L’Oréal is adapting its marketing strategy as artificial intelligence changes how consumers discover, research, and compare products. The beauty giant is exploring AI-powered search and advertising to ensure its brands remain visible as shoppers increasingly turn to conversational AI tools for recommendations.

According to Marketing Tech News, L’Oréal is testing advertising within Google’s AI Overviews and working with platforms including OpenAI, Amazon, and Alibaba to understand how AI is reshaping consumer discovery. The company’s approach reflects a wider shift in digital marketing, where appearing in traditional search results is no longer the only route to reaching potential customers.

From Search Rankings to AI Recommendations

Traditional search engines typically present users with a list of links. AI-powered search tools can instead deliver conversational answers, compare products, and recommend options based on a user's specific needs.

This creates a new challenge for brands: they must ensure that their product information is accurate, credible, and easy for AI systems to interpret.

L’Oréal is focusing on Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), an approach that helps make brand content, product details, and supporting research easier for generative AI systems to understand and reference.

The company is also investing in the underlying technology and data infrastructure that supports its marketing activities. According to L’Oréal's chief digital and marketing officer, Asmita Dubey, almost 20% of the company's marketing investments are now AI-led.

Why Brand Discovery Is Changing

As AI becomes part of the purchasing journey, brands have less direct control over how consumers encounter their products. AI-generated recommendations can draw on product descriptions, customer reviews, editorial coverage, and other available information.

This means brand visibility is no longer determined by advertising and search rankings alone. Product data quality, content credibility, and consistent information across digital platforms are also becoming important.

In June 2026, L’Oréal announced a collaboration with OpenAI focused on AI-powered consumer journeys and beauty experiences. The initiative includes bringing Maybelline's virtual makeup try-on experience to ChatGPT and strengthening product discovery for selected L’Oréal brands.

What This Means for Digital Marketers

The shift towards AI-powered discovery has implications beyond the beauty industry. B2B and B2C marketers alike need to consider how their brands appear in AI-generated answers, not just how their websites rank in traditional search engines.

Businesses can respond by:

  • Improving content quality: Publish useful, accurate information that answers real customer questions.

  • Strengthening product and service data: Keep descriptions, specifications, pricing details, and other relevant information consistent.

  • Building credibility: Support brand claims with reliable evidence, expert insights, and trustworthy third-party coverage.

  • Adapting SEO strategies: Continue established SEO practices while monitoring how AI search platforms present brand information.

  • Measuring performance: Track AI-referred traffic, qualified conversions, and revenue rather than assuming visibility automatically leads to sales.

The Bigger Picture

L’Oréal’s AI search strategy highlights an emerging question for marketers: as AI platforms increasingly influence product discovery, how much control will brands retain over their visibility and messaging?

Brands can shape the information they publish and the investments they make, but AI platforms influence how that information is selected and presented. The challenge is to adapt without losing sight of customer needs, brand identity, and measurable business results.

Key Takeaway: AI-powered search is creating a new layer of brand discovery. Businesses that combine strong SEO foundations, reliable data, credible content, and measurable experimentation will be better positioned to compete as consumer search behaviour evolves.

Source: Marketing Tech News: L’Oréal’s AI Search Push Raises a New Question: Who Controls Brand Discovery?