Observed Signal · Sep 24, 2026 · Market Signal · Source: Emplifi · Impact: 3/5
New Emplifi and Semrush Report Finds 66% of Consumers Have Used AI to Research Products or Discover Gift Ideas
New joint report reveals how AI, social media and search are reshaping the path to purchase. Also: Emplifi to Join P.F. Chang's on Stage at the North American Marketing Leadership Summit; Ecommerce Social Media Ad Spend Surged 70% as Brands Got More for Every Dollar.
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Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Survey: AI Search Rapidly Shifts Marketing Budgets
Branch’s AI Search and Discovery: Enterprise Benchmark Report, based on a survey of 300 enterprise senior marketing executives, finds rapid adoption and budget reallocation toward AI-driven search. Respondents report AI search increased traffic share (15%) while traditional SEO rose 8% year-over-year; 89% said AI search improved overall marketing performance. In 2026, 65% of surveyed teams plan to dedicate at least 25% of marketing budgets to AI search (28% plan >50%), and 87% expect to be selling via AI within the year. The report also highlights notable concerns—data privacy, accuracy, workforce impact and long-term economics—despite broadly positive sentiment.
AI Shopping Goes Mainstream: 2026 Key Stats
A July 28, 2026 MarTech article aggregates 2026 research showing rapid consumer adoption of AI tools for shopping research. Key findings: substantial portions of U.S. consumers use AI assistants for product research (43%) and many begin purchase journeys on AI platforms (46%). AI-sourced traffic to retail sites surged dramatically (Adobe reports a 1,200% YoY increase), and AI-referred shoppers convert at higher rates. Most consumers verify AI recommendations through other sources, and organizations report both strong expectations for agentic AI handling customer interactions and gaps in cloud readiness. Category usage is broad (travel, electronics, finance) and projections estimate agentic shoppers could account for $190–$385 billion in U.S. ecommerce by 2030. The piece synthesizes data from Product.ai, L.E.K. Consulting, Adobe, NielsenIQ, Gartner and others to highlight consequences for marketing, traffic, conversion and CX strategies.
Marketers Embrace AI, Avoid AI for Media Buying
A Digiday survey of more than 100 marketers shows widespread adoption of AI for low-stakes tasks—data analysis and content creation—while few marketers trust AI to make media-buying decisions. Among marketers using AI for social campaigns, about two-thirds use it for data analysis, 57% for content creation, and only 32% to buy ad placements. The roundup also highlights agency M&A activity aimed at creator and youth marketing: Havas acquired Archrival (folding it into Havas Play) and Accenture Song bought creator-focused agency Whalar. LinkedIn is planning creator monetization tools in its 2027 fiscal year roadmap. Separately, OpenAI announced a data partnership with LiveRamp around LiveRamp’s conversion API hub and is reported to be in talks with NVIDIA about a very large Ohio data center. Disney promoted Brette Lipari to VP of advertising sales.
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