--- title: "How wellness brands get recommended by AI assistants" description: "By being the product assistants can describe and verify when people ask how to sleep, train or recover better, with wellness claims that stay lawful." canonical: "https://underneath.agency/resources/wellness-brands-customers-ai-search" published: 2026-10-09 updated: 2026-10-10 publisher: "Underneath (https://underneath.agency/agent)" entity: "https://underneath.agency/.well-known/entity.json" --- Guide · AI search # Will AI assistants recommend our wellness products when people ask how to sleep, train or recover better? They can, if your products are the ones an assistant can describe accurately and check against independent evidence. Health is one of the most common reasons people open ChatGPT, nearly half of US adults now own a wearable, and a wellness purchase often starts with a question about sleep, strength or stress rather than a brand name. This article covers wellness products other than supplements: fitness gear and wearables, sleep aids and sleep technology, recovery devices and personal care. It is about how these brands are found and chosen. It is not health advice, and nothing here says any product works. ## The short version 1. The market is large: the [Global Wellness Institute](https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/industry-research/2025-global-wellness-economy-monitor/) puts the wellness economy at $6.8 trillion in 2024, with [personal care and beauty at $1.35 trillion and physical activity at $1.14 trillion](https://www.healthclubmanagement.co.uk/health-club-management-news/Global-wellness-economy-hits-new-record-peak-of-US68trn-forecast-to-reach-US98trn-by-2029/361529). 2. Wellness devices are now mainstream and sticky: in [Rock Health’s 2025 survey](https://athletechnews.com/more-than-half-of-americans-track-their-health-with-a-device-what-comes-next/), 46% of US adults owned a wearable, up from 13% in 2015, 26% tracked their sleep, and only 23% of owners had ever switched brands. 3. A single wellness device brand can now be a billion-dollar business: [Oura](https://www.fortune.com/2025/09/23/oura-ring-11-billion-valuation-series-e-finland-875-million-raise-unicorn) expected more than $1 billion in 2025 revenue, about 20% of it from subscriptions. 4. People already bring wellness goals to AI: in [Life Time’s 2026 survey](https://athletechnews.com/consumers-seek-strength-longevity-over-weight-loss-life-time-survey/), 35.3% used AI tools for workouts, nutrition or health, and ChatGPT Health connects apps such as Apple Health, Peloton and MyFitnessPal. 5. Claims set the limits: the FDA revised its [general wellness policy](https://www.cov.com/en/news-and-insights/insights/2026/01/fda-issues-revised-guidance-on-general-wellness-products) for wearables on January 6, 2026, and the FTC requires competent and reliable scientific evidence for health claims. ## Who buys wellness products, and what is a customer worth? Adults trying to sleep, move or feel better, and for device brands a buyer often stays for years. The wellness economy keeps outgrowing the wider economy. The Global Wellness Institute’s 2025 monitor projects 7.6% annual growth to nearly $9.8 trillion in 2029. Its sector figures show where consumer product brands compete: | Wellness sector, 2024 (Global Wellness Institute) | Size | |---|---| | Personal care and beauty | $1.35 trillion | | Physical activity | $1.14 trillion | | Mental wellness (the US alone is $125 billion) | $268 billion | GWI names sleep among the growing segments of mental wellness. For the US, a [McKinsey survey reported by Health Club Management](https://www.healthclubmanagement.co.uk/health-club-management-features/Research-Growth-Market/37147) put the wellness market at $480 billion, and found about half of consumers had bought a fitness wearable at some point while 75% were open to using one. The buyer is broad. The [Sports & Fitness Industry Association](https://sfia.org/resources/participation-hits-new-high-but-majority-of-americans-not-yet-meeting-recommended-guidelines-of-150-minutes-of-weekly-activity-sfias-2026-topline-report-finds/) counted 250 million Americans who took part in at least one sport, fitness or leisure activity in 2025. In PwC’s global [Voice of the Consumer survey for the Consumer Goods Forum](https://www.theconsumergoodsforum.com/app/uploads/2026/06/Voice-of-the-Consumer-Survey-The-Rise-of-Everyday-Health.pdf), 90% of 21,808 respondents made discretionary health purchases in the past year and 80% used a health app or wearable. What a customer is worth depends on the product. A sound machine or a recovery tool is often a one-time sale. A wearable is closer to a long relationship: - Rock Health found 83% of wearable owners wear the device five or more days a week, 47% have used one for