FOR FOUNDER-LED SKINCARE BRANDS

Your customers ask Google what to buy. Make sure the answer is your product.

Google's AI Overviews now recommend specific products before a shopper sees a single link. We find out where your best sellers are missing from those answers, then get them into the sources Google builds the answer from.

See how it works

Built for brands competing on

Sensitive skin Acne-prone skin Barrier repair Redness Dry skin

Answers we track

Google AI OverviewsCore
AI Mode
Gemini
ChatGPT
Perplexity

The problem

A shopper asked Google for a moisturiser. Three brands made the shortlist. Yours didn't.

No visit to your site, no chance to compare ingredients or read your reviews. The shortlist was decided inside the answer, and the shopper moves on with three names that aren't yours.

Most founders have never checked what Google says when someone asks the question their best seller was made for. That is the first thing we show you.

Google, asked 3 times

Illustration of the goal, not a guaranteed result. Brands and products are fictional.

What we do

From not named to on the shortlist

Three pieces of work, done in order. Each one is measured against the same questions, so you can see what changed and why.

Find the gap

We ask Google the questions your buyers ask and record every answer.

  • How often each hero product is named
  • Which competitor gets named instead
  • Where Google knows your brand but picks another product
  • Which sites the answers are built from

Get into the sources

We work on the places Google actually quotes, not on your homepage.

  • Disclosed brand presence in the Reddit threads that get cited
  • Outreach to the editorial roundups that keep appearing
  • Retailer listings and review volume on the pages Google uses
  • Product pages rewritten to answer the questions directly

Prove it's working

Every month we re-run the same questions and show you the change.

  • Share of voice per product, month on month
  • Position in the answer when you're named
  • Every figure traceable to the answer it came from
  • What we did that month, and what's next

Why now

Search has changed. Most skincare marketing hasn't caught up.

Shoppers still search Google, scroll TikTok and read reviews. What's new is the AI answer sitting on top of it all, and it's built from sources most brands aren't working on.

The answer now comes first.

For many shopping questions, Google shows an AI answer above the links. A shopper can get a shortlist of products without opening a single website.

Ranking isn't recommending.

Your product page can rank well and still be left out of the answer. The AI leans on Reddit threads, editorial roundups and retailer reviews, which classic SEO doesn't touch.

Being named builds on itself.

Products that get recommended get bought, reviewed and discussed, which gives the answers more reason to name them again. The brands working on it now are setting the shortlist.

How we work

One loop, run every month.

Measure what Google says, change what it reads, then measure again. Each round starts from real answers, not a guess, and the loop only stops when your products are on the shortlist.

Step 3 feeds straight back into step 1, with the same questions every time, so progress is measured against a fixed baseline.

  1. 1

    Measure the answers

    We ask Google the questions your buyers ask and log every answer: which products are named, in what order, and which sites it quotes.

    YOU GET → where you're missing, and who's named instead

  2. 2

    Change what Google reads

    We work on the Reddit threads, editorial roundups, retailer pages and product pages the answers are built from, starting with the gaps closest to a sale.

    YOU GET → a list of what we changed and where

  3. 3

    Ask again, compare, repeat

    Every month we run the same questions and show you what moved. Every number links to the answer it came from, so nothing in the report is taken on trust.

    YOU GET → your share of the shortlist, month on month

A good fit if you

  • run a founder-led skincare brand selling direct to consumers
  • compete on a specific concern, such as sensitive or acne-prone skin
  • have a hero product people already buy and review
  • want numbers you can check, not a vague visibility score

Not the right fit if you

  • are launching and have no reviews or press yet
  • want a guaranteed placement in Google's answers
  • need claims that a product treats a medical condition
  • are looking for paid links or fake reviews

Questions

Frequently asked

What does Asked First do?

We check how often Google's AI answers recommend your products when shoppers ask buying questions, show you who gets named instead and why, and then work on the sources those answers are built from: Reddit, editorial roundups, retailer reviews and your own product pages.

What is an AI Overview, and why does it matter for a skincare brand?

It is the AI-written summary Google shows above the normal results for many searches. For a question like "best moisturiser for sensitive skin", it often lists specific products by name. Shoppers can take that shortlist without visiting any site, so being on it matters more than ranking a few places lower in the links.

What is AEO, and is it different from GEO?

Answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO) describe the same work: getting a brand and its products named in answers from AI tools rather than only ranking as a link. GEO started as an academic term; AEO is more common in the industry.

How do you measure AI visibility?

We write a fixed set of buyer questions for your skin concern and run each one three times in a clean, logged-out UK browser, because AI answers vary between runs. For each answer we log every product and brand named, their order, and the sources cited. Every number in your report can be traced back to the answer it came from.

Why do you focus on products rather than my brand?

Because the answers do. Shopping questions are answered with product names, and the sale happens on a product page. We pick your one to three hero products, match each to the questions it should win, and measure those. We also check what Google says when someone searches for your brand by name.

Which AI engines do you check?

Google AI Overviews by default, since that is where most shoppers will meet an AI answer. AI Mode, Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity can be added to a full audit if your customers use them.

Get started

See what Google says about your products. Then fix it.

Start with a free snapshot of your hero product. Or book a call and talk through your current marketing with us.

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