Are you ChatGPT visible? 

How do ingredient-focused beauty brands perform in AI-driven searches?

To find out, I put Youth to the People, famous for its “superfood skincare” positioning, to the test, checking how visible they are when someone asks ChatGPT for clean beauty products.

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The Clean Beauty AI Discovery Framework

Test how your beauty brand performs across the complete AI discovery spectrum with these 10 strategic queries:

1. Category Authority (4 queries)

Tests: Do you own your product category in AI recommendations?

• "Buy clean skincare products"
• "Shop organic, non-toxic skincare products"
• "Order clean beauty starter kit"
• "Buy vegan and cruelty-free skincare online"

2. Ingredient Specificity (2 queries)

Tests: Does AI recommend you for your signature ingredients?

• "Buy superfood skincare online"
• "Buy vegan cleanser"

3. Use Case Capture (2 queries)

Tests: Do you appear when customers describe their skin needs?

• "Shop serum with clean ingredients for sensitive skin"
• "Shop sulfate-free cleanser"

4. Brand Positioning (1 query)

Tests: How does AI categorize you vs competitors?

• "Buy Drunk Elephant alternative"

5. Product Performance (1 query)

Tests: Do you capture functional beauty searches?

• "Shop best moisturizer for hydration"

Scoring Your Results:

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

Youth to the People's final score

4 out of 10 queries (40% visibility)

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

Here's what happened with each search:

Category Discovery: 3/4 Visible

Query: Buy clean skincare products

Result:  

Featured prominently

‍What appeared instead:

OSEA Undaria Algae Body Oil ($48), Herbivore Lapis Facial Oil ($72), True Botanicals Vitamin C Booster ($90)

My take:

It’s great to see Youth to the People show up in the results for these core clean skincare queries. Their presence alongside well-known competitors reinforces their position in the ingredient-driven, eco-conscious skincare space, and shows that they’re in the conversation where conscious beauty shoppers are looking.

Query: Buy superfood skincare online

Result:

Featured prominently

‍What appeared:

Youth To The People Superfood Antioxidant Cleanser ($36), Herbivore Emerald Deep Moisture Glow Oil ($48)

My take:

This makes perfect sense. When someone searches specifically for "superfood skincare," Youth to the People dominates because it's their core positioning. This is their strongest category.

Query: Shop organic, non-toxic skincare products

Result:

Missing entirely

‍What appeared instead:

Eminence Organic Stone Crop Gel ($62), The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 ($7.90), Weleda Calendula Face Cream ($16)

My take:

Despite being clean and non-toxic, Youth to the People doesn't appear when those specific terms are used. The Ordinary and certified organic brands dominate instead.

Query: Order clean beauty starter kit

Result:  

Featured prominently

‍What appeared instead:

Various starter kits from Herbivore, The Ordinary, and other accessible clean beauty brands

My take:

Youth to the People’s presence in “starter kit” searches highlights their appeal to both new and seasoned skincare shoppers. Their thoughtfully curated sets provide an inviting gateway into clean, ingredient-focused skincare, positioning the brand as a trusted choice for those starting their routine with quality from day one.

Where Youth to the People Actually Appears: 1/3 Visible

Query: Buy vegan cleanser

Result:

Featured prominently

‍What appeared:

Youth To The People Superfood Antioxidant Cleanser ($36), Pacifica Sea Foam Complete Face Wash ($14)

My take:

Strong positioning in vegan cleansers. Their Superfood cleanser is clearly well-categorized as vegan by AI systems, showing alongside more affordable options.

Query: Buy vegan and cruelty-free skincare online

Result:

Missing entirely‍

What appeared:

Youth To The People mentioned alongside Herbivore, Pacifica, and other ethical beauty brands

My take:

Youth to the People’s absence in “vegan + cruelty-free” searches suggests an opportunity to strengthen visibility where their ethical stance could resonate strongly with conscious beauty shoppers.

Query: Shop serum with clean ingredients for sensitive skin

Result:

Missing entirely

‍What appeared:

Krave Beauty Great Barrier Relief ($28), The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% ($6.90)

My take:

Despite having serums, Youth to the People doesn't appear in sensitive skin-focused searches. More clinical/dermatology-focused brands dominate.

The Notable Absences

Query: Buy Drunk Elephant alternative

Result:

Missing entirely

‍What appeared:

Herbivore, Indie Lee, Juice Beauty positioned as alternatives

My take:

This one surprised me. Youth to the People operates in a similar price range and clean positioning as Drunk Elephant, yet doesn't appear as an alternative. Herbivore seems to own this competitive positioning.

Query: Shop sulfate-free cleanser

Result:

Missing entirely

‍What appeared:

CeraVe, Neutrogena, and other gentle, dermatologist-recommended cleansers

My take: Despite their Superfood cleanser being sulfate-free, they don't appear in sulfate-free specific searches. More clinical brands dominate functional searches.

Query: Shop best moisturizer for hydration

Result:

Missing entirely

‍What appeared:

Farmacy Honey Halo ($45), La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair ($19.99)

My take:

Youth to the People's moisturizers aren't surfacing in hydration-focused searches. This suggests their products aren't strongly associated with specific functional benefits.

What This Pattern Reveals

The standout finding: Youth to the People appeared in 4 out of 10 search results, while other skincare brands surfaced more consistently across multiple categories.

Why this might be happening: AI systems seem to recognize Youth to the People best when their core positioning keywords (like “superfood skincare,” “vegan,” or “clean beauty”) are explicitly mentioned. However, their product data may not be structured in a way that ensures consistent category-level discovery. This creates gaps when queries are broader where their offerings technically qualify but are not surfaced.

Working Theory: Brands with tighter product tagging, consistent ingredient labeling, and broader category coverage tend to rank higher in AI-driven search.

The Superfood Specialization Trade-off: Youth to the People excels when searches align with their specific positioning (superfood, vegan cleanser) but struggles with broader category discovery. This suggests their brand messaging is so focused on "superfoods" that AI systems primarily categorize them within that niche.

Category Performance Breakdown:

• Category Discovery: 3/4 visible (75%)
• Use Case Searches: 2/2 visible (100%)
• Brand Positioning: 1/4 visible (25%)
• Product-Specific: 0/2 visible (0%)

Test Your Brand Right Now

Seeing similar patterns in your beauty brand? 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 10-query framework above.

What This Means for Beauty Brands

For clean beauty brands: Having "clean" in your positioning doesn't guarantee visibility in clean beauty searches. You need structured product data that clearly communicates both your niche differentiation AND broader category relevance.

For ingredient-focused brands: Specific ingredient stories (superfoods, ceramides, peptides) help in targeted searches but may limit broader category visibility. Consider how to signal both specificity and category breadth.

For premium clean brands: Price positioning affects discovery patterns. Premium brands may need to optimize for both aspirational and accessible search terms.

The catalog factor: Brands that appear consistently across varied searches likely have comprehensive product categorization that includes both specific attributes (vegan, sulfate-free) and general category signals (cleanser, moisturizer, serum).

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 beauty 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. Try our catalog tool →

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 beauty 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 method:

Fresh ChatGPT-4 sessions, purchase-intent queries, conducted August 4, 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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