three or more years, and only 23% have ever switched brands. - Oura sold about 3 million rings in a year, 5.5 million in total, and [told Fierce Healthcare](https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/oura-raises-900m-series-e-oura-ring-sales-catapult) it expected $1 billion in 2025 sales across devices and app subscriptions. It expects more than $1.5 billion in 2026. No public benchmark gives a lifetime value for a wellness customer, and we will not invent one. Our inference: when the first brand a buyer chooses is rarely replaced, the recommendation that shaped that first choice is worth far more than one sale. ## Where do AI assistants sit in a wellness purchase? At the goal stage, before a brand is chosen, and increasingly inside the assistant itself. Health questions are already a mass behavior on AI assistants. When it launched ChatGPT Health in January 2026, [OpenAI said](https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-health/) over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness questions on ChatGPT every week. In [KFF’s March 2026 poll](https://www.kff.org/health-information-and-trust/poll-finding/kff-tracking-poll-on-health-information-and-trust-use-of-ai-for-health-information-and-advice/), 32% of US adults had used AI for health information or advice in the past year. What makes wellness different is that the assistant can now sit next to the product. OpenAI documents that ChatGPT Health connects Apple Health for movement, sleep and activity data, plus apps such as Peloton for workout classes and guided meditations, MyFitnessPal for nutrition and AllTrails for hikes. A brand whose app is connected is present in the conversation in a way a rival without one is not. Brands whose main product is an app face related questions, covered in [how digital health apps win users](https://underneath.agency/resources/digital-health-apps-users-ai-search). Use for specific wellness tasks is still early. A Menlo Ventures and Morning Consult survey of 5,031 US adults, [reported by eMarketer](https://www.emarketer.com/content/ai-has-yet-penetrate-health-wellness-sector), found 62% plan their workouts but only 11% use AI to do it, and 55% track health and fitness data while 12% use AI for that. Life Time’s survey of members and the public found higher use, at 35.3%. The honest summary: AI is part of the wellness routine for a large minority and growing, not yet for most people. ## Which questions lead a wellness shopper to a brand? Questions about a goal, a comparison, a constraint or a brand’s reputation, more often than a product name. The prompts below are illustrative, written by us to show the shape of commercial wellness questions. They are not captured from real users. | Category | Illustrative prompt | |---|---| | Sleep tech | “Best sleep tracker that doesn’t need a monthly subscription” | | Sleep aids | “Quietest white noise machine for a shared bedroom” | | Wearables | “Smart ring or fitness watch for someone who lifts weights?” | | Home fitness | “Compact rowing machine for a small apartment, under 6 feet long” | | Recovery | “Massage gun for runners: which brands last longest?” | | Personal care | “Fragrance-free deodorant brands for sensitive skin” | | Legitimacy | “Is this red light therapy mask brand legit?” | Two patterns matter. First, many questions start from a goal, so the assistant decides which product category answers it before it picks a brand. Rock Health found activity (35%), sleep (26%) and heart rate (21%) are what wearable owners track most, a fair guide to which goals drive device questions. Second, compatibility and subscription costs come up early for devices, and those are facts an assistant can only repeat if they are written down somewhere it can read. Questions about diagnosing or treating a condition, such as sleep apnea or high blood pressure, are a different matter. Those belong with clinicians, and OpenAI says ChatGPT Health is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. A wellness brand should not try to win those answers. ## How does a recommendation become revenue for a wellness brand? Through a shortlist, a check of reviews and specs, a purchase and, for devices, a paid app or subscription. 1. **Named for a goal.** The assistant lists a few products for “track sleep without a subscription” or “quiet rower for an apartment.” 2. **Checked.** The buyer reads reviews, compares specs and asks whether the brand is legitimate. Review sites tend to shape that answer: in [our brand reputation study](https://underneath.agency/research/is-it-legit-ai-reputation-study), 88.0% of AI answers to the question “Is this brand legit?” drew on a review or complaint platform. 3. **Bought where the buyer already shops.