Ulta Beauty expands AI shopping strategy with ChatGPT plugin

Ulta Beauty has launched its own plugin on ChatGPT to offer AI-powered personalized beauty recommendations and shopping efficiency. 

The plugin provides consumers with recommendations based on the information they provide in the form of an AI bundle — a bundle of products tailored to the consumer. The AI bundle is made with products from the Ulta Beauty catalog within ChatGPT. 

The products selected by the consumer are then transferred to their Ulta Beauty shopping bag on the retailer’s website. 

The beauty shopping experience allows consumers to describe their beauty goals, pose questions about their routines, and express preferences regarding products and budgets to the chatbot. 

“Ulta Beauty AI makes it easier to discover beauty products that work together, create personalized beauty bundles based on your preferences, beauty needs, and routine, with recommendations across makeup, skin care, hair care, fragrance, and more,” says the retailer. 

Investing in shopping ease and loyalty 

Ulta’s ChatGPT plugin comes on the back of its Q2 2026 results, showing a net sales figure of US$3.04 billion, an 8.9% growth year-over-year. The company attributed the increase to growth in comparable sales, its acquisition of Space NK, and revenue from new stores. 

At the time of the results, the retailer touted a smooth omnichannel shopping experience, which delivers convenient shopping and order fulfillment as a differentiator. It also states that its “value-rich” loyalty program rewards members through personalization, relevant offers, and exclusive deals, fostering returning customers. 

Aligned with the loyalty programs and personalization highlighted in the financial report, Ulta is offering a 10% discount on certain products when consumers use the Ulta Beauty plugin on ChatGPT. 

Ulta Beauty joins the shift toward conversational beauty shopping. 

Beauty moves to chatbots

Ulta’s launch on ChatGPT caters to growing demand for personalized and efficient beauty advice as more cosmetic players incorporate AI into their consumer-facing operations. 

Earlier this year, Sephora made a similar move with ChatGPT, debuting an app inside the AI assistant. It created an AI-powered shopping experience for beauty consumers through a conversational interface. The app allows Sephora shoppers to discover products, receive recommendations, and eventually make purchases inside the virtual space. 

Before that, Revieve targeted beauty recommendation personalization by launching AI Skin Advisor for ChatGPT. The skin advisor is a tool that lets beauty brands and retailers guide how consumers discover skin care products inside generative AI platforms. 

The AI-based launches demonstrate that beauty discovery has moved into an era of meeting consumers where they are: speaking to chatbots. 

“Consumers are already turning to AI assistants with very specific, intent-driven questions, often earlier in the journey than they would traditionally engage with a brand or retailer.” Irina Mazur, chief commercial and marketing officer at Revieve, previously told Personal Care Insights. “That positions AI conversations as a potential new entry point into discovery.”