REFY AI Search Case Study: 274% More Traffic From LLMs

REFY needed visibility in ChatGPT and other AI assistants, where beauty product discovery is growing fast, and global cosmetics brands already dominate the conversation. We got there through Digital PR rather than technical optimisation.

REFY is a British beauty brand best known for its brow products, selling direct online and through major beauty retailers.

Industry

Beauty

Services

AI Search Optimisation

The Challenge

Getting recommended by AI, not just ranked by Google

Beauty is a category where people ask for advice. "What’s a good brow gel?" is a question, and it’s increasingly being asked of ChatGPT rather than a search engine.

REFY were competing for those answers against global cosmetics companies with decades of coverage behind them. Traditional search visibility wasn’t enough on its own. Being recommended by an AI assistant depends on what the sources those models draw from say about you, which is a different problem with a different solution.

Media Relationships
Brand Mentions
Gifted Samples
Product Spotlights
Expert Comments
Integrated Approach

%

increase in total AI visits

%

increase in LLM engaged sessions

%

increase in LLM-powered conversions

Our Approach

Digital PR as the route into AI answers

Large language models draw on established publications when answering product questions. So we went after the coverage those models read, on the pages where beauty recommendations actually live.

Media Relationships

We built relationships with beauty editors and journalists so REFY was front of mind when they needed a product recommendation or expert view. Being consistently useful is what turns one placement into recurring coverage.

Product Spotlights

We landed placements in roundups, "best of" lists and editorial shopping guides. Listicles from trusted publications are disproportionately what LLMs quote when someone asks for a recommendation, which makes them the highest-value placement available here.

Brand Mentions

We secured mentions on high-authority sites where the page itself was contextually aligned to REFY’s products, rather than generic name-drops. In AI search, unlinked mentions carry weight they don’t in traditional rankings.

Gifted Samples

Products went directly to journalists, editors and influencers at target publications, which is how you get authentic reviews rather than a mention in passing. Coverage that comes from someone actually using the product reads differently to readers and to models.

Expert Comments

We supplied timely commentary to journalists covering beauty and skincare stories, positioning REFY’s team as a source rather than a subject. That builds the kind of association AI models pick up on.

Integrated Approach

Mentions, features, gifting and spotlights ran as one strategy rather than separate tactics, so each placement reinforced the next and the coverage accumulated around the same product areas.

Let's Work Together

Gareth Hoyle

Managing Director

The Results

More visits, better sessions, and conversions to match

Traffic from AI sources rose 274%, and LLM-attributed sessions rose 183%. The number that matters most is the third: conversions from AI-driven visits rose 88%.

That gap between visits and conversions is the useful part. AI referrals converting at all, let alone at that rate, suggests the people arriving had already been given a reason to trust the brand by the source that recommended it.

%

increase in total AI visits

%

increase in LLM engaged sessions

%

increase in LLM-powered conversions

Hear It From The Client

“Marketing Signals helped us better understand and improve how our brand appears across LLMs. Their approach has led to more consistent visibility and stronger representation in AI-generated responses.”

RT

REFY Team

Featured Work