BrightEdge Data Showcases Why Google Still Wins the Holiday Shopping Journey

Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping data from BrightEdge reveals a pivotal divergence in AI commerce as ChatGPT declares ‘Code Red’

BrightEdge, the global leader in AI-driven organic search, content, and digital marketing automation, released new findings from its AI Market Pulse, revealing a pivotal divergence in how Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT guide holiday shopping. The data shows Google’s AI strategy is winning by guiding consumers’ research phase, a direct contrast to ChatGPT’s increasingly transactional approach, and actively bolstering Google’s overall market share.

In a high-stakes holiday season, this trust-building is crucial to maintaining Google’s dominance. Following an initial market share rebound in October —the first since the AI search surge— Google continues to capture 90% of all organic search traffic, demonstrating its foundation of trust is significantly more effective than its AI competition for guiding transactions.

Marketing Technology Insights: L’Oréal Drives Employee Engagement on Social Media With Sprinklr Advocacy

The Shopper’s Choice: Trusted Advisor vs. Eager Salesperson

The holiday shopping season confirmed that when a major purchase is on the line, such as a gift for a loved one, consumers are reluctant to fully delegate their decision. BrightEdge’s analysis reveals that consumers are still building trust in AI search results, and doing so more effectively when reviewing Google AI Overview’s suggestions versus ChatGPT’s:

• The Trusted Advisor: Google AI is focused on being helpful, leaning towards assistance over immediate transaction. With direct retailers composing only 4% of its citations, Google AIO focuses instead on unbiased editorial sites such as Reddit and Quora.
• The Eager Salesperson: Conversely, ChatGPT employs a transactional focus. With 9x more direct links to retailers compared to Google AIO, it directs consumers to a purchase when they may not be ready, often bypassing the crucial research step that so many are still seeking to navigate.

“The AI search battle has split into two philosophies, and Google is winning because it has the resources and understanding to serve as your trusted friend while ChatGPT often feels like the salesperson rushing you to the register,” said Jim Yu, CEO of BrightEdge. “Google continues to dominate the market because it’s delivering on the simple but crucial promise of AI: to make the research phase of shopping easier.”

The Rippling Impact on AI Search Market Share

Zooming out to the broader market competition, the experience of the average consumer during holiday shopping is shaping market share for the competing search engines, traditional and AI-based. While Google controls 90% of all search, ChatGPT and other AI search engines still comprise well under 1% of overall organic search traffic.

The recent internal ‘Code Red’ declared by OpenAI underscores the difficulty of competing with Google’s integrated model for high-value shopping intent. OpenAI’s need for revenue forces ChatGPT to prioritize a faster transactional path, a move that compromises user experiences by making the results feel less objective. Meanwhile, Google’s established platform allows its AI to be purely helpful without forcing consumers along, maximizing trust and surprisingly, leading to more purchases down the funnel.

Marketing Technology Insights: PubMatic and BrightLine Partner to Turn Interactive CTV into Measurable Performance

What This Means For Marketers

BrightEdge’s holiday data proves that marketers must adapt their strategy to optimize across consumer needs, especially with research assistance. It’s imperative that marketers win the research phase with authoritative, unbiased and socially-validated content. Further, content must be structured for both intents, discovery and transaction.

With BrightEdge’s AI Catalyst, brands can monitor their visibility on both Google and ChatGPT, and other leading search options, understand how they are appearing and optimize once so they win everywhere.