What AI Search Means for Consumer Brands
When a new parent asks ChatGPT for "the best affordable baby carrier," they're not scrolling through ten blue links anymore. They're getting an instant, AI-generated answer that overviews specific product recommendations, complete with reasons why that product would be a great fit. If your brand isn't part of that answer, you've just lost a customer before they even knew you existed.
This isn't a future scenario. It's happening right now, and the numbers are there to prove it.
Shopping-related searches on AI platforms grew 4,700% between July 2024 and July 2025, and ChatGPT usage jumped nearly 70% from January to June 2025, with shopping queries doubling in popularity over six months. Even more striking, 41% of consumers now say they trust generative AI search results more than traditional advertising.
The consumer products industry is experiencing its most dramatic shift in product discovery since the rise of ecommerce. For brands big and small, the question isn't whether to adapt to AI-powered search but how quickly you can position your products to be recommended when consumers ask AI for help making purchasing decisions.
Understanding this shift starts with recognizing what consumers are doing with AI when they shop. The data reveals three primary use cases that are reshaping product discovery:
Research and Comparison: The top uses for AI are conducting research (over half of generative AI users), comparing prices and finding deals. Consumers are no longer visiting five different retailer websites to compare specs and prices. They're asking AI to do it for them in seconds.
Product Recommendations: Nearly half of consumers use AI to receive product recommendations. Instead of scrolling through endless product listings or relying solely on sponsored ads, shoppers are asking AI, "Best bourbon under $60?" Or, "Help me find the best daily electrolytes,” and trusting the answers they receive.
Discovery of New Products: Most significantly, nearly 90% of AI shoppers say AI helps them discover products they wouldn't have found otherwise. This represents a fundamental shift in how brands reach new customers. Traditional discovery relied on brand awareness, paid advertising or consumers stumbling upon products while browsing. AI-powered discovery is proactive, personalized and often introduces consumers to brands they've never heard of (if those brands appear in AI recommendations, that is).
The implications are massive. A Pew Research study found that 58% of users were satisfied with AI summary results and chose to stay within the AI summary experience without clicking through to external websites.
This represents what we, as industry experts, call a "zero-click" search landscape. Consumers are increasingly beginning and ending their product research journey entirely within AI platforms, from ChatGPT and Google Gemini to Perplexity and Claude. For consumer brands, this means visibility within AI-generated responses isn't just important - it's essential for survival.
The Baby Carrier That Won AI Search (And What It Teaches Us)
Let's look at a real example. When both Google AI Overview and ChatGPT are asked for "the best affordable baby carrier," they consistently recommend Infantino's 4-in-1 Flip Carrier as the best overall option. Here’s what makes this interesting: the AI platforms aren't making this recommendation based on paid advertising or sponsored content. They're pulling from credible earned media coverage.
All searches were conducted in incognito mode while logged out to ensure unbiased, representative results.
The sources Google AI Overview and ChatGPT cite? Articles from The Bump, Today's Parent and Babylist - all earned media placements from Crowe PR, secured through strategic public relations efforts. This demonstrates a critical truth about AI search: your earned media coverage has lasting, compounding value in AI-powered search results.
Traditional SEO taught us that getting featured in authoritative publications drives traffic and builds brand credibility. AI Engine Optimization (AEO) reveals something even more powerful: those same media placements now directly influence whether AI platforms recommend your products to millions of consumers asking for buying advice.
What Consumer Brands Need to Do Now
The shift to AI-powered discovery is accelerating faster than most brands realize. Here's your action plan to keep up with the pace:
Audit Your Current AI Visibility: Before you can improve, you need to know where you stand. Conduct searches in incognito mode across Google AI Overview, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude using the exact questions your target customers would ask.
Double Down on Strategic Earned Media: Your PR strategy should now prioritize placements that AI platforms favor, and your strategy should evolve as AI does.
Leverage Age-Stage, Needs-Based and Occasion-Driven Content: AI platforms excel at answering specific, contextual questions. Rather than generic brand marketing, focus your content strategy on age or stage content, needs-based solutions and seasonal and occasion-driven moments that align with how consumers actually query AI platforms.
Activate Award Wins and Third-Party Validations: When your products win industry awards, receive safety certifications or earn expert endorsements, treat these as major brand moments. AI platforms use these trust signals heavily when determining which products to recommend.
Optimize Your Owned Content for AI Comprehension: While earned media is crucial, don't neglect your owned channels. The top optimization methods, including citing sources, adding statistics and including quotations, can improve AI visibility drastically.
The Bottom Line: Adapt Now or Risk Invisibility
Web traffic from AI sources on Amazon Prime Day in 2025 was up 3,300% year over year, and this trajectory shows no sign of slowing. Nearly a quarter of global consumers already rely on generative AI as their main starting point when shopping.
For consumer product brands, this isn't a distant future concern. It's the present reality. Every day that you're not optimized for AI-powered searches, you're losing potential customers to competitors who are showing up in ChatGPT recommendations, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity answers.
The good news? The strategies that drive AI visibility align perfectly with what builds lasting brand equity: earning credible media coverage, winning industry recognition, creating helpful content and building trust with consumers. By prioritizing strategic earned media, AI platforms favor optimizing content for how consumers actually search and treat your PR archive as a compounding asset rather than yesterday's news, positioning your brand for sustainable visibility in the AI era.
The brands that will thrive in 2026 and beyond aren't just adapting to AI search - they're using it as an opportunity to build stronger, more authentic connections with consumers at the exact moment they're seeking solutions, and that's something no algorithm can replace.