As more people turn to artificial intelligence-enabled chatbots to power their product discovery process, optimizing for chatbot mentions is rising as a new marketing element.
But how influential are AI chatbots?
The team from Similarweb conducted a study to find out, analyzing thousands of user search journeys across three industries to glean more insight into the rising importance of optimizing for AI chatbot mentions.
The data showed that most AI chatbot users find AI tools helpful in the initial stages of the shopping journey, while regular search tools come into play during the price comparison stage.
That makes sense. People are using AI chatbots to help with their initial purchase decisions, but when it comes to price, they still trust traditional search tools to help uncover the best deals.
However, the power of those initial AI chatbot recommendations is significant. According to the data, consumers who were recommended a brand by ChatGPT were 2.5 times more likely to visit that brand over its competitor, “even though they received no direct link and hadn’t visited the site previously.”
So clearly, AI chatbot users are putting trust in AI recommendations, which makes generative engine optimization (or answer engine optimization) a key consideration for brands looking to maximize brand awareness and referral. Brands also need to consider how AI chatbots are sourcing relevant answers in order to align their marketing efforts with this shift.
The report also found that users who came to a company website via an AI chatbot viewed nearly twice as many pages and spent twice as long on site compared to standard visits.
Essentially, consumers are putting their trust into AI tools to assist in their discovery process, with AI recommendations driving more traffic and more engagement for brand pages.
With the big tech giants pushing to make AI tools a bigger part of consumers’ everyday lives, that influence will likely grow, particularly as more people come to rely on conversational AI tools to assist in their discovery process.
These are valuable notes regarding the state of AI adoption as it pertains to the influence of AI tools on shopping approaches.
