Similarweb report shows AI recommendations driving brand visits

A report by Similarweb indicates that conversational AI is significantly reshaping consumer shopping habits, even as it fails to generate traditional click-through traffic. According to the ‘State of Ecommerce 2026’ report, AI referrals to online stores rose by more than 200% over the past year.

While these AI interactions do not yet replace traditional search engines or drive high volumes of direct clicks to marketplaces, the power of the recommendation itself is substantial. The study found that when an AI tool recommends a specific brand, shoppers are often twice as likely to visit that brand compared to its competitors. For example, Capital One saw a 14.2% increase in shopper pickup when identified by AI.

The findings suggest that being the brand named by an AI provides a material advantage in the evolving ecommerce landscape, which is projected to exceed $4.9 trillion by 2030, despite the difficulty in measuring this influence through standard traffic reports.