Holiday e-commerce in the U.S. is expected to climb 5.3% this year, and for the first time, retailers are writing AI into their seasonal strategies. Instead of relying solely on Google, consumers are increasingly using ChatGPT and similar platforms to research and compare products. ChatGPT’s own shopping integration, backed by Walmart, Shopify, and Etsy, signals where this is headed. But the impact is twofold: AI search is a growing source of customer referrals, yet it could also divert buyers to third-party platforms instead of brand-owned channels.
According to Similarweb, AI-generated referral traffic still makes up less than 1% of total retail web traffic—but what’s interesting is the type of visitors it brings. Unlike casual browsers, these are high-intent shoppers arriving with purpose. ChatGPT leads in this small but growing segment, as AI referrals have been ticking up steadily since July. Amazon sees relatively little AI-driven traffic, possibly due to reportedly blocking access to tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
To future-proof their holiday performance, brands are rewriting their content playbooks. It’s not about keyword stuffing but fine-tuning for conversational AI—questions about product performance, comparisons, and real-world use now carry SEO weight. According to VaynerX’s EVP of commerce, brands optimizing with this mindset could see a 20–40% bump. That means revamping gift guides, leaning into places like Reddit, and creating FAQ-style content with the same vigor as your next TikTok rollout.
Full story at AdWeek.