The integration of generative AI assistants — such as ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot, and Perplexity — into the digital customer journey is revolutionizing consumer behavior across industries. According to Adobe research, from July 2024 to February 2025, web traffic from AI-driven referrals increased more than tenfold in the United States. AI referrals are rapidly closing the gap with traditional channels in conversion rates and revenue per visit. And surveys of US consumers Adobe conducted in September 2024 and February 2025 indicate they are growing more comfortable using generative AI to shape their decision-making. Here we explore key trends in AI adoption and the broader implications for how companies can capitalize on AI-powered consumer interactions.

Consumers are using generative AI to help determine where to put their money.

Consumers report a wide range of uses for generative AI. Half of the AI users we surveyed are using it for general research, and 39% use it for things like movie and dinner recommendations. Many are using AI to aid in traditional ecommerce tasks as well:

• 36% of generative AI users report replacing traditional search with AI assistants
• 25% use generative AI for shopping and price comparison
• 18% use generative AI for tailored product recommendations

Taken as a whole, AI use for ecommerce is more common than AI use for creating social media content (20%), task automation (17%), art generation (15%), or coding (10%). Ecommerce is at the center of the generative AI boom.

In recent months, AI referrals to travel, retail, and banking sites have grown exponentially, doubling every two to three months since July 2024. Engagement on AI-referred traffic has improved to the point where it now performs as well or better than general traffic, as AI platforms move customers further along toward purchase prior to site visits.

Demographic trends in AI adoption in retail: A long runway for continued growth.

AI platforms have become a central tool in consumer decision-making. Our February 2025 survey showed that 39% of all respondents are using AI for online shopping, and 14% more expect to adopt the channel soon.

Adoption patterns vary widely by age group. Millennials are at the forefront of AI-driven shopping — with 46% adoption and an additional 12% expecting to use by the end of 2025. Higher-income Millennials — those earning $70,000 or more — are the primary adopters, with over 50% engagement in AI-assisted shopping.

And while Baby Boomers had been skeptical of generative AI and remain the generation with the lowest usage, they are quickly coming around.  They have demonstrated rapid adoption growth (up 63% from September 2024 to February 2025), and rapid improvement in perception (a 61% rise in the percent who say AI improved their shopping experience).  As of February 2025, more than 90% of respondents across generations said that AI had improved their shopping experience.

For those who are already using AI platforms, 72% rely on AI as their primary tool for researching products and brands. Common use cases are to:

• Get product recommendations (47%).
• Find deals (43%).
• Ideate for gifts (35%).
• Generate shopping lists (33%).

We asked all consumers — AI users and non-users — what retail categories they would be likely to use an AI assistant to help with. Nearly half of consumers (44%) report that they are likely to use an AI assistant for help with inspiration, research, or shopping in entertainment and media, followed closely by clothing (41%) and health and beauty (34%).  Women are more likely to use AI for researching or shopping for health and beauty products and or decor and furnishings, while men are more inclined to use AI for entertainment and media, and for gaming purchases.

AI consumer behavior in retail: Strong engagement, improving conversion.

AI-driven traffic to retail websites jumped 12x between July 2024 and February 2025, and AI referrals outperformed traditional traffic in user engagement. AI bounce rates steadily declined throughout 2024, perhaps reflecting improved relevance and usability of AI recommendations. By February 2025 these visits had a 23% lower bounce rate than all other traffic. These visits generate 12% more page views and last 41% longer than non-AI traffic, gaps which have increased steadily in recent months.

While visits from AI are still less likely to result in orders than other traffic, the gap has decreased rapidly. In July 2024, AI traffic was 43% less likely to convert than non-AI traffic. By February 2025, that gap had closed to just 9%. And given that 34% of consumers report using AI assistants for product research before searching online for the best deals, it’s likely that AI is still influencing conversions that occur later through traditional search or direct visits.

Digging deeper, we find that conversion is not uniform across categories. AI traffic delivers an increase in conversion for categories that are more research intensive such as consumer electronics and jewelry. Survey data shows that 87% of users are more likely to leverage AI for large or complex purchases like electronics than they are for less expensive purchases. Meanwhile, in categories like apparel and grocery, AI traffic is less likely than non-AI traffic to result in an order.