** The brand site, Amazon or a store. Oura sells through 4,000 stores, so an assistant’s answer can end at a retail shelf rather than a click. When visitors do arrive from AI, [Adobe’s data reported by TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/16/ai-traffic-to-us-retailers-rose-393-in-q1-and-its-boosting-their-revenue-too/) showed they converted 42% better than other visitors to US retail sites in March 2026. Adobe did not break out wellness products. 4. **Kept.** For a wearable or connected device, the app, the subscription and the data history keep the customer. Oura’s chief executive told Fortune the mix of hardware and subscription revenue puts it on “a different level than most hardware companies.” The traffic is growing from a small base. [Adobe reported](https://news.adobe.com/news/2026/01/adobe-holiday-shopping-season) that traffic to US retail sites from generative AI tools rose 693.4% in the 2025 holiday season, while noting the base of users remains modest. ## What decides whether an assistant names your product? Evidence it can read and verify: product facts, reviews and independent coverage; the platforms do not publish exact rules. What is documented: [OpenAI’s shopping help page](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11128490-improved-shopping-results-from-chatgpt-search) says ChatGPT’s product results are selected independently and are not ads. It considers structured metadata such as price and product description from first- and third-party providers, plus other third-party content. Review summaries come from public websites, and merchants are ranked on factors such as availability, price, quality and whether they are the maker or primary seller. What has been observed: - **Health answers lean on institutions.** In an audit of 615 sources cited by ChatGPT for health questions, [Jacques and colleagues](https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.17109) found 75.7% came from institutional sources and 12.4% from commercial health platforms. We cover what those commercial sites had in common in [what commercial health sites cited by ChatGPT have in common](https://underneath.agency/resources/chatgpt-cited-commercial-health-sites). - **“Best of” lists are part of the evidence, and some are self-serving.** In [our study of AI-cited “best” lists](https://underneath.agency/research/self-promoting-best-lists-study), 24.2% of numbered lists with an identifiable publisher ranked their own publisher first. - **Many product pages are hard to read.** Adobe found around 34% of retail product pages cannot be properly accessed by AI. For wellness, the trust factors carry legal weight. The [FTC’s health products guidance](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/health-products-compliance-guidance) says claims about the health benefits or safety of health-related products require “competent and reliable scientific evidence,” and it applies to devices as well as supplements. One of its own examples is a nasal strip: evidence that it reduces snoring does not support implying it treats sleep apnea. The FDA’s revised general wellness policy, issued January 6, 2026, widened the room for wearables that estimate measures such as heart rate variability, but only when the product is promoted for wellness, not for diagnosing or treating a condition, according to [Covington’s analysis](https://www.cov.com/en/news-and-insights/insights/2026/01/fda-issues-revised-guidance-on-general-wellness-products). Our inference: the durable trust factors for a wellness brand are accurate specs, claims that stay on the wellness side of that line, independent reviews and testing, and a clean complaint record. A product that an assistant can describe without repeating a risky claim is easier to recommend. ## What does a wellness brand lose when AI leaves it out? It loses first purchases at the goal stage, and with devices, years of subscription and repeat revenue. We have not found any measurement of how many wellness sales a brand loses when assistants leave it out, so each point below is labeled reasoning: - **The first device tends to stick.** With only 23% of wearable owners ever switching brands, we infer a buyer steered to a rival by an AI answer is unlikely to come back soon. - **The ecosystem effect compounds.** If an assistant connects to a rival’s app, as ChatGPT Health does with Apple Health and Peloton, that rival is present in later questions too. That is our inference from OpenAI’s documentation, not a measured effect. - **A wrong description persists.** An outdated subscription price, a missing compatibility fact or an old complaint can follow a brand from answer to answer. The fixes are laid out in our guide on [how to fix wrong brand information in AI answers](https://underneath.agency/resources/fix-wrong-brand-information-in-ai-answers). ## How does GEO work for a wellness brand? Generative engine optimization (GEO) makes your products easy for AI assistants to find, describe correctly and verify through outside evidence. For a wellness company, the work usually covers: 1. **Facts in text.