What Are Beauty Consumers Actually Asking ChatGPT?

The “ChatGPT” effect is rising fast in beauty.

A new report from Spate shows that while Google still dominates the search engine market, ChatGPT now makes up around 7 percent of total search share, and around 4.3 percent of beauty-related searches, specifically.

Among those beauty searches, consumers are most often searching for makeup via ChatGPT, followed by skin care, then hair care. Searches for “lipstick,” “foundation,” “candle” and “perfume,” for instance, over-index on ChatGPT, versus hair-related searches such as “hairstyle” or “haircut,” which skew far more heavily toward Google, the report shows.

In August, ChatGPT saw just over 18 percent of all makeup-related searches for “foundation,” netting roughly 344,000 inquiries compared to 1.6 million via Google. ChatGPT also accounted for more than 41 percent of all searches for “contouring” during the period, which saw a smaller volume of 110,000 searches across Google and ChatGPT combined, but indicates consumers are looking to ChatGPT for technique recommendations in particular. (Case in point: the chatbot also accounted for 31.7 percent of all searches for “natural look” in August.)

When it comes to lipstick, which is the number-two beauty product by ChatGPT search, top inquiries included “dupes for Fenty Gloss Bomb Heat,” “best lipstick for over 50” and “Kylie lip kit vs. Nyx Butter Gloss.”

For “natural look” ChatGPT searches, top inquiries included “how to avoid cakey makeup,” “dewy vs. natural vs. soft matte explained” and “best skin tints for natural finish.”

In skin care, interest in facials is high and sunscreen is the top product by search volume on ChatGPT, though the platform only accounts for 7.1 percent of sunscreen-related searches. Toner, while smaller in volume, is the top skin care product by ChatGPT share of search, with 17.4 percent of toner-related inquiries happening via the platform.

Here, a breakdown of the top five makeup and skin care-related searches by volume on ChatGPT in August, per Spate.

Makeup

1. Foundation

• ChatGPT: 343,900
• Google: 1.6 million
• ChatGPT share: 18.1 percent

2. Lipstick

• ChatGPT: 134,800
• Google: 798,400
• ChatGPT share: 14.4 percent

3. Concealer

• ChatGPT: 132,600
• Google: 577,200
• ChatGPT share: 18.7 percent

4. Mascara

• ChatGPT: 86,300
• Google: 1.2 million
• ChatGPT share: 6.5 percent

5. Eyeliner

• ChatGPT: 73,800
• Google: 1.2 million
• ChatGPT share: 5.8 percent

Skin Care

1.Facial

• ChatGPT: 189,600
• Google: 305,200
• ChatGPT share: 38.3 percent

2. Sunscreen

• ChatGPT: 154,200
• Google: 2 million
• ChatGPT share: 7.1 percent

3. Scar

• ChatGPT: 148,900
• Google: 1.9 million
• ChatGPT share: 7.1 percent

4. Pimple

• ChatGPT: 124,300
• Google: 2.1 million
• ChatGPT share: 5.7 percent

5. Toner

• ChatGPT: 115,400
• Google: 547,100
• ChatGPT share: 17.4 percent