For the time being, AI referrals predominantly take place on computers, with 86% of AI visit share from November 2024 to February 2025 occurring on desktops — compared to just 34% for overall traffic. This likely reflects the research-heavy nature of AI-assisted shopping. As AI platforms optimize for mobile experiences, adoption rates on mobile devices are expected to rise.

Put everything together, and it’s clear that AI assistants are not only generating traffic, but they’re generating quality traffic. And in December 2024, AI visits reached parity with traditional visits in revenue per visit, a major shift from July 2024, when AI visits were worth less than half as much. AI-driven traffic is becoming as valuable as other digital channels, and far more valuable than other growing channels such as social and display.

AI in travel — a rapidly growing sector.

AI-driven traffic to travel websites has skyrocketed, up 17x since July 2024. And these visits are highly productive: AI referrals generate 80% more revenue per visit than non-AI referrals, highlighting the growing reliance on AI assistants for travel decisions. AI-driven consumers exhibit significantly lower bounce rates 45% lower than traditional sources, a gap that has only widened as AI bounce rates declined steadily between July 2024 and January 2025. This suggests that AI-driven experiences encourage deeper interaction and higher intent among travelers.

Indeed, survey results show that 29% of respondents are using generative AI for travel, and that it has become instrumental in streamlining their planning and decision-making process. Consumers use AI tools to:

• Research destinations (54%)
• Plan transportation (41%)
• Budget for travel (31%)
• Figure out what to pack (20%)

AI in banking — a new era of digital finance.

The adoption of AI in banking has surged, with AI-driven visits to banking sites increasing 12x since July 2024. These AI referrals generate deeper engagement than traditional traffic. By January 2025, AI-referred users were spending 45% more time per visit, and were 23% more likely to start a banking application.

Our survey found that 27% of respondents were using generative AI for financial needs, led by Gen Z (34% adoption) and Millennials (35% adoption). And these users are highly confident in its advice. Nearly half of users (49%) report trusting generative AI financial advice completely, without any third-party information. Another 44% trust the advice but seek out expert verification. Our survey highlights the diverse ways consumers use AI in banking:

• Recommendations for checking or savings accounts (42%)
• Explanations of complex financial topics (40%)
• Personalized budgeting insights (39%)
• Investment advice (37%)
• Tax advice (35%)

Simply put, AI is helping a growing portion of the population make financial decisions. As AI capabilities evolve, its role in banking is expected to expand further, influencing industry-wide innovation and consumer expectations for financial management.

The future of AI in consumer engagement.

The rapid growth of AI-driven traffic across retail, travel, and banking highlights the transformative role of AI assistants in digital customer experiences. AI referrals now rival or surpass traditional channels in engagement. Generative AI is fostering a research-oriented, high-value consumer base, leading to lower bounce rates, longer visit durations, and deeper platform interactions. As AI platforms evolve, their impact on decision-making and purchasing will deepen, driven by increasing adoption and more sophisticated algorithms. Far beyond automation, AI is redefining consumer engagement by enabling more intuitive, personalized, and seamlessly integrated digital experiences.

The impact of this growth on how consumers will interact with brands online has the potential to be massive. There is a very real possibility that SEO search traffic will shrink as the internet is reorganized around generative AI platforms and as generative AI is embedded in search — as we’ve seen with Gemini and Copilot. Consumers may well enter websites further along in the consideration process, relying on AI to do the research they previously would have done themselves. And things will change in unforeseen ways as AI agents become more prevalent.

Brands must closely track traffic from AI referrals and understand how consumers are behaving. We see in survey responses that, across industries, appearing in generative AI responses is becoming a prerequisite to being in a consumer’s consideration set. As tricks to be included in answers emerge, generative engine optimization (GEO) may become the new search engine optimization. We are at the beginning of what is likely to be a major change, and getting an edge on the competition early can be a massive advantage for brands.

Abigail Winchell is a member of the Adobe Digital Insights team. Adobe Digital Insights has been a leader in tracking the digital economy since 2013. Adobe Digital Insights offers the most comprehensive analysis of its kind based on trillions of visits and billions of transactions across the web. With the breadth and depth of our data, we are uniquely positioned to understand the economy, customer journeys, and the use of creative AI.

Adobe conducted surveys of 5,000 US respondents in both September 2024 and February 2025 on use of and attitudes toward generative AI that inform this analysis.

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