The holiday shopping season has arrived. Could AI become your personal Santa? This idea is more feasible than ever, as a wave of new features this year has integrated shopping directly into AI platforms. The latest development, announced yesterday, is OpenAI’s “shopping research” tool in the ChatGPT app. It asks users about their budget, style preferences, and intended use to create a personalized buying guide, just in time for Black Friday weekend. This builds on OpenAI’s earlier shopping features from May and follows Google’s recent rollout of shopping-focused updates in its AI Mode, powered by the upgraded Gemini 3 conversational AI model.
Sophie Neary, Google’s retail managing director, notes, “Launching this major product during the busiest shopping period of the year allows us to integrate Gemini’s latest capabilities into everyday consumer experiences right when they’re needed most. Gemini now understands purchase intent with greater nuance, making it more powerful than ever.”
Both platforms claim their improved AI models offer more personalized recommendations based on search history and can even provide tailored sizing advice by analyzing user interactions with brands and parsing thousands of product reviews. In response, marketing teams have been racing to optimize their content for AI through the growing practice of AI optimization (AIO).
Brands and retailers are adopting new strategies, such as including longer product descriptions with use cases, more images, and diverse content like FAQs. The upcoming holiday shopping events will be the first test to measure the return on these efforts. In theory, AI-powered shopping should boost conversion rates by streamlining the customer journey and reducing drop-offs.
Early data suggests that as AI platforms rapidly introduce commerce features, their simplified shopping process is gaining traction. Referrals from AI engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity to top e-commerce brands surged 752% in October 2025 compared to the previous year, according to BrightEdge’s analysis of 2,000 e-commerce sites. However, these AI referrals still account for less than 1% of organic e-commerce traffic, while traditional Google search drives 87.6%.
Jim Yu, CEO of BrightEdge, observes, “Google is skillfully integrating AI into the consumer experience so seamlessly that users often don’t realize they’re engaging with it.” He adds that even standard search is becoming more AI-driven ahead of the holidays, with Google quietly expanding shopping-focused AI features in its regular search. Since last November, AI overviews for clothing-related searches have increased by 104%, and new features specifically benefit the apparel category.
“In the U.S., where I live, Google has started blending new formats when I search with shopping in mind,” Yu explains. “Now, if I look for a holiday dress in regular Google Search, it offers an integrated shopping experience and encourages me to interact with AI from the start, almost like using ChatGPT.”In standard Google Search, Yu highlights an instance where looking for a Christmas dress brings up an AI-generated list of frequently asked questions about them, a product grid similar to Amazon’s, and a separate panel for its “ask me anything” AI feature. “Google is effectively encouraging users to interact with AI almost instinctively, without them even noticing,” Yu adds.
How brands can adapt
Supporters of these AI shopping tools claim that by acting like personal shopping assistants, AI can help consumers find the right products more quickly and precisely, boosting sales and cutting down on returns. Early findings indicate that shoppers are particularly drawn to using AI search to snag the best bargains—Shopify’s survey found that 64% of consumers plan to use AI for at least one task this holiday season, with 29% aiming to hunt for deals and 20% seeking inspiration and product discovery. Since Black Friday is all about discounts, AI could significantly influence total sales if it connects shoppers with cheaper options faster than traditional search methods.
Experts recommend that brands enhance their product descriptions with more detail and length on their own platforms to improve their chances of being selected by AI search. Including specifics like fabric content, origin, sizing, and FAQ-style advice on when and where to wear an item caters to the conversational queries users are making. Regular updates allow brands to stay relevant with seasonal trends, such as suggesting outfits for holiday parties.
Graham McCulloch, director of e-commerce and performance marketing at AG Jeans, notes, “It’s interesting—FAQs had lost some popularity in traditional SEO, but with AI-driven search, anticipating customer questions is now more important than ever. We’re bringing back that format with a fresh approach, focusing less on being brief and more on providing context, clarity, and depth. Sometimes, more detail is better.” He emphasizes that the brand is frequently updating product detail pages and rethinking site structure to keep pace with AI search advancements.
