AI search is becoming a growth channel
Published on
08 July 2026
“People trust AI assistants the way they trust a good advisor. When one recommends a
business, that trust travels with the referral, and we are seeing it show up as stronger
engagement and conversion than other channels. The advantage holds for as long as
the trust does.”
Kelly Konechny · Co-Founder & COO, TRIBBUTE
Google's Leadership Summit, 2025
business, that trust travels with the referral, and we are seeing it show up as stronger
engagement and conversion than other channels. The advantage holds for as long as
the trust does.”
Kelly Konechny · Co-Founder & COO, TRIBBUTE
Google's Leadership Summit, 2025
+171%
AI session growth, first half 2025 to 2026.
The site grew 10%.
+284%
Checkout starts from AI, the leading
revenue signal.
141
Revenue per AI session, indexed to the
site average of 100.
What The Data Shows
- Engagement runs higher. AI visitors engage at 66% versus 56% site-wide, and start checkout at the highest rate of any channel.
- Growth outpaces every channel. AI sessions and checkout starts grew roughly 17 times faster than the site over matched six-month periods.
- Quality, not just volume. Revenue per session ran 41% above the site average, with order values above the paid-search benchmark.
- Leading signals point up. Checkout starts, the clearest pre-revenue signal, run highest. from AI and grew the fastest of any source.
The Opportunity
- A new front door. Buyers increasingly begin product discovery inside AI assistants, ahead of a search engine.
- Trust transfers to the sale. A recommendation from a trusted advisor arrives pre-qualified, and converts like one.
- Room to grow. One assistant leads today, the others are open territory a managed practice steadily claims.
- Compounding by design. Run as an ongoing discipline, AI optimization keeps building on itself, the gains hold and grow.
Based on 18 months of analytics (January 2025 to June 2026) for a North American B2B eCommerce supplier. Figures are shown as growth rates and as an index to the site average to protect client confidentiality. AI sources are referrals and assistant traffic from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude.
