What should retailers do about AI shoppers?

Are AI recommendations already bringing shoppers to new stores?

Yes, and younger shoppers lead.

Forter, in a study of more than 2,000 Americans conducted by The Harris Poll, found that 43% of Americans have already discovered or purchased from a retailer they had never shopped with before because of an AI recommendation. Among 18 to 34 year olds, Forter put that share at 68%.

Cordial found that 39% of consumers say they are at least somewhat likely to buy a product or brand AI recommends that is unfamiliar to them. For a store that shoppers do not know yet, that is an opening. For a store they already buy from, it is a risk, because the same answer can introduce them to someone else.

How many shoppers plan to use AI this season?

Between 42% in the Cordial survey and 67% in the Forter study, depending on the question asked.

Forter found that 67% of U.S. consumers plan to use AI for holiday shopping this year, with 37% of holiday shoppers expecting to use it more than last year. Narvar, in a survey of 1,348 U.S. consumers and 100 retail decision-makers, found that 65% of consumers plan to use AI for at least one part of their holiday shopping. Cordial found that 42% of consumers say they are at least somewhat likely to use AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude during their holiday shopping process.

The surveys ask different questions, so the shares differ. They agree on the direction: AI is now one of the places where holiday shopping starts.

What do shoppers ask AI to do?

Mostly to find, compare and save.

Cordial found that the top AI use cases are comparing prices and finding deals (43%) and comparing products or brands (38%). Narvar found that consumers plan to use AI for gift discovery (43%) and for comparing products and summarizing reviews before buying (33%).

Each of these jobs puts the assistant between the shopper and the store. When a shopper asks for a gift idea or a comparison, the stores named in the answer are the ones that get considered at that moment.

How ready are retailers for AI shoppers?

By their own account, few feel ready.

Narvar found that 65% of consumers plan to use AI for part of their holiday shopping, yet only 8% of retailers describe themselves as very confident in using AI to improve the shopping experience. That gap is the opportunity for the stores that act first. The work does not start with new technology. It starts with knowing what the assistants already say.

What should a retailer check first?

Measure before you change anything.

1. Step 1List the discovery questions. Write the questions shoppers ask before they know you, such as gift ideas for a person or the best product for a need, without your store name in them.
2. Step 2List the comparison questions. Add the questions where you compete directly: your product type against alternatives, or which store to buy it from.
3. Step 3Ask several assistants. Put each question to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Perplexity in a fresh conversation.
4. Step 4Record who is named. Note which stores are recommended first, which are only mentioned, and whether your store appears at all.
5. Step 5Check what is said about you. Compare the prices, delivery and return details in the answers with your own pages today.
6. Step 6Note the cited sources. Write down the pages, reviews and lists the assistants cite when they name a competitor. Those are the places where your store is missing.

Repeat the same questions after you fix your pages, so you can see whether the answers moved.

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.

Each audit asks up to 40 buyer questions about your store. You mark 15 as high priority and they go to all five assistants; 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. 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 an ordered list of what to improve. After the audit, Ask EntityRise, a chat inside the dashboard, answers questions about your results 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.