** Sensors, battery life, compatibility with phones and health apps, subscription price and what it includes, dimensions, noise levels, materials and return terms, stated on product pages, not only in images or videos. See [what product content AI shopping assistants prefer](https://underneath.agency/resources/product-content-ai-shopping-assistants-prefer). 2. **Claims that hold up.** Wellness language your legal team has cleared against the FTC standard and the FDA’s wellness policy, with studies cited where you make a performance claim. Assistants repeat what they find, including what you overstate. 3. **Integrations documented.** If your product works with Apple Health, Google’s and Samsung’s health apps or a fitness platform, say so plainly and keep it current. 4. **Independent coverage.** Hands-on reviews from sleep, fitness and gear editors, testing labs, trainers and clinicians who can speak to the product honestly, and creator coverage with proper disclosure. 5. **Review and complaint platforms.** Real reviews on retailer sites, Trustpilot and the BBB, complaints resolved in public, and no review tactics the FTC would treat as deceptive. [Fake reviews can also mislead AI answers](https://underneath.agency/resources/fake-reviews-fake-brands-ai-recommendations). 6. **Product feeds.** Complete, consistent catalog data wherever assistants read it, since OpenAI documents its use of structured metadata. 7. **Measurement.** Ask a fixed set of goal, comparison, compatibility and legitimacy questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI features, repeatedly, and track who is named and which sources are cited. No wellness brand can be promised a spot in AI answers, by us or by anyone else. What this work does is make your product simple for an assistant to describe accurately when a shopper asks. Supplements raise separate testing and label questions, covered in [how supplement brands win customers from AI assistants](https://underneath.agency/resources/supplement-brands-customers-ai-search). ## Which questions can’t the data answer for wellness brands yet? It shows people using AI for health and wellness, not how many wellness product sales AI answers create. - **Health questions are not shopping questions.** OpenAI’s and KFF’s figures cover health questions in general. We found no public data on how often people ask an assistant which sleep tracker, massage gun or rower to buy. - **Surveys differ widely.** AI use for wellness ranges from about one in nine for workout planning (Menlo Ventures) to over a third (Life Time), depending on who was asked and how. - **Company figures are self-reported.** Oura’s revenue comes from the company and press reports, not audited filings, and Adobe sells the analytics it reports on. - **No wellness-specific ranking studies.** The citation research we cite looked at health questions in general and at mixed product categories. Applying it to wellness devices is our inference. ## Where should a wellness brand start? Start by asking assistants the goal and comparison questions your buyers ask, and read what they say about you. That first check usually shows whether your products appear for the sleep, training or recovery goals you serve, whether your specs and subscription terms are described correctly, which review sites and editors shape your reputation, and which rivals are named instead. The work then is to put accurate, lawful facts where assistants read them and earn the outside coverage that backs them up. If your growth depends on first purchases that turn into years of app use or repeat orders, [talk to us about a wellness brand review](https://underneath.agency/contact). We will show where your products appear in AI answers to buying questions, why rivals are named instead, and which changes are most likely to win more of those first purchases. The [generative engine optimization service](https://underneath.agency/services/generative-engine-optimization) page covers how that work is done for a wellness brand, from specs and integrations in text to cleared claims and independent reviews. