Even though it may seem that the share of traffic generated by AI assistants is still low, the trend from recent months shows dynamic growth that is worth watching.
Based on a survey of a representative sample consisting of 80 e-shops – from small local retailers to large e-shops with million-dollar turnovers – it appears that AI assistants are beginning to play a more significant role in acquiring customers.
8-fold Increase in E-shop Traffic from AI Assistants
While in January 2025, the average share of traffic from AI was only 0.03%, by July 2025, it had risen to 0.26%, representing an increase of more than eightfold. Interestingly, this trend varies according to the size of the e-shop. While large e-shops achieve AI traffic shares of around 0.01–0.05%, smaller and specialized stores record figures approaching 1%.
A New Competitive Tool for Smaller Players?
This phenomenon can not only be explained by content strategy but also opens new competitive doors for smaller brands in the fight against the big ones: smaller specialized e-shops often offer more expert content, detailed product reviews, and an optimized customer experience (CX), which AI assistants can better evaluate and recommend to their users.
About the Analysis:
- The analysis was compiled based on data in GA4
- We involved 80 e-shops from various segments, of different sizes and seasonality in the survey
- We evaluated the source of traffic from chatGPT, as the most widely used AI assistant on the market
