As AI reshapes shopping, US retailers try to change how they’re seen online

Big retailers traditionally spend millions on attracting eyeballs for the holiday season.

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Customers walk through holiday shopping displays at a store in New Jersey. Without the ability to advertise in the largest generative AI tools, companies are trying new methods, like posting more frequently on branded blogs or writing about their products on Reddit.

(Reuters)

Now, they’re looking to get noticed by something else - AI agents.Most of this holiday season’s projected $253 billion in U.S. online sales will happen through website visits or standard online searches that favour companies that spend big on search engine ads. But chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini have become part of the mix, with shopper-facing tools that can give product descriptions, compare prices, or allow purchases directly within large-language models as U.S. consumers increasingly use AI for advice on the best holiday stocking stuffers.