A 30-day checklist to get your beauty salon recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity

To get your beauty salon recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, make sure the facts about your salon are clear, consistent and easy to find in the places these assistants read: your Google Business Profile, your booking pages, your website and your reviews. Over 30 days you can check what they say today, fix mismatches, add pages that answer real client questions and build up detailed reviews. Nobody can guarantee a mention, but accurate, consistent information gives the assistants something reliable to quote.

Week 1: Check how AI assistants describe your beauty salon today

An AI assistant is a tool such as ChatGPT, Google's Gemini or Perplexity that answers questions in plain sentences instead of showing a list of links. Clients increasingly use them to ask things like "where can I get a lash lift in Cork?" The practice of making your business easy for these tools to understand and recommend is sometimes called GEO, short for generative engine optimisation.

Before changing anything, find out where you stand. Open each of the three assistants and ask the questions a client would type. Use your own town or county, not just "Ireland".

• "Best beauty salon in [your town]"
• "Where can I get gel nails near [your area]?"
• "Who does HD brows and lash lifts in [your town]?"
• "Is there a salon in [your town] that does bridal makeup trials?"
• "What do people say about [your salon name]?"

For each answer, write down three things: whether you are named, which competitors are named, and anything said about you that is wrong. Wrong opening hours, an old address or a treatment you no longer offer are common finds. Save the results in a simple spreadsheet. This is your baseline, and you will repeat the same questions in week four.

Answers can vary from one session to the next, so ask each question twice and note the general pattern rather than one result.

Week 1: Tidy your Google Business Profile category, hours and services

A Google Business Profile is the free listing that appears on Google Search and Google Maps with your address, hours, photos, reviews and booking link. It is one of the most important sources for local recommendations, so fix it first.

Work through this list:

1. Primary category. Choose the one that best describes your main trade, such as "Beauty salon", "Nail salon" or "Facial spa". Our article on why your business category in Google Business Profile changes what AI recommends explains why this matters.
2. Additional categories. Add only what you genuinely offer, for example "Waxing hair removal service" or "Eyebrow bar".
3. Services. Use the services section to list each treatment with a short description and a "from" price, for example "Gel polish manicure" or "Lash lift and tint".
4. Hours. Check regular hours, then add special hours for bank holidays. Our guide to Google Business Profile hours and Irish public holiday variations covers this.
5. Address and phone. Use your full address with Eircode and a number that is answered during opening hours.
6. Booking link. Add the link to your booking page so clients can go straight to it.
7. Photos. Upload clear pictures of the salon, the treatment rooms and your work. Our photo checklist for Google Business Profile shows which ones to prioritise.

Week 2: Make your booking and listing pages say the same thing

Assistants cross-check. If your Google profile says you open at 9am and your Treatwell page says 10am, the assistant has less reason to trust either. Week two is about making every public mention agree.

Check each of these places, if you use them:

• Your own website
• Treatwell, Fresha or Booksy, whichever booking platform you use
• Instagram and Facebook business pages
• Golden Pages and other Irish directories
• Apple Business Connect and Bing Places, which feed Apple Maps and Microsoft's tools

On every one, compare the same details:

• Salon name, spelled the same way each time
• Address, including Eircode, and phone number
• Opening hours
• Treatment names and "from" prices
• Policies such as patch tests, deposits and late cancellations

Pick one name per treatment and use it everywhere. If you call it "Shellac" on Instagram, "gel polish" on your website and "soak-off colour" on your booking page, a client, and an assistant, may not realise it is one service.

If you work from a salon plus occasional home or mobile visits, say clearly which is which. This avoids assistants recommending you for something you do not offer.

Week 3: Add treatment pages and FAQs written in your clients' words

Assistants answer specific questions, and they can only quote what is written down. A single "Services" page with a price list in an image is hard for them to read. Plain text on separate pages works much better.

Create one page for each of your main treatments, such as facials, lash lifts, HD brows, waxing, gel nails or spray tans. Each page should cover:

• What the treatment is, in one or two plain sentences
• Who it suits and who should check with you first
• How long it takes and how often clients usually return
• A "from" price in euro
• Preparation and aftercare
• Whether a patch test is needed and how far ahead
• A link to book

Then add a short FAQ to each page. Write the questions the way clients actually phrase them, which you can find in your DMs, WhatsApp messages and phone calls. Examples:

• "How long does a lash lift last?"
• "Do I need a patch test before a tint?"
• "What is the difference between gel polish and regular polish?"
• "Can I bring my bridesmaids for a makeup trial?"
• "Do you offer a deposit-free booking for first-time clients?"

Keep answers direct, two or three sentences each, and answer honestly. If you do not offer something, say so. That helps assistants avoid sending you the wrong clients.

Finish with a page for your location: where you are, parking or nearest Luas or bus stop, and which nearby towns you serve. Mention the town or county naturally, not repeated unnaturally.

Week 4: Ask for specific, genuine reviews and re-test the same questions

Reviews tell assistants what you are actually like. A review that says "great" is nice, but one that says "my lash lift lasted six weeks and Aoife explained aftercare clearly" carries real information.

Ask every client after their appointment, while the experience is fresh. A text or a small card at the till with a link to your Google review page works well. Suggest, without scripting, that they mention the treatment and what stood out.

A few ground rules:

• Never write reviews yourself or ask friends who are not clients to post them.
• Do not offer discounts or gifts in exchange for reviews, as this goes against Google's policies.
• Reply to every review, positive or negative, politely and specifically. Mention the treatment where appropriate, but do not share private client details.
• If a review is unfair, reply calmly and factually, and flag it to Google only if it breaks their rules.

At the end of the week, repeat the exact questions from week one in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Compare the answers with your baseline. Changes may take longer than 30 days to appear, so treat this as a checkpoint, not a verdict.

What to track each month once the 30 days are up

Local information changes constantly: new treatments, new staff, seasonal hours, price rises. A short monthly routine keeps everything accurate.

Update your Google profile and booking platform on the same day whenever something changes, and add special hours before every bank holiday.

If you would rather not run the tests by hand, suggestedby.ai offers a free check that measures whether the AI names your salon. Either way, the habit matters more than the tool: ask, compare, fix and ask again.