How AI Search is Changing Consumer Behavior (And What Marketers Must Do)
May 7, 2026 - 9 minutes read
Your customers are making purchasing decisions before they ever reach your website. They’re asking ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity for recommendations, receiving direct answers, and forming opinions about your brand, all without clicking a single link to your website.
This shift is massive: 39% of consumers are using AI for product or service discovery. For marketers, that means the traditional customer journey — search, click, browse, decide — doesn’t apply the way it used to. Consumers are discovering, evaluating, and narrowing choices within AI tools, fundamentally changing what it means to stay visible and competitive.
How Are People Using AI To Search For Products/Services?
They’re Asking Questions, Not Typing Keywords
Nearly 40% of shoppers are changing where they begin their journey.
Traditional search followed a predictable pattern: users typed keywords like “singing lessons near me” and scanned through page results. Now, people are skipping that step entirely. Instead, they open ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or Claude and describe exactly what they need.
Instead of typing “singing lessons near me,” they’d write out something like: “I’m looking for a voice coach within 30 miles of Mishawaka, Ind. I don’t have a ton of experience, but I can read music and would like to improve my technique. Can you give me a few recommendations for female coaches whose hourly rates are reasonably priced?”
The era of “conversational search” is here. Users ask long-form questions and get long-form answers back.
Shopping Is Growing Quickly In AI Search
In just the first six months of 2025, shopping queries on ChatGPT doubled, making it the fastest-growing search category on the platform.
This rapid growth signals a fundamental shift in consumer behavior. The demographic reach extends beyond tech-savvy younger buyers — more than half of shoppers 65 and older now use AI shopping assistants, proving this shift spans all age groups.
But how does this change in search behavior actually impact the path to purchase?
How Does This Affect Buying Decisions?
The Consumer Journey Has More Steps Now, Not Less
Many people assume that AI makes the consumer journey shorter because it simply gives recommendations. The data shows that’s not the case.
AI is an influential source for shopping decisions, second only to traditional search engines and coming out ahead of retailer websites, apps, and personal recommendations. However, it doesn’t have the final word.
Before AI, the average online shopper completed 1.6 steps before purchasing. After AI interaction, that number jumped to 3.8 steps. Rather than streamlining the journey, AI adds research steps. Shoppers use it to get a feel for what’s out there, then they confirm the recommendations they were given.
AI users become more intentional researchers: 78% visit retailer or marketplace websites after using AI tools. Additionally, 1 in 3 users clicks directly from AI platforms to visit retailer websites.
AI is rapidly becoming the gateway through which consumers discover businesses and visit websites.
People Are Making Decisions Before They Land On Your Page
A 2025 study of nearly 2,800 consumers found that 58% of people use AI tools in their product research. And almost 80% of people rely on answers from AI for half of the decision-making process.
“People aren’t waiting to get onto your website to form an opinion about your brand,” says Melissa Weirick, a social media specialist at Federated Digital Solutions. “They’re asking AI, getting an answer, and your brand either shows up or it doesn’t. That’s the new first impression.”
Consumers form opinions within AI tools before seeing your ad, your website, or your product page. If your brand isn’t showing up within those AI answers, you aren’t getting considered.
This shift is already creating measurable impacts on website traffic patterns.
How AI Affects Website Traffic And Visibility
Zero-Click Searches Are On The Rise
New research from Bain & Company shows that 80% of consumers rely on AI-generated results for at least 40% of their searches, and organic web traffic has dropped between 15-25% because of it. About 60% of searches end without users clicking through to any website.
What that means: more than half of all search interactions are resolved on the results page. They start and end there. There’s no click, no visit, no chance for you to make an impression with your own content.
So, how can you stand out and make an impact on consumers?
Brands That Show Up In AI Answers Win Out
Understanding how AI tools prioritize content is essential for optimization.
AI optimization differs fundamentally from traditional SEO. Instead of targeting keywords and metadata, AI tools prioritize content that solves specific problems shoppers face.
Discovery has evolved from a linear, one-off phase to a continuous process. AI tools provide solutions based on relevance, applicability, and trustworthiness. They’re constantly adapting as users refine their questions.
So what specific actions should marketers take to optimize for this new reality?
What Should Marketers Do Differently?
Create Content That Answers Questions
Conversational search prioritizes a certain kind of content. It should be structured, specific, and built around real, genuine questions that your audience is asking. Don’t think so much about ranking for a term; instead, think about providing the clearest and most trustworthy answer.
“The brands that are going to get ahead in AI search are creating content that actually helps people,” Weirick says. “They’re not just creating content and trying to rank. If your blog post, FAQ page, or product description is useful, AI tools are more likely to pull from it and recommend it to searchers.”
Consumers value responses from AI because it’s direct, objective, and personalized. Your content should achieve the same things — answer the question they’re asking and help them make a decision.
Show Up Where Decisions Are Happening
Your content needs to be structured so that AI can read, understand, and cite it accurately. That means:
- Clear headers
- Direct answers in the opening of each section
- Cited data
- Expert attribution
These build credibility with both humans and AI systems.
Mentions alone aren’t enough anymore. You need to be linked by AI systems. Bain & Company reported that the rate of users clicking links in ChatGPT more than doubled during the time it tracked in 2025.
Don’t Abandon Traditional Search
Traditional search isn’t going away. Of all search engines, Google is still at the top for more than half of users in the United States.
You don’t have to choose between AI optimization and SEO. It’s about recognizing that they’re both pointing at the same solution: well-structured, authoritative content that answers questions and performs well for both platforms.
What This Means For Your Marketing Strategy
AI search has fundamentally changed when and how consumers evaluate your brand. The advantage goes to businesses that optimize content for traditional search engines and AI platforms by delivering clear, authoritative answers wherever customers are researching.
Federated Digital Solutions helps businesses adapt their content strategies for AI-powered search while maintaining traditional SEO performance. Ready to ensure your brand shows up in AI recommendations? Reach out to our team today.