Marketing & Brand Summary
AI in E-Commerce in 2026
AI is creating a new discovery layer, replacing web search with direct answers and product shortlists. If your brand isn’t included, you effectively don’t exist. Get the CMO’s guide to the AI-native era.
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- in U.S. revenue estimated to flow through AI-powered search by 2028
- $750B
in U.S. revenue estimated to flow through AI-powered search by 2028
- of U.S. AI users start product searches with AI rather than a search engine
- 37%
of U.S. AI users start product searches with AI rather than a search engine
- ChatGPT referrals convert at the highest rate of any channel — ahead of direct, paid, and organic search
- 11.4%
ChatGPT referrals convert at the highest rate of any channel — ahead of direct, paid, and organic search
- YoY growth in AI-referred traffic to e-commerce sites — volume is early, trajectory is steep
- 632%
YoY growth in AI-referred traffic to e-commerce sites — volume is early, trajectory is steep
McKinsey estimates $750B in U.S. revenue will flow through AI search by 2028 — brands that fail to prepare risk losing 20–50% of traditional search traffic.
Report Overview
A concise, role-specific summary for marketing leaders — AI discovery data, brand visibility risks, and 4 actionable steps distilled from the full report.
Get the Free Report- 01The Shift in 30 Seconds: AI Replaces Search as Discovery Layer
- 02By the Numbers: AI-Referred Traffic and Conversion Data
- 03Your Biggest Risk: The AI Shortlist Effect
- 044 Actions for This Quarter
- 05What Good Looks Like: Conversion Evidence from AI Traffic
- 06Lyro in Context: Converting AI-Driven Visitors
“We wrote this for leaders deciding where AI belongs in their stack, and where it does not. The early-mover window is narrowing.”
Key Findings for Your Team
Explore the findings most relevant to your team — each section is tailored to a different set of priorities.
- Customer Experience
AI support directly affects conversion rates, repeat-purchase likelihood, and brand trust. Covers hybrid human+AI resolution models, escalation frameworks, and quality monitoring strategies.
Get Summary - Ecommerce & Retail
From AI-powered discovery to agentic checkout, the entire shopping funnel is being rebuilt. Covers agentic commerce protocols, product data quality, and AI-ready merchant infrastructure.
Get Summary - Finance
Where does the ROI actually come from? Covers the financial case for AI, cost-efficiency metrics for automation vs. hybrid models, and investment frameworks for agentic commerce.
Get Summary - Marketing & Brand
AI distribution is a new marketing surface. If your product isn’t on the AI shortlist, it effectively doesn’t exist. Covers AI shelf readiness, advertising in AI surfaces, and attribution challenges.
Get Summary
Despite conversion rates up to 11.4%, does ChatGPT even matter with its 0.2% referral traffic? The answer — and the strategy — is in the report.
Tytus GołasFounder & CEO, TidioGet the Free Report
AI distribution is a new marketing surface. If your product isn’t on the AI shortlist, it effectively doesn’t exist. Covers AI shelf readiness, advertising in AI surfaces, and attribution challenges.
Frequently Asked Questions
This marketing-focused summary covers the shift from search engines to AI as the primary discovery layer, AI-referred traffic and conversion data, the “shortlist effect” and why brands get omitted, 4 concrete actions for this quarter (AI shelf readiness, attribution baselines, test budgets for AI ads, owned AI experience), and how on-site AI converts high-intent AI-referred visitors.
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