15 well-known DTC brands answered 0 of 30 category buying questions in words a model could quote back, according to a scan by GEO vendor Bulti. The list spans food, beauty, haircare, and pet food, including Olipop, Graza, Bala, Tower 28, and Open Farm. The details that decide a purchase are on those pages, but they sit inside images and campaign layouts, so a model parsing the HTML sees a headline, a price, and little else. Getting recommended is a separate matter, because ChatGPT made Bala its top ankle weight pick on the strength of a Verywell Fit review and put Graza third for olive oil on a Food & Wine test. The study revealed that most brands’ position in AI answers is being written by third parties they don’t control.
