AI-powered product search is quickly changing how consumers shop—and how brands
need to show up. According to recent research from eMarketer and Bloomreach, 58% of
global consumers have already replaced traditional search engines with generative AI
tools for product discovery. Even more striking: 61% are using tools like ChatGPT to
assist with online shopping decisions.
Amazon sees the threat this poses to their traffic—and their ad dollars. In response,
they’re reimagining their on-site search experience, introducing updates like the Cosmo
search experience and virtual shopping assistant, Rufus. Their goal is clear: keep
shoppers engaged in the Amazon ecosystem by offering a compelling, AI-assisted
discovery journey.
To understand what this means for brands, I ran a series of shopper-style queries
through multiple GenAI platforms and looked at how they surface products and
recommend retailers. Below is a summary of what I learned, along with the elements
brands can control in this evolving landscape.
How GenAI Decides What Products to Surface
Generative AI tools are pulling information from a wide mix of sources:
Your DTC or brand website
Third-party review platforms
Editorial content (product roundups, blog posts, tech reviews, “best of” lists)
User-generated content (forums like Reddit)
News articles and independent research
Takeaway: The DTC site plays a critical role here. It’s one of the first places GenAI
looks—and it’s where you have full editorial control. If it hasn’t been updated recently,
it’s time to dust it off.
How GenAI Decides Which Retailers to Recommend
AI tools don’t browse the web like humans—they’re optimized for efficiency. Complex
retail sites that are slow to crawl or poorly structured get deprioritized. Here’s what
GenAI favors:
Conversational product relevance: Pages that feel like a knowledgeable
associate wrote them, matching both the query and the intent behind it.
Rich imagery: High-quality lifestyle images that visually explain the product.
Technical accessibility: Sites that are easy to crawl and not buried behind
logins, CAPTCHAs, or heavy JavaScript.
Structured metadata: Well-organized content, clear page structure, and live
inventory signals.
Freshness: Pages that are regularly updated and reflect current availability.
Takeaway: This is another reason to prioritize your DTC site. But your retail partners
matter too—refresh Amazon, Walmart, and Target listings with new lifestyle images,
conversational copy, and up-to-date content. If you haven’t re-written your bullets and
A+ content in a while, now’s the time.
GenAI is already changing how shoppers discover and evaluate products. For brands,
that means adjusting how and where content shows up online—and making sure it’s AI-
friendly, not just shopper-friendly. The brands that evolve will get found more often,
convert better, and make more efficient use of their retail media spend.
This shift is already happening. The only question is whether your brand is ready for it.