AI updates in commerce are still in early stages, leaving brands with limited data to assess how their optimization efforts are impacting sales. However, Google’s Neary suggests that the upcoming holiday shopping period will provide the first useful dataset.
“Since introducing AI overviews, search activity has increased, not decreased. In Q3 this year, we saw the largest rise in search queries, which ties directly to the rollout of AI overviews,” Neary explains, adding that searches with five or more words are growing twice as fast as traditional keyword-based searches.
“People find it easier to locate what they need because AI overviews improve product matching. If the service is effective, usage will follow,” Neary concludes.
A more visual search experience
A key feature of AI search is “multimodal search,” where the AI understands inputs like voice, images, and video. Neary points out that Gen Z has become the primary users of these new search capabilities on Google—10% of Gen Z individuals are actively engaging with them.People are now starting their Google searches with a Google Lens photo or circle search. Although Google Lens first launched in 2012, Neary notes that when she joined the company in 2024, it was being used a billion times a month for searches. By November 2025, that number has grown to 25 billion times a month, thanks to its integration into AI search.
“What I think is really important for brands to understand is that one in five of those searches is from someone looking to buy something,” Neary says. “That’s great news for fashion and beauty, which are such visual-first industries—it means they can create a more immersive and personalized way for people to engage with content online, unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
For luxury brands in particular, a key concern is that if AI search engines take over more of the consumer buying journey—from discovery to purchase—they could lose control of the carefully curated shopping experience they’ve built over the years. Several brands have been investing in AI-powered website updates, such as their own AI search and more interactive visuals, to turn their direct-to-consumer sites into digital “world-building” destinations. AI search optimization experts say that, thanks to the multimodal capabilities of AI search engines, this could also help them rank higher in the new era of search. Luxury’s multi-million-dollar holiday marketing campaigns are far from obsolete.
“Luxury definitely isn’t immune to AI search changing the marketing landscape, but their creative campaigns matter in a very different way than before,” says Imri Marcus, CEO and founder of Brandlight, a company that helps brands optimize for AI search.
“Now, the visual content itself will be as important as the buzz generated around those campaigns for AI engines. So if people are talking about the campaigns on social media and asking AI about the big productions or which celebrities have deals with luxury brands, it all becomes part of the conversation in AI engines,” Marcus explains. “These campaigns represent a massive spend that’s already happening for brands, but now it’s also about understanding how to optimize that spend for AI visibility.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of helpful and clear FAQs about AIs role in the holiday shopping season
General Beginner Questions
1 What does it mean that AI will play Santa
It means that artificial intelligence is being used by online stores and apps to help you find the perfect gifts get great deals and have a smoother shopping experience much like Santa is known for delivering the right presents
2 How is AI actually helping me shop for gifts
AI helps by recommending products you might like based on what youve looked at before personalizing deals just for you and powering chatbots that can answer your questions 247
3 Will a robot deliver my packages
Not exactly While AI plans the most efficient delivery routes for trucks and drivers a physical person or a delivery drone will still most likely be the one placing the package at your door
4 Is AI shopping safe
Generally yes but you should be cautious Only shop on reputable websites use strong passwords and be wary of deals that seem too good to be true as scammers can also use technology
Advanced Practical Questions
5 How do AI gift finders work
They analyze a ton of data You might answer a few questions about the person youre shopping for and the AI will crossreference that with popular products reviews and trends to suggest a shortlist of gifts
6 Can AI help me stick to my budget
Absolutely Some apps and browser extensions use AI to track price history and can alert you when an item youre watching drops in price They can also help you compare prices across different retailers instantly
7 Whats a common problem with AI recommendations
They can create a filter bubble This means the AI might only show you things similar to what youve already bought making it hard to discover unique or unexpected gifts from smaller brands
8 How is AI used to manage holiday inventory for stores
AI predicts what products will be in high demand and in which regions This helps stores stock the right amount of items reducing the chance of your desired gift being sold out or delayed
9 What are some practical tips for using AI to my advantage this season