 4-7 = mixed results | under 4 = limited visibility

Here's what happened with each search:

Category Discovery: 0/4 Visible

Query: Buy luxury bedding online

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Luxome Luxury Bamboo (temperature-regulating, cooling bamboo-viscose), Buffy Breeze Sheet Set ($156), Rise & Fall Luxury Fitted Sheet ($92)

My take:

Surprising absence from the core luxury bedding category despite premium positioning

Query: Buy best bed sheets under $150

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Bedsure Bamboo-Derived Cooling Sheet Set ($92.99), Petite Plume Luxe Premium Cotton Percale Sheets ($139)

‍My take:

Price point mismatch - Brooklinen's sheets typically exceed $150 threshold

Query: Buy hotel-quality bedding

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Hotel Collection 680 Thread-Count Supima Cotton Sheet Set (Macy's) ($142.97), Frette Classic Sheet Set ($500)

My take:

Missing key positioning despite "hotel-quality" being core brand promise

Query: Where to buy premium bedding?

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Boll & Branch Signature Organic Cotton Sheet Set ($139.50), LUXOME Luxury Bamboo Sheet Set ($175)

My take:

Absent from premium bedding discovery despite market position

Competitive Positioning: 2/2 visible

Query: Buy Parachute alternative

Result:

Featured prominently

What appeared:

Brooklinen Luxe Sateen Core Sheet Set featured at $135.15 as silky, luxurious sateen (Brooklinen), BELLA COTERIE Bamboo Sheet Set ($129.99)

My take:

Perfect competitive positioning against their primary DTC brands

Query: List brands for parachute alternative

Result:

Featured prominently

What appeared:

Brooklinen listed first in the comprehensive brand table, listed alongside Boll & Branch, Quince, Cultiver, The Citizenry, Coyuchi, Saatva, Cozy Earth, Buffy, BELLA COTERIE

My take:

Strong brand awareness in competitive displacement searches

Material Specificity: 1/2 visible

Query: Order breathable bamboo bed sheets

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Cozy Earth Bamboo Sheet Set ($315), LUXOME Luxury Bamboo Sheet Set ($175), Eden & Om Bamboo Sheet Set ($149)

My take:

Doesn't appear to have strong bamboo offerings, limiting material-specific discovery

Query: Buy affordable luxury linen

Result:

Featured prominently

What appeared:

Brooklinen Washed European Linen Core Sheet Set at $279.20 with Quince European Linen Fitted Sheet Set ($139.90), Boll & Branch Linen Sheet Set ($299)

My take:

Positioned as a mid-tier luxury linen option between Quince and Boll & Branch

Category Expansion: 2/2 visible

Query: Best brands for luxury bedding and bath

Result:

Featured prominently

What appeared:

Brooklinen Super-Plush Turkish Cotton Towels featured at $79.20 with LUXOME Luxurious Bamboo Sheet Set ($175), Cozy Earth Luxe Bath Towels ($140)

My take:

Good positioning in the bath category expansion beyond core bedding

Query: Shop bathrobes and towel sets

Result:

Featured prominently

What appeared:

Brooklinen Super-Plush Towel & Robe Bundle at $155.20 with KISA Pom Pom Bathrobe & Turkish Towel Set ($160), Ever Lasting Cotton Striped Robe & Towel Set ($99)

‍My take:

Excellent category diversification into complete bathroom textiles

Product Lines: 0/1 visible

‍Query: Buy premium duvet

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Parachute Down Duvet Insert ($630), Boll & Branch Down Alternative Duvet Insert ($269), Feathered Friends Bavarian 700 Down Comforter ($459)

My take:

Limited duvet/comforter product line reduces category coverage

What This Pattern Reveals

The Parachute Advantage: Parachute appeared in multiple core luxury bedding searches where Brooklinen was absent, suggesting stronger AI positioning in primary categories.

Bath Category Success: Brooklinen's strongest performance came in towel and bathrobe searches, indicating successful category expansion beyond sheets.

Price Point Positioning: At $135-$279 price points, Brooklinen sits between budget options ($92-$139) and ultra-luxury ($315-$500), but this positioning may limit discovery in specific price-focused searches.

Material Limitations: Absence from bamboo bedding searches suggests product line gaps in trending sustainable materials.

Category Performance Breakdown

• Category Authority: 0/4 visible (0%)
• Competitive Positioning: 2/2 visible (100%)
• Material Specificity: 1/2 visible (50%)
• Category Expansion: 2/2 visible (100%)
• Product Lines: 0/1 visible (0%)

Test Your Brand Right Now

Seeing similar patterns in your industry? Don't guess about your AI visibility.

Check Your Brand's AI Readiness →

See how your brand performs across multiple AI systems. Then manually test the 11-query framework above.

What This Means for Home Goods Brands

For DTC pioneers: Early market success doesn't guarantee AI discovery leadership. Brooklinen's 45% visibility shows that even established DTC brands need AI optimization.

For premium brands: Luxury positioning requires consistent reinforcement across all product categories and price points to maintain AI visibility.

For product expansion: Brooklinen's success in bath categories shows how strategic product line extensions can capture adjacent search queries.

Your Action Plan

Step 1: Run the readiness test (5 minutes)

Check your brand's baseline AI visibility: Start Here →

Step 2: Map your gaps (10 minutes)‍

Which categories are you missing from? Where do competitors appear instead of you?

Step 3: Structure your data (ongoing)

Optimize your product information for AI systems. Check our LLM Audit Checklist for specific optimization steps.

Step 4: Monitor regularly (monthly)

Re-run tests monthly to track improvement and catch new patterns.

Tools That Can Help

Based on this research, I've built several tools to help brands optimize for AI discovery:

• AI Readiness Scanner → Test your brand across multiple AI systems

• LLMs.txt Generator → Help AI systems understand your products

• Catalog Genius → Structure product data for better discovery

• AI Search Demo → See intelligent product discovery in action

Get your Brand Audited

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Research Details

Testing approach:

Fresh ChatGPT-4 sessions, purchase-intent queries, conducted August 18, 2025. This analysis examines publicly available AI responses for research purposes.

Study limitations:

Single AI platform (ChatGPT-4), point-in-time snapshot, purchase-intent queries only. Results may vary across different AI systems and time periods.

Tools used: AI readiness scanner, LLMs.txt generator, and catalog optimization agent for analyzing brand discoverability patterns.

© 2025 AI Brand Intelligence by Atomz. Forward freely, just keep this notice intact.

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