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do people really ask AI about wellness products? They ask about health and wellness at scale: OpenAI says over 230 million people do so on ChatGPT every week. Product-specific use is smaller and less measured; 35.3% in Life Time’s survey used AI for workouts, nutrition or health. ### Can a wellness brand pay to appear in ChatGPT’s product results? No. OpenAI says product results are selected independently and are not ads, and that ads are shown separately. ### Does the FDA’s 2026 wellness guidance change what we can say? It clarified that some wearables measuring things like heart rate variability can be wellness products if promoted only for wellness. Claims to diagnose or treat a condition still make a product a medical device. Ask your regulatory counsel. ### Is this different for sleep products than for mattresses? Yes. Sleep trackers, sound machines and sleep aids are often goal-driven or subscription purchases. Mattresses have their own journey, covered in [how mattress brands win customers who ask AI](https://underneath.agency/resources/mattress-brands-customers-from-ai-search). ## Sources - Global Wellness Institute (2025-11), [2025 Global Wellness Economy Monitor](https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/industry-research/2025-global-wellness-economy-monitor/) - Health Club Management (2025-11), [Global wellness economy hits record peak of US$6.8trn](https://www.healthclubmanagement.co.uk/health-club-management-news/Global-wellness-economy-hits-new-record-peak-of-US68trn-forecast-to-reach-US98trn-by-2029/361529) - Health Club Management (2024), [Research: Growth market (McKinsey Future of Wellness survey)](https://www.healthclubmanagement.co.uk/health-club-management-features/Research-Growth-Market/37147) - Athletech News (2026-06-09), [More than half of Americans track their health with a device (Rock Health 2025 Consumer Adoption Survey)](https://athletechnews.com/more-than-half-of-americans-track-their-health-with-a-device-what-comes-next/) - Athletech News (2025-12-31), [Consumers seek strength, longevity over weight loss: Life Time survey](https://athletechnews.com/consumers-seek-strength-longevity-over-weight-loss-life-time-survey/) - eMarketer (2025-07-02), [AI has yet to penetrate the health and wellness sector](https://www.emarketer.com/content/ai-has-yet-penetrate-health-wellness-sector) - Sports & Fitness Industry Association (2026-03-12), [SFIA’s 2026 Topline Participation Report](https://sfia.org/resources/participation-hits-new-high-but-majority-of-americans-not-yet-meeting-recommended-guidelines-of-150-minutes-of-weekly-activity-sfias-2026-topline-report-finds/) - The Consumer Goods Forum and PwC (2026-06), [Voice of the Consumer Survey: The Rise of Everyday Health](https://www.theconsumergoodsforum.com/app/uploads/2026/06/Voice-of-the-Consumer-Survey-The-Rise-of-Everyday-Health.pdf) - Fortune (2025-09-23), [Oura Ring maker to become $11 billion company with latest raise](https://www.fortune.com/2025/09/23/oura-ring-11-billion-valuation-series-e-finland-875-million-raise-unicorn) - Fierce Healthcare (2025-10-14), [Oura raises $900M series E as smart ring sales catapult company’s growth](https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/oura-raises-900m-series-e-oura-ring-sales-catapult) - OpenAI (2026-01), [Introducing ChatGPT Health](https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-health/) - KFF (2026-03), [KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: Use of AI for Health Information and Advice](https://www.kff.org/health-information-and-trust/poll-finding/kff-tracking-poll-on-health-information-and-trust-use-of-ai-for-health-information-and-advice/) - OpenAI (2026), [Shopping with ChatGPT Search](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11128490-improved-shopping-results-from-chatgpt-search) - TechCrunch (2026-04-16), [AI traffic to US retailers rose 393% in Q1, and it’s boosting their revenue too](https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/16/ai-traffic-to-us-retailers-rose-393-in-q1-and-its-boosting-their-revenue-too/) - Adobe (2026-01-07), [Holiday Shopping Season Drove a Record $257.8 Billion Online](https://news.adobe.com/news/2026/01/adobe-holiday-shopping-season) - Federal Trade Commission (2022-12), [Health Products Compliance Guidance](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/health-products-compliance-guidance) - Covington & Burling (2026-01-08), [FDA Issues Revised Guidance on General Wellness Products](https://www.cov.com/en/news-and-insights/insights/2026/01/fda-issues-revised-guidance-on-general-wellness-products) - Jacques and colleagues (2026), [Authority Signals in AI Cited Health Sources: A Framework for Evaluating Source Credibility in ChatGPT Responses](https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.17109), arXiv:2601.17109. - Underneath (2026), [“Is this brand legit?” How AI assistants build a reputation](https://underneath.agency/research/is-it-legit-ai-reputation-study) - Underneath (2026), [How many “best of” lists cited by AI rank their own brand first?](https://underneath.agency/research/self-promoting-best-lists-study) --- This is the Markdown twin of https://underneath.agency/resources/wellness-brands-customers-ai-search. 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