AI Is Disrupting The Shopper’s Experience

There’s a paradigm shift in the shopping process and AI is the driving force behind this change.  Shoppers are no longer just searching online or scrolling through websites; they’ve now taken advantage of AI platforms to discover, compare, and even buy products in their behalf.

According to generative engine optimization (GEO) firm The Rank Collective, their analysis of cross-platform AI visibility data revealed that 64% of consumers are now using AI tools to discover and learn about new products, with frequent online shoppers increasing that share to 66%.  ChatGPT serves as a starting point for 34% of these high-intent users.

Another study based on two multi-market surveys of 5,000 consumers aged 18-67 comprised of US, UK, Canadian and Australian residents reported that 41% of consumers trust Gen AI search results more than paid search results.  That same study- the 2025 Consumer Adoption of AI Report- also found that only 15% trust AI less than search ads.

Additionally, Adyen’s Retail Report shared that 51% of shoppers are open to AI making purchases in their behalf.  It also noted that the number of US shoppers using AI assistants rose from 12% to 35%.  With these encouraging figures, 88% of retailers are considering adopting AI to handle the entire shopping process in the shopper’s behalf, with 56% of them prioritizing this technology for 2026.

Image: Google DeepMind

LLM Equity and Brand Building

AI has opened up a new world of fast and frictionless shopping experience.  While still in its early stages of adoption, companies have begun exploring this new space to understand what challenges it would need to address in order to compete and thrive.

Perhaps a good starting point is understanding Large Language Models (LLM) equity.  LLM equity generally refers to ensuring that AI models are fair, unbiased, and accessible across diverse populations, preventing the reinforcement of existing disparities.  It requires addressing algorithmic bias in training data specifically with race, gender, and socioeconomic status, especially in the field of healthcare.  It’s also concerned with expanding access and at the same time, performing in non-English languages and low-resource settings.

For brand building, LLM equity is more concerned with whether your brand shows up in Gen AI search results and how it’s being represented.  What theme or themes are being represented by your brand?  Are those themes coherently represented in your social media?  Is your current brand representation connecting and engaging with your audience?  Is that connection strong enough to not only move consumers to purchase your product but also engage with your content?  Is your brand content strong enough to capture the interest and be remembered by prospective consumers?

In other words, understanding LLM equity in brand building is understanding and tracking your brand health.

Image: TyliJura

Featured Image: Shoper.pl

Top Image: Nataliya Vaitkevich

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