Playbook
AI visibility for D2C brands in India
Your next customer might ask ChatGPT "best sunscreen for oily skin" or Gemini "best mattress in India" before they ever see your ads. Here's what our data shows and a practical playbook for D2C brands.
What the data shows
- A few brands take most of the answers. In beauty, the top brand appeared in 71% of Gemini's answers, while 7 in 10 brands Gemini named appeared in under 10%.
- Ad spend doesn't buy a place. Several of the most advertised beauty brands appeared in under 5% of Gemini's answers.
- Specific needs have clear winners. Gemini named The Whole Truth in 92% of protein answers, and Wakefit and The Sleep Company in 83% of mattress answers.
- ChatGPT reads brand websites. For beauty, its top sources were expert sites and brands' own pages; marketplaces ranked much lower.
Full numbers are in the AI Shelf Index.
The D2C playbook
1. Map the questions for each product need
Buyers ask by need, not by brand: skin type, budget, use case, age, room size. List the "best X for Y" and "X under ₹Z" questions for every product line, in English, Hinglish and Hindi.
2. Give every need a clear page
Create a page per need that answers the question in the first sentence, then gives specifics AI can quote: who it's for, key ingredients or specs, sizes, price in rupees and how it compares.
3. Make your claims easy to verify
AI favours facts it can check. State ingredients, certifications, test results and warranties plainly, and keep them identical across your site, marketplaces and packaging.
4. Fix marketplace listings
Use clear titles with the need ("for oily skin", "for back pain"), complete specs and "best for" wording. It helps both marketplace search and AI.
5. Get into the sources AI trusts
Review round-ups, expert publications, creator reviews on YouTube and community threads. One strong feature in a widely read "best of" list can shift your share.
6. Don't forget Hindi and Hinglish
For "acne-safe sunscreen", English answers named global brands while Hindi answers named Indian ones. Hindi pages and regional creators can win answers your competitors ignore.
7. Track monthly, by product need
Watch your share per need, not just overall. That's where you'll see which pages and features are working.
Frequently asked questions
Why does AI visibility matter for D2C brands?
D2C buyers research before they buy, and more of that research now happens in AI assistants. AI names only a few brands per answer, often just one or two on ChatGPT, so brands that aren't on the list lose the customer before they reach a marketplace or website.
Do marketplace listings help with AI answers?
They help, but less than many brands expect. In our data, ChatGPT's beauty answers leaned on expert sources and brands' own websites far more than on marketplaces. Clear listing titles still matter, especially where AI does cite marketplaces.
What should a D2C brand fix first?
Start with the buyer questions you're missing. Then publish direct, specific answers on your own site for each product need, and work on getting into the review articles, creator videos and communities AI reads in your category.
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Check my brand free →Last updated: 30 September 2026 · By the AnswerShelf research team