Are you ChatGPT visible? 

Grove Collaborative pioneered the sustainable household products subscription model, building a $100M+ business around curated eco-friendly cleaning supplies and personal care items. Their "plastic-free by 2025" commitment and celebrity partnerships made them the go-to platform for conscious consumers.

But as AI shopping transforms how people discover sustainable products, subscription convenience doesn't guarantee search visibility. So I tested how Grove Collaborative actually performs when people use ChatGPT to shop for eco-friendly household items.

Grove Collaborative appeared in only 1 out of 11 purchase scenarios I tested. Despite being a sustainable household pioneer, they were completely absent from searches like buy eco-friendly cleaning products and shop green cleaning products online.

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The 5-Dimension AI Discovery Audit

Test how your brand performs across the complete AI discovery spectrum with these 11 strategic queries:

1. Category Discovery (3 queries)

Tests: Do you own eco-cleaning categories?

• Buy eco-friendly cleaning products
• Best natural cleaners under $25
• Buy sustainable household products

2. Product Specificity (3 queries)

Tests: Do you appear for specific product types?

• Buy non-toxic cleaning supplies
• Shop green cleaning products online
• Buy natural laundry detergent

3. Platform & Channel (2 queries)

Tests: Do you capture channel-specific searches?

• Where to buy eco household items?
• Household cleaning products with subscription

4. Competitive Positioning (2 queries)

Tests: How do you rank against competitors?

• Buy Seventh Generation alternative
• Buy zero-waste household products

5. Category Expansion (1 query)

Tests: Do you appear in adjacent categories?

• Order zero-waste cleaning kits

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)

Grove Collaborative's final score

1 out of 11 queries (9% visibility)

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

Here's what happened with each search:

Category Discovery: 0/3 Visible

Query: Buy eco-friendly cleaning products

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

AspenClean Dishwasher Pods ($18.99), EcoRoots Zero Waste Cleaning Kit ($31.97), Blueland Multi-Surface Cleaner Starter Set ($6.99)

My take:

Shocking absence from the core category despite being a market leader

Query: Best natural cleaners under $25

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Multi-Surface Cleaner ($4.89), Method Grapefruit All-Purpose Cleaner ($4.48), Naturally It's Clean Multi-Surface Cleaner ($11.95)

‍My take:

Missing budget-friendly natural cleaning segment entirely

Query: Buy sustainable household products

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Upcycled Fishing-Net Dish Sponge ($18), Regenerative-Wool Scrub Sponge ($9), Eco-Strip Laundry Detergent Strips ($14.90)

My take:

Absent from broad sustainable household category searches

Product Specificity: 0/3 visible

Query: Buy non-toxic cleaning supplies

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Seventh Generation Lemon Chamomile All-Purpose Cleaner ($4.47), Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner ($10.99), Koala Eco Natural Multi-Purpose Kitchen Cleaner ($10.99)

My take:

Missing from non-toxic positioning despite being the core brand promise

Query: Shop green cleaning products online

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Blueland Clean Essentials Kit ($46), EcoRoots Zero Waste Cleaning Kit ($31.97), Koala Eco Natural Floor Cleaner ($11.90)

My take:

Absent from online green cleaning discovery

Query: Buy natural laundry detergent

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

AspenClean Unscented Natural Laundry Detergent ($28.99), Koala Eco Natural Laundry Wash ($24.90), Molly's Suds Original Laundry Detergent Powder ($22.99)

My take:

Absent from specific product category searches

Platform & Channel: 1/2 visible

Query: Where to buy eco household items?

Result:

Listed in comparison table

What appeared:

Zero Waste Store, EarthHero, Public Goods, Package Free Shop, Good Store (EcoGeek), Buy Me Once, DoneGood, Hive

My take:

Good positioning as a platform for eco-friendly products, but buried in a comprehensive retailer list

Query: Household cleaning products with subscription

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

HBC Organics "Keeping It Clean" Subscription ($44.95), Free Living Co. Go Clean Monthly Box ($52.99), Mother's Earth Eco-Friendly Dishwasher Sheets ($49.95)

My take:

Shocking absence from subscription-focused searches despite subscription being the core business model

Competitive Positioning: 0/2 visible

Query: Buy Seventh Generation alternative

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner ($9.99), Green Llama Eco-Friendly Glass & Mirror Cleaning Kit ($12.95), AspenClean Dishwasher Pods ($18.99)

My take:

Missing competitive displacement opportunities against a major eco-brand

Query: Buy zero-waste household products

Result:

Missing entirely

What appeared:

EcoRoots Zero Waste Cleaning Kit ($31.97), Zero Waste Kitchen Kit — Wooden Dish Brushes ($29.99), Go For Zero Dish & Laundry Block (4-in-1) ($14)

‍My take:

Missing from zero-waste positioning despite plastic-free commitments

Category Expansion: 0/1 visible

Query: Order zero-waste cleaning kits

Missing entirely

What appeared:

EcoRoots Zero-Waste Cleaning Kit ($31.97), Seek Bamboo Zero-Waste Cleaning Kit ($24), Green Llama Starter Home Cleaner Bundle ($29.95)

My take:

Missing from kit/bundle positioning despite curated product model

What This Pattern Reveals

The standout finding: Blueland appeared in 3+ different search results, while newer brands like EcoRoots and AspenClean showed consistent presence. Grove Collaborative's absence suggests fundamental AI positioning issues.

Why this might be happening: Brands that appear consistently likely have more structured product data that AI systems can easily categorize. Despite pioneering the eco-cleaning subscription model, Grove doesn't appear in subscription-focused searches, indicating AI systems don't strongly associate it with their core business model. That  means their product information is not optimized for AI discovery with clear material descriptions, consistent categorization, and structured data that ChatGPT can readily access.

Category Fragmentation: Smaller, specialized brands (AspenClean, Koala Eco, Dr. Bronner's) dominate individual product categories where Grove should have presence.

Category Performance Breakdown

• Category Authority: 0/3 visible (0%)
• Product Specificity: 0/3 visible (0%)
• Platform & Channel: 1/2 visible (50%)
• Competitive Positioning: 0/2 visible (0%)
• Category Expansion: 0/1 visible (0%)

Test Your Brand Right Now

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

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

What This Means for Subscription Brands

For platform models: Grove's 9% visibility shows that subscription convenience alone doesn't translate to AI discovery. Individual products need optimization independent of platform positioning.

For eco-brands: Sustainability credentials require constant reinforcement across all product descriptions and categories to maintain AI visibility.

For curated brands: Subscription curation models need to balance platform branding with individual product discoverability.

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 22, 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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