The death of SEO: How AI is rewriting the rules of online shopping

Within my family, I’m known as the “AI Guy” so naturally, my sister-in-law excitedly told me how she took a photo of her living room, uploaded it to ChatGPT, and saw a photorealistic rendering of her room with specific couches from Kohl’s and Wayfair that she could buy.

While many businesses are encouraging employees to use AI more, they are forgetting that AI doesn’t just affect productivity; it’s also changing how we shop. Had my sister-in-law searched for “mocha leather couch,” she would have seen a laundry list of options in a Google search; however, she only saw two options through ChatGPT, and this new way of shopping is having a widespread impact on businesses.

According to Adobe research, AI-driven referrals to U.S. retail websites increased more than tenfold from July 2024 to February 2025. Walmart is already feeling this impact, with ChatGPT now its single largest referrer, accounting for 20% of total referral traffic. 

How Does AI Know What to Recommend to You?

Like a chef in a new kitchen, I’ve been testing how different AI platforms make recommendations since the release of ChatGPT in 2022. What I’ve found is that each chatbot has its quirks.

Perplexity loves authoritative sources like Wikipedia and CNBC. ChatGPT draws from its training data first, then performs web searches when you ask for something time-sensitive, and Gemini leverages Google’s massive search capabilities.

But despite their different approaches, they all follow the same core principle. When you ask for “the best portable speaker under $100,” they’re essentially doing what your audiophile friend would do: spending 30 minutes combing through Reddit threads, YouTube reviews, and product blogs, then distilling it into a recommendation.

However, they do it in seconds instead of the hours it takes your friend to text back. Unlike Google search results influenced by SEO and paid ads, these recommendations are purely organic. If a brand appears in an AI search, you know that referral was earned, not bought.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This AI-powered convenience marks a turning point in online shopping. In my 10+ years as a software engineer, I’ve watched companies obsess over SEO, but AI use is now giving rise to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). With GEO, chatbots don’t care how good your website is; they care how good your reputation is.

Product results are selected independently and are not influenced by ads or partnerships; instead, chatbots like ChatGPT consider price, reviews, and ease of use, pulling real user feedback from public websites. GEO is still emerging, which means early movers have an advantage, so now is the time to act.

How Can You Set Your Business Up For Success?

Measure Your Current AI Referral Rankings

Before investing time into improving your business’s GEO standing, it’s important to know where you stand in the first place. AI Visibility checkers like HubSpot’s AI Search Grader, ALLMO.ai, and Trackerly.ai can help. A more cost-effective option would be to run your own tests and search for your product and/or brand across multiple chatbots, tracking the results.

For accurate results, I recommend performing each search in a new chat, similar to using an incognito browser tab. Pay attention to whether you’re mentioned at all, how you’re positioned relative to competitors, and what specific attributes the AI highlights about your business.

Integrate Directly With Chatbots

While experimenting with ChatGPT recently, I noticed OpenAI is capitalizing on the AI referral wave with their new “Instant Checkout” feature, enabling users to purchase recommended items directly within the chat from platforms like Etsy and Shopify.

Perplexity offers a similar feature, and both allow businesses to integrate their product feeds into the AI models with updated pricing, inventory, and checkout options. This direct integration does more than streamline purchasing; it signals to AI models that your business is established and trustworthy.

A customer can go from asking “What’s a good gift for a gardener?” to completing checkout without ever leaving the conversation. If you sell on Etsy or Shopify, setting up these integrations should be a priority.

Keep Your Warm Leads Warm

Building my AI company taught me one thing: past customers drive future sales. In real estate, 82% of transactions come from referrals, yet most agents struggle to sustain manual follow-up, so I developed Compai to do it for them. Follow-up is key because when AI chatbots evaluate which businesses to recommend, they look for consistent engagement, positive reviews, and evidence that past customers come back.

The businesses that nurture existing relationships through marketing newsletters, requesting product reviews, or automated follow-up tools naturally surface in AI recommendations. It’s not about gaming the algorithm; it’s about doing what good businesses have always done, just at a scale that’s actually sustainable.

What Leaders Are Missing

When business leaders ask me about AI, they’re usually motivated to increase productivity. But here’s what they’re missing: AI isn’t just changing how we work; it’s fundamentally changing how customers find businesses. My sister-in-law didn’t Google “mocha leather couch” and scroll through pages of results. She asked ChatGPT, saw two options, and made a choice. That’s the future of commerce.

GEO is in its infancy, which means businesses focusing on genuine customer relationships have a real shot at becoming the default recommendation in their field. The brands that will win aren’t the ones spending the most on ads; they’re the ones earning authentic advocacy from customers.

View the full article