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Shopify Says AI Search Is Driving More Traffic and Sales

AI News
August 6, 2026
Shopify Says AI Search Is Driving More Traffic and Sales

Shopify says artificial intelligence is creating an additional source of traffic and sales for online merchants rather than replacing traditional search engines.

During the company’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call, Shopify President Harley Finkelstein said AI-driven traffic and orders to stores on the platform had tripled from the previous year.

Traditional search also continued to grow. Search sessions increased approximately 1.3 times over the past two years and still represented around one-third of all storefront sessions.

AI search complements Google

The results challenge the idea that AI assistants will immediately replace Google and other search engines as the primary way consumers discover products.

Shopify views AI search as a complementary channel. Shoppers can use assistants to describe detailed requirements, compare possible products and narrow their options before visiting a store.

Traditional search usually ranks pages using keywords, authority and popularity. AI shopping agents can evaluate several product characteristics simultaneously, including dimensions, compatibility, price and availability.

This can produce recommendations that match a buyer’s actual requirements more closely than a broad keyword search.

Shoppers arrive ready to buy

Approximately half of Shopify’s AI-referred sessions now begin directly on a product page. That rate is 2.5 times higher than traffic arriving through traditional search.

Shopify describes this pattern as journey compression. Much of the research and comparison process happens during the conversation with the AI assistant, so the customer reaches the merchant’s website closer to making a purchase.

Earlier Shopify data showed that AI-referred visitors converted at nearly 50% higher rates than organic-search visitors. Their average order values were also 14% higher.

AI shopping may be particularly useful for smaller merchants. Shopify said 75% of purchases attributed to AI during the second quarter occurred outside its 100 largest product categories, suggesting that agents can surface specialized products that might struggle to rank prominently in traditional search.

Structured product data becomes important

Shopify is building infrastructure that allows AI systems to access accurate product information instead of collecting incomplete details from public webpages.

Shopify Catalog provides structured information about products, prices, options and availability. The company says AI searches using this catalog convert at twice the rate of searches relying on scraped data.

The Universal Commerce Protocol, developed with Google, gives AI agents a standard way to communicate with merchants from product discovery through checkout.

Shopify has also built connections with services including ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Manus, Replit and Vercel. These integrations are intended to make Shopify products available wherever consumers use AI to research or purchase items.

AI supports Shopify’s growth

Shopify reported second-quarter revenue of $3.6 billion, representing 36% annual growth. Gross profit increased 31% to $1.71 billion, with both figures exceeding analysts’ expectations.

AI search is still much smaller than traditional search, but Shopify’s results suggest the two channels can grow together.

Google remains a major source of merchant traffic, while AI assistants are emerging as a new discovery layer capable of sending more targeted shoppers directly to relevant products.

Shopify
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