Amazon appears to be testing AI-generated backgrounds on beauty product main images in search, while still requiring sellers to submit main images on pure white.
Amazon AI main images have reportedly appeared on Olay, Bliss, L’Oréal, and St. Ives listings without notice to the brands. Sellers remain bound by the Amazon white background rule, which calls for RGB 255, 255, 255 with the product filling about 85% of the frame.
The test follows Amazon’s unBoxed 2026 announcements on AI creative, where Amazon says its Full-Funnel Campaigns beta posted 67% higher long-term return on ad spend. Amazon has not commented publicly on the main image test or announced an opt-out for brands or any Amazon agency managing beauty listings.
Amazon AI Main Images Appear Across Beauty Search Results
A video walkthrough of the test shows beauty search results where Amazon replaced the white backdrop with AI-generated backgrounds. Some listings show a gray backdrop, while others show the product inside a staged scene.
Olay listings were among the first reported. The same type of image then appeared on Bliss, L’Oréal, and St. Ives products in the beauty products category on Amazon.
Noah Wickham, VP of Sales and Marketing at My Amazon Guy“Amazon forever has pushed against the idea of a main image hack.”
Listings that already had well-optimized main images did not appear to be affected. Brands have not reported receiving any notice or opt-in prompt before the change.
Amazon’s image policy has long barred sellers from using non-white backgrounds or added graphics on main images. Amazon has not said whether gray or lifestyle backgrounds will become standard for main images.
Amazon Sellers Raise Label Visibility and Ranking Concerns
According to an industry report on a screenshot shared by Talal Asad, president of Amazon consultancy Brand Together, Amazon placed bath products inside AI-made bathroom scenes in search, and Asad argued the test will hurt rankings because shoppers need to read a product’s label in the main image. The scenes appeared even though Amazon requires sellers to use a pure white background for main images.
Main images appear at a small size in search results, especially on mobile. A staged background leaves less space in the image for the product and its label.
Beauty listings often rely on the label to show the product name, size, and key claims. These details are printed on the packaging, so they are harder to read when the product takes up less of the image.
Sellers track Amazon main image CTR to measure how often shoppers click a listing from search results. Amazon has not said whether brands can see which version of their main image shoppers are shown.
Amazon Main Image Requirements Have Not Changed for Sellers
Amazon’s product image requirements still hold sellers to a strict main image standard. The Amazon white background rule calls for pure white at RGB values of 255, 255, 255, with the product filling about 85% of the image.
| Rule | Sellers must use | AI test shows |
|---|---|---|
|
Background
|
Pure white (RGB 255, 255, 255)
|
Gray or staged
|
|
Product fill
|
About 85% of the frame
|
Shared with a scene
|
|
Props |
Included items only
|
Bathroom props
|
|
Graphics
|
None
|
Generated scenery
|
|
Lifestyle main image
|
Limited product types
|
Beauty products
|
Amazon states that a listing with no compliant main image may be suppressed from search until a compliant one is uploaded. These rules apply to seller uploads and have not changed during the test.
Amazon also has an AI disclosure rule for images that show people. As ChannelX reported, sellers must add the keyword contains-synthetic-performer to the dc:subject XMP field of any image or video showing photorealistic AI-generated people.
The rule applies to AI-generated people, not to products or backgrounds. Images without people do not need the tag but must still meet every Amazon main image requirement.
Amazon Expands AI Creative Tools Across Its Ad Platform
The image test comes weeks after a wider AI update from Amazon Ads. At unBoxed 2026 in San Francisco, Amazon announced Amazon Ads Agent, a single buying platform that brings the former Ads Console and Amazon DSP together.
Sponsored ads, Full-Funnel Campaigns, and DVA+ campaigns now sit in that one platform. Full-Funnel Campaigns lets advertisers set products and a budget while Amazon’s AI handles more of the setup and optimization across formats.
AI creative tools also sit inside the platform’s conversational experience, turning existing product assets into new ad creative. Amazon says advertisers in its Full-Funnel Campaigns beta saw 67% higher long-term return on ad spend and 29% lower cost to acquire new-to-brand customers.
Amazon says the platform also gives advertisers access to nearly 1,000 metrics through plain-language questions. Amazon has not said whether the main image test is connected to these ad tools.
