AI in the salon

Salon owners can use AI to save time, improve client experiences and grow their businesses. Ellen Cummings explores how this is happening in real-world environments

Artificial intelligence can feel like a bit like future technology rather than a practical business tool. The headlines tend to focus on technology replacing jobs or complex systems that require technical expertise, leaving many wondering whether AI has any real relevance to a salon floor.

However, AI is already operating in the background of a growing number of salon businesses – writing marketing content, analysing customer data, streamlining administration and helping attract new clients.

The key message from salon owners and AI specialists speaking on the topic at the Professional Beauty and Hairdressers Journal

Salon Growth Summit this year was that AI is not about replacing the human element that makes salons special. Instead, it is about removing friction, automating repetitive tasks and freeing up more time for client care.

As Noel Halligan, founder of Noco Hair in Bristol, puts it, “We've got to remember that we are human-led and AI-assisted, and it's going to stay like that.”

Start with the problem, not the technology

One of the biggest mistakes salon owners make when exploring AI is chasing the latest tool before identifying what business problem they are trying to solve. Halligan admits he initially fell into that trap himself.

“Sometimes we just want to go and get the tool and then find a job for it to do. That's probably the wrong way,” he says. “If we can flip that round, get the system right, get the process right, understand how it's going to make you some money, and then think, ‘What's going to support me to get me there?’ is the right way of doing it.”

Rather than asking which AI platform to invest time and money in, salon owners should first identify areas where time is being lost. Is administration eating into management time? Are marketing tasks being neglected? Is stock-taking becoming a burden? Once those bottlenecks are clear, AI can often provide a solution.

Halligan suggests a simple test: if a tool can help make more money, save money or speed up a process, it is worth investigating.

Reclaim time from admin

For many salon businesses, the most immediate benefits of AI come from operational efficiency. Clare Porter, owner of The Fountain Beauty Therapy in Surrey, uses AI across multiple areas of her business.

“For me, it gets me out of my head,” she explains. “I can actually put things into practice quite quickly rather than just thinking about things and never getting around to bringing the ideas to life. It saves me a lot of time with my salon systems, my social media, my website – and with general operations.”

Fergal Doyle, founder of Fergal Doyle Hair in Bristol, has gone even further, using AI to streamline stock management across his two salons. “I've got team members who do the stock take for me, so it's taken that off my hands, and now I've trained them how to do it with AI,” he explains.

“It's as simple as taking a photo of the colour bar, taking a photo of the cupboards open, uploading it, and then asking it to do the stock take. So, what used to take two staff members two hours, now takes a couple of seconds on a Tuesday morning.”

He adds, “Using consultation forms to find out what that client's likes, dislikes and needs are, figuring out what type of personality that they have, doing a very holistic consultation with them before they come to the salon to make sure that they have the very best experience.”

Once clients are in the system, AI-powered CRM platforms can build increasingly detailed profiles over time. Dawn Kubicek, an AI visibility strategist, founder of Leaders in Digital, and a speaker at the upcoming

Professional Beauty London event in October, believes salon owners often underestimate the value of their own client data.

“I always say that your own data is gold,” she explains. “Maybe they need this product add-on, maybe you could recommend them this, maybe a reminder that they could come back in six weeks instead of eight weeks.”

Rather than relying on memory, AI can surface recommendations, buying habits, treatment preferences and visit frequency, helping therapists and stylists deliver more personalised service.

Porter has already seen this happen through her salon software. “Any therapist, especially if you've got a new therapist joining the team, they can look at that client's record and see the recommendations from point of view of product, their frequency of visits, and even that their daughter's just got married or something like that. So, you've got that relationship straightaway.”

Becoming visible in AI search

Perhaps the most surprising shift discussed during the panel was how AI is changing the way potential clients discover salons. Increasingly, consumers are asking tools such as ChatGPT for recommendations instead of relying solely on Google searches.

Personalising the client journey

While operational efficiencies are valuable, AI’s longer-term potential may lie in helping salons deliver more personalised experiences. Doyle believes AI can play an important role before a client even walks through the door. “AI can be used to link the best stylist or beauty therapist with the right client,” he says.

By analysing consultation forms and client preferences, AI can help salons match clients with team members who best suit their needs, personality and expectations.

Halligan recalls the moment he realised the significance of this change. “I'll never forget the first time a client came into our salon and said that they were referred through ChatGPT,” he says. “That, for me, was a mega shift in buyer mentality.”

Rather than focusing solely on traditional SEO rankings, salon owners are now being encouraged to create content that helps AI systems understand their expertise. Halligan's advice is simple: “When a client asks you a question, write a blog specifically using that question as the title.”

Questions such as “Why is my hair thinning?” or “Should I colour my hair before or after my holiday?” are exactly the kinds of queries people increasingly ask AI search tools.

“Obsess over your clients' questions,” Halligan says. “The more you do this, the more you're going to be seen as an authority, and ChatGPT is going refer more people.”

Porter has used a similar approach: “I actually asked ChatGPT what I needed to put on my homepage to make me more searchable on ChatGPT,” she says. “One of the things it said was to do Q&As.”

Kubicek recommends optimising content specifically for AI search platforms. “When you're writing your social media content, blog content, any content, ask ChatGPT to rewrite your content and make it searchable in ChatGPT,” she advises.

Another simple tactic is ensuring content includes a clear summary at the beginning, making it easier for AI systems to understand and categorise.

Introducing AI to your team

Despite the opportunities, some salon owners remain concerned about how teams will react to AI. The panel agreed that successful adoption starts with leadership. “I think it starts with the top, and then it has to kind of filter down,” says Doyle.

By actively using AI themselves and sharing successful examples, owners can demonstrate practical benefits rather than creating fear.

Kubicek recommends introducing tools gradually. “Start with one person to test it out,” she says. “Once one person starts getting results, maybe they reached their target faster because they had more information, then very quickly that goes round the salon.”

Rather than launching multiple systems simultaneously, a phased approach allows teams to see results before expanding usage. “Show them how to do it first and what is possible and how they can grow,” Kubicek adds.

Treat AI like a new team member

One theme emerged repeatedly throughout the discussion: AI works best when it is trained properly. Salon owners expecting instant results may be disappointed. “The more it knows about you, the more useful it is,” says Porter. “Sometimes I just say to it, ‘Sound more like me,’ and it writes it so much better.”

Doyle compares the process to onboarding a new employee. “You have to treat it like it's a new employee who's just starting,” he says. His salon's AI call-answering system has been trained on each team member's specialisms, preferences and service strengths, allowing it to make more accurate recommendations and bookings.

The same principle applies to content creation, marketing, customer service and reporting. The more information AI receives about your business, brand voice and ideal client, the more useful its outputs become.

Taking the first step

For salon owners who have not yet experimented with AI, the panel's advice was to start small. “Just play around with it,” says Doyle.

Whether that's generating social media ideas, writing a blog post, drafting an email or analysing business data, the goal is to become comfortable using the technology. Halligan agrees. “Start slowly,” he says. “It's there to support you. Don't give it complete agency.”

Ultimately, the businesses seeing the greatest success are not those trying to automate everything. They are the ones using AI strategically to remove low-value tasks while investing more time in the client relationships that drive long-term growth.

After all, as Halligan reminds us, “You doing somebody's hair or performing a beauty treatment is where the money is, and it needs to support that.” For salons willing to embrace it, AI won’t replace the human touch, but it could give businesses more time to deliver it.