Introducing the 2025 Beauty AI Shopping Visibility Index

The future of beauty shopping isn’t just in your cart. It’s in your AI search results.

Generative AI is transforming how consumers discover and decide on beauty products. From “best moisturizers for oily skin” to “top-rated hair masks,” shoppers are asking AI systems for answers and trusting what they say. That’s why we created the AI Visibility Index, a new benchmark for measuring which beauty brands are showing up where it matters most: inside AI-powered recommendations.

What is the AI Visibility Index?

The AI Visibility Index measures how often and how prominently brands appear in AI-generated responses. But it’s more than a simple count of mentions. It’s built on Avenue Z’s proprietary Z-Score, a composite metric that blends:

• AI visibility in search and shopping results
• Brand sentiment and reputation signals
• Media authority and coverage
• Technical SEO and website performance
• Content footprint and diversity across platforms

This composite view reveals not just whether a brand shows up, but why and what others can learn from the leaders.

Why This Matters for Beauty Brands

Unlike fintech, where a handful of brands dominate AI results, the beauty industry is more evenly distributed. The top three brands captured just 13 percent of total AI visibility, while the top ten held 37 percent. This means the fight for AI shelf space is wide open and brands of any size can seize the opportunity with the right strategy.

As AI-powered shopping assistants increasingly guide consumer choices, beauty brands need to ensure they’re discoverable in these new digital aisles. Otherwise, even the best products risk being invisible when shoppers ask AI for recommendations.

Key Takeaways from Our Research

Here’s what the data uncovered:

• AI rewards cross-channel consistency. Brands visible across DTC sites, retailers, social media, and organic search are far more likely to be recommended by AI.
• Third-party mentions matter more than ever. Reviews, media articles, and “best of” lists heavily influence which brands AI suggests.
• Owned content is rarely the first source. Most AI answers cite external media, not brand websites, meaning strong PR and content syndication are critical.
• Technical excellence pays off. Fast, well-structured, mobile-friendly sites see better AI visibility than those lacking technical optimization.
• Positive sentiment drives discoverability. Brands with high consumer and media sentiment scores consistently appear more often in AI results.

This is Not the Future. It’s Now.

AI is rapidly becoming the first place consumers turn for product discovery. Traditional SEO alone won’t keep your brand visible. Beauty brands must adapt, ensuring their content, reputation, and technical performance align with how AI systems choose what to recommend.

The 2025 Beauty AI Shopping Visibility Index shows you who’s winning and how to join them.