AI is changing product discovery – here’s how
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence-referred sources in online retail traffic is having an impact on how consumers discover products.
AI-referred sources grew 632% year over year during the fourth quarter of 2025, although Contentsquare analysis of 99 billion online retail sessions indicates they still only accounted for 0.2% of total online retail traffic during the quarter
The Contentsquare 2026 Digital Experience Benchmarks also reveal organic search traffic dropped 9% in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the prior year quarter, indicating consumers are getting more information from AI sources instead of search engines.
AI-referred traffic also appears to hold value for retailers, as conversion rates for this type of traffic rose 55% year over year during the quarter to 1.3% and AI-referred visits bounced 5% less.
Another online consumer behavioral shift Contentsquare attributes to the increasing usage of AI is that once on site, visitors were spending 7% less time than in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Human and AI cooperation improves customer service
Contentsquare research also found that when humans agents and AI customer service chatbots work together, 57% of customer inquiries are resolved, compared to just 29% with bot-only support. Interactions that successfully improve customer sentiment resolve more than twice as often as those that fail to do so (67% vs. 28%).
[READ MORE: Don’t leave out the human touch in artificial intelligence]
Previously released research from Contentsquare also indicates increased consumer use of and trust in AI shopping tools. Nearly four-in-10 (38%) shoppers surveyed by Contentsquare said they trust AI for general research, while 21% use it to find deals and promotions, and 16% rely on it for side-by-side product comparison.
Three in 10 respondents said they would be willing to let an AI agent actually complete a purchase on their behalf.
"Brands now operate in a world of dual audiences — humans and AI agents," said Jean-Christophe Pitié, chief marketing and partnerships officer at Contentsquare. "That changes the rules. AI traffic is small today, but its intent signal is already outsized. Success today is defined by how quickly brands can detect experience gaps, friction, and mismatches — and fix them before customers even notice. Great customer experience isn’t loud. It’s precise. It’s relentless. And it’s built by removing small irritants until the experience simply works."
Contentsquare's 2026 Digital Experience Benchmarks Report analyzed more than 99 billion sessions, 500 billion page views, 22 million customer service conversations and 6,500 websites across the globe. The analysis compares the fourth quarter of 2025 to the fourth quarter of 2024 (October-December).
