Beauty brands control just 11.6% of sources cited by AI, Maverick finds

Artificial intelligence is emerging as a new route for Indonesian consumers to discover and assess beauty brands, but much of the information it surfaces comes from sources brands do not directly control, according to a new study by Maverick Indonesia.

The communications consultancy's "Beauty in the eyes of AI" study found that brand-owned channels accounted for just 11.6% of citations behind AI responses to general beauty questions. By comparison, news media and health and medical sources together accounted for 46.6%.

The study analysed 8,000 AI answers and 63,286 citations across ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot during August 2026.

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The findings were presented by Cahyanto Arie Wibowo, director of business growth & innovation at Maverick Indonesia, during Sraya Session 2026 in Jakarta on 13 September.

The research suggests that the consumer journey can now begin with a question to an AI platform rather than a visit to a brand's website. As a result, the information that appears in AI-generated answers can become an important point of contact between consumers and beauty brands.

Across 6,400 answers to general prompts, Maverick recorded 50,484 citations. News media was the largest source category, accounting for 12,612 citations, followed by health and medical information with 10,924 citations, or 21.6% of the total.

Retail and marketplace sources contributed 6,212 citations, putting them close to brand-owned channels.

However, the source mix changed when consumers explicitly named a brand. Across 1,600 branded prompts generating 12,802 citations, AI relied more heavily on retail and brand-owned sites, while social, blogs and community content rose from 9.2% of citations for general questions to 19.5%.

"Beauty and personal care marketing needs to combine creativity with data. In this study, AI drew on sources well beyond beauty media, with different patterns depending on what consumers asked. These findings can sharpen how brands understand audiences and media credibility, which is the basis for choosing channels and developing messages," said Wibowo.

AI platforms draw from different sources

The research also found significant differences in how individual AI platforms source information.

Microsoft Copilot drew 53.1% of its citations from news media, compared with 9.5% for Google AI Overview. Meanwhile, social, blogs and community content accounted for 28.1% of Google AI Overview's citations, compared with just 1.8% for Copilot.

ChatGPT had a more evenly distributed source mix, with health and medical information accounting for 23.7% of citations, followed by brand-owned channels at 19.5%, news media at 18.3% and regulatory, government and certification sources at 15.1%.

Gemini relied most heavily on news media, at 33.5%, and retail and marketplace sources, at 22.8%. News media accounted for 37.3% of Perplexity's citations.

The variation means brands cannot necessarily assume that the same content or communications approach will generate visibility across every AI platform.

The type of question also influenced which sources AI relied on.

For questions about product efficacy and suitability, health and medical sources accounted for 45.5% of citations, while brand websites made up 10.5%.

News media contributed 36.8% of citations for questions around price and value. For safety and compliance, regulatory, government and certification sources accounted for 22.8%.

Brand-owned channels reached their highest share, at 21.3%, when consumers asked about beliefs and cultural fit, such as halal status.

For reputation and reviews, meanwhile, brand websites represented just 7.6% of citations.

General news can carry beauty information

The findings also challenge the assumption that specialist beauty publishers will necessarily be the most visible sources in AI-generated answers.

Maverick found that general news outlets were among the sources most frequently cited by AI, ahead of some publishers focused specifically on beauty.

Health platform Halodoc, for example, appeared in 74 of the 80 general prompts analysed, with its content covering areas including product recommendations, ingredients, safety and skincare routines.

Retailers including Shopee, Zalora and Watsons also appeared as sources of product information, rather than simply as places where consumers could purchase products.

Social visibility did not necessarily translate into citation frequency either. On Instagram, four of the 10 most-cited profiles were individual creators. On YouTube, the most-cited channel belonged to a publisher, followed by a dermatologist, while no single account dominated on Lemon8.

The study also found that AI does not exclusively favour newly published content. Of 49,445 citations carrying publication dates, 61.3% came from content published within the previous 12 months. However, around 17% came from pages more than three years old.

Maverick said this indicated that older content can continue to surface when it remains relevant and accurate.

For brands, the study points towards a broader approach to generative engine optimisation, beyond simply increasing the volume of content published on owned channels.

Maverick recommends that beauty brands make product and brand information explicit on their own websites, build evidence through third-party sources such as news media, health platforms, regulators and retailers, and pay attention to consumer-generated content across reviews, social platforms, blogs and communities.

The consultancy defines AI visibility as the frequency with which a brand appears in AI answers across the prompts and platforms monitored. It does not measure sales or market share, but instead indicates how consistently brands appear when consumers seek recommendations or comparisons.

Discover what's next in Indonesia's fast-moving digital landscape at DMA Indonesia 2026 on 13 October in Jakarta, where marketing leaders will explore how AI, creator ecosystems, social commerce, and omnichannel strategies are reshaping customer engagement and business growth.

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