AI isn’t replacing search—it’s moving earlier in the journey. OpenAI data shows only about 2% of ChatGPT prompts mention purchasable items, yet product suggestions appear in nearly one-third of prompts unrelated to shopping. For health and productivity queries, those rates jump above 40%. Meanwhile, AI minutes have quadrupled year over year while Google search usage remains slightly up, meaning AI is adding a new discovery layer, not cannibalizing intent-based search. For marketers, this creates a new upstream battleground where LLMs shape category awareness before comparison shopping begins. Brands must map the non-shopping conversations where their products naturally surface.

"[The oldest members of Gen Alpha are] turning 16 next year, so we are on the eve of them becoming pretty powerful consumers," said Dani Mariano, CEO at Razorfish. "[GWI found that] 30% of 12- to 15-year-olds said that they had used AI in the last seven days. I think it could be even higher."

Search advertising is entering a new era where Amazon and other retail media players are reshaping how discovery and intent are monetized. Brands must revisit their “search mix.” Google may remain indispensable, but allocating more spend to retail media will future-proof campaigns against cookie loss and capitalize on where shopping intent now begins.

AI shopping assistants are boosting discovery and personalization, but trust issues and fulfillment challenges could limit their impact on channel migration.

PayPal’s Honey browser extension will start recommending products based on users’ conversations with chatbots, per a press release. Relying on the Honey browser extension rather than striking individual partnerships with each major AI platform is a far more expedient pathway to broaden Honey’s reach across AI-based shopping. And by keeping the selection and checkout processes squarely in the province of the user, Honey gets to reap the benefits of the rise in AI-enabled product discovery without the associated risks of agentic commerce.

The news: Despite consumers’ rising use of AI agents for search, shopping, and discovery, brands are falling behind on generative engine optimization (GEO) strategies. 47% of brands have no deliberate GEO strategy or have no idea if they appear at all in AI agent responses, per a new report from Cordial. Another 47% have only just begun optimizing content for AI discovery. Our take: To boost visibility, brands should optimize for conversational context and create structured, machine-readable content that AI can index, like clear website FAQs, TL;DR summaries, and detailed product specs. Expanding presence across social platforms that feed AI training models, such as Reddit, Quora, and YouTube, can also improve chances of surfacing in AI-generated responses.

The situation: Amazon and Google, once bound by a symbiotic relationship in which Amazon funneled ad dollars into Google Search and Google indexed Amazon’s pages, are now veering toward open conflict as generative AI (genAI) blurs the lines between ecommerce, advertising, and search. Both companies are determined to own the entire journey from discovery to checkout, and that ambition is unraveling what remains of their former détente. Our take: Amazon and Google are racing to define where and how consumers discover and buy products in the genAI era. If Amazon succeeds in walling off its marketplace data and steering shoppers to its own AI interfaces, the retail landscape could splinter into walled gardens where tech giants cooperate far less. That winner‑takes‑all dynamic might suit the victors, but it risks degrading the overall consumer experience with fewer choices and less transparent pricing. At the same time, it could lead brands and retailers into a margin‑sapping race to the bottom inside whichever closed ecosystem proves most dominant.

Though TikTok Shop faces the dual challenges of economic instability and a tenuous presence on US app stores, marketers are still taking advantage of its positioning as both a social platform and ecommerce engine.

Community threads—not search bars—are where product discovery now begins, challenging marketers to join the conversation. CVS Media Exchange and Reddit are bridging data and dialogue to turn real-time discussions into measurable sales wins.

Lens integration sidesteps users to search without leaving the app. It sets up future monetization even if beta excludes ads and affiliate links—for now.

Google has entered the AI shopping arena: The company’s AI Mode experience aims to assist consumers throughout every step of the shopping experience—from finding inspiration to buying at the right moment.

Agentic AI gains momentum: As Amazon, Walmart, eBay and others experiment with AI agents, retailers need to to figure out how to market to bots in addition to humans.

ChatGPT's shopping tool threatens retail media revenues: Its product search could siphon ad dollars from retailers struggling with tariffs, higher prices, and weak demand.

Could OpenAI turn ChatGPT into a shopping hub? The company is reportedly partnering with Shopify in an effort similar to other genAI shopping efforts by Perplexity and Microsoft.

Retailers are quickly embracing autonomous AI—sometimes referred to as agentic AI—to enhance operations and customer experiences. Gen Z is leading the shift, using AI for discovery and shopping. But to grow adoption across all generations, retailers must build trust through data security and transparency of AI use.

GenAI adoption complicates retailers’ customer acquisition strategies: Brands are struggling to optimize their websites and product listings to account for rising traffic from genAI tools.

Shopify is on an AI acquisition spree: The company’s latest purchase, Vantage Discovery, will enable it to offer brands genAI-powered search capabilities and improved product discovery.

Over half of Gen Zers discover products primarily on TikTok and Instagram: Google’s relevance is fading as social search takes over.

Amazon reevaluates social commerce ambitions with Inspire shutdown: The retailer is prioritizing Rufus and shoppable partnerships with TikTok and other platforms.

Reddit taps commerce and community: The platform aims to help advertisers engage intent-driven users at every stage of the purchase journey.