Distributors dominate AI supplier recommendations in UK report

By Priya Raman

Distributors took 12 of the 15 supplier placements in a three-answer UK-focused ChatGPT test, while Croda, the only manufacturer named, made every top-five list.

The Pitman Comms Visibility Index Report: GEO in the Beauty Ingredients Supply Chain assessed how generative engine optimisation, or GEO, affects the way beauty businesses discover ingredient suppliers. In three repeat conversations with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the test requested five supplier places per answer, using a UK-focused functional-ingredients query.

How was the AI supplier test run?

The registered question asked: “Identify five suppliers of functional cosmetic ingredients serving the United Kingdom. State the principal ingredient functions associated with each supplier.”

Pitman Comms designed the report to spotlight ingredient suppliers and extend a marketing conversation often focused on consumer brands. Simon Pitman, the agency’s founder, set out the visibility problem: “A beauty ingredient supplier can have excellent science and long-standing customer relationships, but the next customer may not know its name.” His practical question was which suppliers would enter the conversation when a customer asks AI for a formulation solution.

The test measured repeated AI visibility for UK suppliers, not product performance or commercial preference.

Which suppliers did ChatGPT recommend?\n

The three answer sets listed:

• Answer 1: Azelis; Brenntag; Croda; Harke; Surfachem.
• Answer 2: Croda; Brenntag; Azelis; Harke; Infinity Ingredients.
• Answer 3: Croda; Brenntag; Azelis; Surfachem; Harke.

Azelis, Brenntag, Croda and Harke appeared in all three answers. Surfachem appeared twice, while Infinity Ingredients appeared once. Within the report’s UK sourcing classification, Croda was the manufacturer and the other five named companies were distributors.

Distributor names therefore occupied four of the five positions in every response, leaving Croda as the only manufacturer to appear throughout. The report’s headline finding identified Croda, Azelis and Brenntag as the top three suppliers, although the underlying lists also gave Harke a place in all three answers.

Distributor visibility, rather than a fixed ranking, defined most of the recommendations.

What does distributor dominance mean for suppliers?

The pattern does not establish which company offers the strongest science or formulation support. It shows which names ChatGPT surfaced when buyers asked for UK suppliers and their principal ingredient functions.

Pitman said: “Distributors play an important role in helping customers discover and access ingredients.” He stressed that the finding did not question the value of distribution. Its purpose was to help manufacturers understand how their ingredients and expertise appeared across the routes customers used to discover them.

The results also illustrate the gap between technical standing and digital visibility. A manufacturer may have established science and long-standing customer relationships, yet remain outside the shortlist when buyers do not know its name or AI does not surface it.

For suppliers, discoverability depends on how clearly their expertise appears across the routes buyers use.

Where does this leave supplier marketing?

Pitman cautioned: “We are still at an early stage in understanding how AI search will influence the way beauty businesses find suppliers.” He described the three responses as a snapshot of how varied AI-generated answers can be and as a starting point for asking better questions, not a judgment on the companies included.

For ingredient manufacturers, the practical task is to make product functions, technical expertise and sourcing information easier for AI systems and distributors to represent. For buyers, the lists show why distributor names can occupy most of an AI-generated shortlist even when specialist manufacturers also meet the brief.

As AI-mediated sourcing develops, suppliers that present formulation expertise clearly across AI and distributor channels will be better placed to appear when buyers ask for functional solutions.