Generative tools, including ChatGPT, also carry a steep environmental cost, consuming significant amounts of energy and water to operate. Those concerns are compounded by the way such tools streamline the shopping experience, potentially fuelling the very habits the industry claims it wants to curb.
Still, considering how tiresome and complicated online shopping can be, it’s easy to see the appeal — especially for those with only a passing (if any) interest in fashion and need a quick recommendation of what to wear to a friend’s wedding. So how can brands show up meaningfully in a space where large language models are shaping purchases?
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How brands are tapping in
For the past decade, digital marketing has been a relentless game of trend-chasing: hop on the latest micro-aesthetic, get an influencer into your product, catch the TikTok algorithm at just the right time. But as more consumers start asking chatbots what to wear, and receive tailored style advice and shopping recommendations in return, the battleground is shifting. Instead of optimising for virality, brands are now figuring out how they can show up in the chat.
For those who get it right, the potential is enormous. There’s currently no paid placement on ChatGPT. So AI recommendations flatten the playing field. “As a digitally native brand, we recognise the importance of being discoverable where today’s customers are searching,” says Leen Abdelnour, founder of jewellery label Lynyer. “We’re optimising our product data across platforms like Google Shopping and Shopify, which we understand are often indexed by AI models.”
For small businesses, it’s a particularly promising shift. With ChatGPT’s latest shopping feature offering product images, reviews and direct links — without companies able to buy ads to boost their listings — brands like home fragrance brand Kōdō London see a chance to compete on clarity and relevance, not budget. “The new features of the shopping assistant mean that as a small business we won’t have to compete with advertising budgets,” says Kōdō founder Yasmin Khalil. “Consumers who align with our brand can find us purely through AI recommendations.”
So how can brands show up in these spaces meaningfully? “ChatGPT interprets the intent behind the request based on the question and any other available context. ChatGPT will consider general factors, such as price, customer ratings and information on web sources about [the desired product], as well as specific criteria provided by the user, like sizing and any desired styling,” says Goel. “It also considers responses generated by ChatGPT before it provides the search results and of course our safety standards.”
For brands, this means “a higher demand for strategic clarity and positioning services to support multi-layered visibility; think consistent language, distinctive tones and culturally resonant moments,” says Holly Brunskill, managing partner at B The Communications Agency. “On top of this, as ever, brands would be wise to seek allies and relationships with industry figureheads and editorial critics who enduringly offer trend legitimacy and original storytelling opportunities to support their narratives.”
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