Let’s talk about something game-changing: Clients are now using AI like ChatGPT to find their perfect salon match.
Our recent conversation with Marchelle Mooney revealed that people aren’t simply Googling “hair salon near me” anymore – they’re using AI to find exactly what they want with remarkable specificity.
As Marchelle put it, “You cannot ignore this thing that can distill information down to a level we have not seen before.”
This isn’t some far-off trend; it’s happening right now, and it directly impacts how potential clients discover you. Let’s talk salon marketing with ChatGPT (and other AI tools).
Play the short…
… and watch the full episode 64 of Marketing 100 with salon marketing experts John Hallberg and Kayle Yanez as they speak with Marchelle Mooney about how AI is revolutionizing salon discovery and what that means for your business.
Continue reading below for our practical guide to making sure your salon shows up when clients use AI to search, plus real examples of how these tools are already changing the way people find their perfect stylist.
Get our free resources: [AI-Ready Salon Checklist] | [Online Listings Guide] | [Review Booster Templates]
How Salon Clients Are Using ChatGPT to Find Their Perfect Match
After moving to a small town, Marchelle struggled to find beauty professionals who met her very specific criteria – from booking options, to parking, to exact aesthetic preferences like “California cool blonde lived-in color.”
Traditional search methods failed her completely.
So, what did she do? She turned to ChatGPT.
She literally described her ideal provider and her “icks” – the things she definitely didn’t want. For her nail tech search, she specified:
- Meticulous attention to detail (cleaning up cuticles precisely).
- Must offer gel services for natural nails.
- Crucially, must have online booking.
She even fed ChatGPT a photo of her ideal ‘precision bob’ and specifically requested stylists whose online galleries weren’t just endless identical spiral curls, demanding to see hair shown in its natural texture – straight, curly, or in between.
I asked ChatGPT to take a look at a mix of their websites, their reviews, any photos… They had to have offered online booking… And it spit out two that I knew and three that I had never even heard of.
Remarkably, one of the recommended nail techs had only been operating independently for one month. This shows how AI can discover new businesses faster than traditional methods.
“That is crazy to me,” Marchelle noted, making it clear that optimizing for AI discovery is now essential.
Sound incredibly picky? Marchelle jokingly called herself a ‘psycho’ for searching at this level, but immediately added, “I know there are other psychos out there with me!”
The reality is, clients are becoming this discerning. They have specific needs and ‘icks,’ and they’re using powerful tools like AI to find the perfect match..
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5 Ways to Ensure ChatGPT Recommends Your Business
How do you ensure AI tools find your salon when potential clients search? Our research confirms that AI analyzes the same elements we’ve always emphasized in salon SEO: your website content, review keywords, and directory listings. The difference is in how comprehensively AI can process and connect this information.
Here’s what you need to focus on:
Get Specific with Your Keywords
Don’t just say “haircuts and color.” Use the language your ideal client uses. Are you a master of “precision bobs,” “vivid hair color,” “lived-in balayage,” or “natural texture styling”? Do you specialize in “fine, thinning hair” or “low-maintenance grey blending”?
Put these exact terms on your website, your service descriptions in your booking software, your social media profiles, and encourage clients to use them in reviews.
Beef Up Your Website Content
Your site needs effective salon service pages with detailed information about who you serve, what specific services you excel at, and what the client experience is like (e.g., easy parking, relaxing atmosphere, online booking available).
Research indicates that business websites form the largest share of sources for ChatGPT’s local search results, underscoring the continued importance of a salon’s primary online platform.
Reviews Are Gold
Reviews have become doubly important in the AI era. AI analyzes not just star ratings but the specific words, phrases, and sentiments in your reviews to determine relevance to potential clients.
Learn how to get more 5-star salon reviews
Research shows consumers trust online reviews nearly as much as personal recommendations, and AI weighs them heavily when suggesting businesses. Encourage happy clients to mention specific services and details that would help others find you.
Leverage Directory Listings
Master local SEO for your salon by ensuring your profiles on Google Business Profile, Yelp, and other relevant directories are complete, accurate, and consistent. AI tools scrape these sites for information.
Show, Don’t Just Tell (with Variety)
Remember Marchelle specifically looking past stylists whose portfolios were just endless images of the same beachy waves?
Your photos should accurately represent the breadth and reality of your work, including different textures and styles, not just the perfectly uniform ‘after’ shot.
Learn more: The Ultimate Guide to Salon Photoshoot Planning (+ Model Release Template).
Why Honesty Matters in the AI Discovery Era
Marchelle shared a perfect example of what not to do, spotted in local Facebook groups.
She saw the exact same stylists pitching themselves for wildly different needs – one client asking for help with ‘4c hair type’ shape, another struggling with ‘fine, thinning hair’ from thyroid issues.
Yet these stylists claimed, ‘This is my thing! This is what I do!’ for both.
That intellectual honesty has to be real when you start putting these words out there. Only speak to the things you really do do well because what I found was so often that people just want to do it because they’re so desperate for filling their books, but they’re not thinking about how detrimental that would be if I really did have a crap experience and wrote a review about it.
That lack of intellectual honesty is transparent, especially to savvy clients (and potentially AI). Trying to be everything to everyone in hopes of filling your books is a flawed strategy for getting salon clients long-term.
Leveraging Your Niche for AI Visibility
Success comes from embracing what you do best. Research confirms that niche-focused businesses thrive by:
- Tailoring offerings to specific client needs
- Developing deeper expertise in their specialty
- Building stronger customer loyalty
- Commanding premium pricing
By leaning into your specialty and communicating it clearly online, you’ll attract clients specifically seeking your skills.
Salon Booking and Client Experience Essentials
Being discovered through AI is just the beginning. The complete client experience, backed by genuine skill and professionalism, is what creates loyalty. Two fundamentals remain essential:
- Make it easy to book. For many clients today (like Marchelle), implementing effective online booking systems isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a requirement.
- Make it easy to pay. Streamline the checkout process.
If you nail your niche, put specific, authentic information about your services online everywhere, encourage reviews, and make booking and paying seamless, you’re setting yourself up for success.
Free ChatGPT Salon Marketing Templates & Checklists: Boost Your AI Visibility
- The AI-Ready Salon Checklist: Your step-by-step guide to optimizing every aspect of your online presence
- Optimize Your Online Listings Mini-Guide: Detailed instructions for making your Google Business Profile and Yelp listings AI-friendly
- Client Review Booster Kit: Email and SMS templates to help you gather the detailed reviews that AI loves
P.S. For even more proven salon marketing tips, don’t forget to check out the rest of our Marketing 100 series.
