How will shoppers use AI for holiday shopping?

How many shoppers will use AI this holiday season?

Many of them, by several different measures.

ProductAI surveyed 1,493 US online shoppers, 550 of whom use AI for product research. ProductAI found that among those 550 shoppers, 71.5% expect to use an AI assistant for holiday shopping this season, though only 21.6% have let one complete a purchase from start to finish.

Savings asked a different question in a survey of 1,603 US adults in September. Savings found that 77% of shoppers expect to use an AI tool or AI-powered search to find Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals and gifts this year.

Wildfire Systems found that 71% of US consumers now use AI chatbots, up from 22% two years ago. The surveys measure different things, but they point the same way: AI is now part of how people shop for the holidays.

What will shoppers ask AI to do?

Mostly to compare prices and find deals.

Wildfire Systems found that among AI users, 56% use AI for price comparison and 44% for deal-hunting. Both jobs put the assistant between the shopper and the store, and the assistant also brings new names into the decision. Boston Consulting Group found that in more than half of AI-assisted purchase journeys, the technology introduces consumers to brands they would not otherwise have considered. For a store, that cuts both ways: the assistant can bring you new customers, or introduce your customers to a competitor.

Do shoppers check what the AI found?

Most check product recommendations, and about half check deals.

ProductAI found that 89.9% of US online shoppers who used an AI assistant for product research verified its recommendation through another source before buying. Savings found that nearly half of AI shoppers, 48 percent, would verify deals or promo codes surfaced by AI on another site before buying.

So the answer is only the first step, and the shopper's check is the second. Both steps count for a store. You need to be named in the answer, and the details the assistant gives about you, such as prices, delivery and returns, need to match what shoppers find when they check.

What should a store check before the holiday season?

Ask the questions your shoppers will ask, and record what the assistants answer.

1. Step 1Write holiday questions in your shoppers' words. For example "best gift for a home cook under a set budget" or "where to buy running shoes with free returns", mostly without your store name.
2. Step 2Ask them in several assistants. Use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Perplexity, with a fresh conversation for each question.
3. Step 3Record which stores are named. Note who is recommended first, who is only mentioned and where your store appears, if at all.
4. Step 4Check the details about your store. Compare prices, delivery times, return rules and stock in the answers with your own pages today.
5. Step 5Note the sources. Write down which pages, reviews and directories the assistants cite when they name a store in your category.
6. Step 6Fix the facts first. Correct outdated prices, old offers and missing delivery or return details on your own pages before the busiest weeks.

How does EntityRise measure this for a store?

EntityRise is an AI visibility audit for agencies and companies that shows how ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Perplexity describe and recommend a company and what to improve first.

The audit asks up to 40 buyer questions about your store: 15 high-priority questions go to all five assistants, and up to 25 more are each asked on one assistant, for up to 100 answers kept with their sources. Setup takes two steps: you confirm your business profile, then review the suggested topics and questions and mark the most important ones as high priority. The AI Visibility Index weighs recommendation at 30%, mention at 20%, prominence at 20%, citation support at 15% and description accuracy at 15%.

The result is a PDF report of around 40 pages with the analysis assistant by assistant, your main competitors compared area by area and the ordered list of what to improve. After the audit, Ask EntityRise, a chat inside the dashboard, answers questions about your results, such as why a competitor is recommended or which pages to fix first, from the audit's own evidence. You can start the audit for your store, and agencies can run it for their e-commerce clients under their own name. EntityRise measures and guides; the improvements happen on your own pages and in your own marketing work.