This week, Novi rolled out a new analysis of the sources preferred by ChatGPT when it looks for beauty products, brands and services on behalf of users. The results were a bit of an eye-opener as the top source was not a beauty magazine. We also learn that manufacturers are prioritizing investments in AI.
And speaking of AI, Aptean has named a new CMO, a 25-year industry veteran who joins as the company said it reaches a key “inflection point.”
Chatting about beauty
When it comes to seeking out sources for recommending beauty products, ChatGPT turns to Reddit, Who What Wear, Wikipedia and Sephora, according to a deep dive analysis from Novi. Researchers at the company, which is a platform that helps brands and retailers ensure AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini can find and recommend their products, analyzed 10.7 million citations across more than 98,000 source websites that are used by ChatGPT.
“For beauty category queries overall, Reddit ranked first in number of citations by a significant margin, followed by editorial publication Who What Wear and free online encyclopedia Wikipedia,” the report’s authors said. “Sephora.com and Allure rounded out the top five.”
By way of context, Novi said the findings come as shoppers increasingly make AI platforms their first stop for product discovery. Novi said in a statement that close to 73 percent of shoppers are using AI search to learn about products, categories and brands as well as services. “Over the most recent holiday shopping season, shoppers who were referred to retail sites from AI platforms converted [those shoppers] 31 percent more often than others,” the company said, adding that 47 percent of the brands didn’t know if or even how they show up in AI answers.
Of course, this builds a strong case for Novi’s AI platform, which helps brands increase discoverability and sales as well as trust.
The company said its analysis shows that retailers and brands “benefit from building consistent, structured product data across their digital footprint and that certain social, editorial and retail sites where that information is validated may matter far more than others.”
“AI models weigh both SKU-level data and trust signals when recommending what products consumers should buy,” said Kimberly Shenk, chief executive officer of Novi. “Our research shows products with verified trust signals, like certifications and badges, are presented to shoppers significantly more often than products without them. For beauty brands, that means the most effective path to AI visibility is pairing well-structured data with verified trust signals, not chasing visibility via any single source.”
Aptean names CMO
Aptean, the enterprise software for manufacturers and distributors provider, said it named Yama Habibzai as its chief marketing officer. The company said Habibzai joins “at a defining moment for Aptean, as the company deepens its vertical AI capabilities across its industry-specific portfolio and scales its global presence in manufacturing and distribution markets.”
Habibzai is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience scaling enterprise software and cloud companies, Aptean said in a statement, noting that its new CMO has led companies through high-growth phases that included IPOs and major acquisitions. Most recently, Habibzai led marketing at Device42 via its acquisition by Freshworks. There, Aptean said Habibzai delivered strong pipeline performance while also introducing AI-driven growth strategies.
In his career, Habibzai also held various roles at Netcordia, Infoblox, SevOne, ScienceLogic and IBM Cloud.
“Aptean is at an inflection point,” said TVN Reddy, chief executive officer at Aptean. “We are embedding AI natively across everything we build, and we need a marketing leader who can communicate that transformation with clarity and conviction. [Habibzai] has done this before—moving fast and delivering results with an entrepreneurial edge.”
Survey shows rise in AI investments
The third annual Pulse of Quality in Manufacturing survey, which was conducted earlier this year by Censuswide on behalf of Octave, revealed that quality management is rapidly transitioning from a functional discipline to a core strategic business driver.
In a survey of 2,263 managers and directors from mid-to-large-sized manufacturing firms across the U.S., U.K. and Germany, the study showed that 71 percent of organizations polled plan to increase their quality investments this year. Driven by a desire for increased revenue, improved compliance and stronger supply chains, 63 percent of respondents said they now view quality as a company-wide strategic initiative.
This strategic shift is accompanied by a massive surge in AI adoption, with nearly half of manufacturers currently using AI in their quality processes, which is nearly double the rate from the previous year, and another 43 percent said they are planning to deploy it within the next two years.
Despite these increased investments and technological advancements, manufacturers still face severe operational headwinds. A widening skills gap is putting quality at risk, with 78 percent of those polled saying they are experiencing labor shortages, and 85 percent reporting that these shortages negatively impact product quality.
Additionally, regulatory pressures are rising alongside severe global trade disruptions, forcing 56 percent of businesses to grapple with the impact of tariffs and geopolitical issues, which has led many to raise prices or shift to domestic sourcing. Product recalls also remain a costly and persistent challenge; three-quarters of manufacturers have experienced a recall in the past five years, with the majority of these events costing between $10 million and $49.9 million, primarily driven by ongoing supply chain complications.
