- Do people really ask ChatGPT to pick a hair salon?
- Yes — and the number grows every month. Clients ask ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews things like “best balayage near me” or “curly hair specialist in my city” and get a direct recommendation of two or three salons instead of ten blue links. If your salon isn’t in that shortlist, the client books with one that is, and you never even see the missed inquiry.
- How does an AI engine decide which salons to recommend?
- Each engine reads public proof: your Google Business Profile and reviews, Yelp, booking profiles on StyleSeat or Booksy, your website’s service pages, and portfolio content like Instagram. Engines weigh review volume, specific service mentions, and how clearly your site states what you do and charge. Tibly shows which of those sources each engine actually cited, so you know exactly what to strengthen.
- My salon ranks well on Google. Doesn’t that carry over to AI answers?
- Not automatically. Traditional rankings and AI recommendations often disagree, because AI answers compress your market into two or three names and lean on different evidence — review language, service-specific pages, priced menus. Plenty of salons rank on page one of Google yet never get named by ChatGPT. The only way to know is to run the questions and look, which is what Tibly does daily.
- What do I actually do with the results?
- Tibly doesn’t just report a problem — it drafts the fix. If engines can’t find your prices, we draft a priced service menu page. If a competitor owns “balayage” in your city, we draft the specialty page and FAQ that make your case, with before/after galleries and alt text engines can read. You review, publish, and watch the answers move.
- How much does Tibly cost?
- Start with the free report: we run your market’s top salon questions across every engine and show who gets named, at no cost. If you want daily tracking, competitor scoring, source analysis, and drafted fixes, plans start at $49/month. There are no contracts — you can cancel anytime.