AI search now drives 46% of ecommerce traffic

How AI search and social platforms are reshaping product discovery, traffic, and conversions

How ecommerce brands are navigating AI shopping
and social search

Executive summary for ecommerce technical leaders:

AI-driven search and social platforms are quickly replacing traditional SEO as primary sources of ecommerce traffic, now accounting for nearly half of site visits.

For CTOs, this shift means rethinking infrastructure and analytics to handle AI chatbot referrals, conversational commerce, and sudden surges from viral social mentions. Teams that don’t adapt risk falling behind, as 73% of marketers believe AI search optimization will be essential within five years.

How shoppers find products online is changing fast, and AI is leading the shift. Instead of relying only on Google searches, consumers are exploring products through AI chatbots, recommendation engines, and social media content.

To understand how ecommerce teams are adapting, Liquid Web surveyed 535 marketing professionals in industries such as fashion, consumer electronics, home goods, and beauty. Respondents included digital marketers, ecommerce managers, founders, content strategists, and social media managers.

This study explores how marketers are adjusting to AI-driven search and shifting sources of website traffic. It also looks at the role social platforms like Instagram and TikTok now play in product discovery.

Key findings

49% of marketers are optimizing for conversational commerce via AI chatbots.
35% of marketers said they’re testing or piloting optimizing for AI search.
On average, 46% of ecommerce traffic comes from AI search, according to marketers.
15% of marketers report AI search converts higher than traditional and social search.
39% of marketers say Instagram is a significant part of their discovery strategy, surpassing TikTok and YouTube Shorts.

See how Liquid Web ecommerce hosting can future-proof your business infrastructure and explore why our WooCommerce and Magento plans are recommended by compliance leaders, IT teams, and businesses of all sizes.

Explore ecommerce solutions

Marketers are testing AI search optimization

Website traffic changes

On average, 46% of ecommerce traffic comes from AI-powered search engines, according to marketers.
42% of marketers say they have experienced a decrease in traditional traffic due to AI search, while 50% say they have not seen a change.
53% of marketers say 21-50% of their ecommerce traffic comes from social media, while 75% say up to 20% of their ecommerce traffic comes from AI-powered search engines; this suggests traffic is coming through alternative funnels.

AI and social optimization trends

73% of marketers believe ecommerce teams must adopt AI search optimization within the next 5 years to avoid being left behind in the industry.
- 61% say teams need to prioritize social search SEO.
49% of marketers are optimizing for conversational commerce via AI chatbots: 35% are testing or piloting it, and 14% have already implemented it.
- Another 33% plan to optimize; only 18% are not interested.
62% of marketers say AI optimization for Instagram is a significant part of their strategy.
52% of marketers are experimenting with AI optimization for Google AI overviewers.
42% of marketers say AI optimization for Perplexity and Claude is not part of their strategy, but they plan to make it so. 27% said the same for ChatGPT.
75% of marketers say AI optimization for Claude is not part of their strategy because it isn’t relevant to their business.

Conversion rates

More than 1 in 3 marketers (37%) say social traffic – from platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube – converts more views to sales than AI and traditional search.
15% of marketers report AI search converts higher than traditional and social search.

Product discovery trends

On average, marketers say 48% of their customers discover products through social media or influencer content.
Marketing professionals are the most likely to say Instagram is a significant part of their discovery strategy (39%), compared to TikTok (33%) and YouTube Shorts (22%).
On average, marketers say 40% of their discovery strategy is dedicated to AI.
35% of marketing leaders say that social media mentions or viral videos directly lead to traffic or sales spikes each month.

Practical uses of AI in marketing

81% of marketing leaders said they use ChatGPT to help them generate product copy, headlines, or CTAs.
58% of marketers have made adjustments to their product page design or content strategy due to new AI or search trends.
49% of marketers are using AI tools to personalize product recommendations or user journeys in some use cases, while 16% are doing so extensively.

What decision-makers should do now

For digital marketers

Nearly half of ecommerce traffic now flows through AI-driven channels, not just Google. Digital marketers should reframe SEO as “AI search optimization” — creating product copy in conversational formats so AI assistants surface the right answers. Instagram-first campaigns should be prioritized, as 39% of marketers report it drives the most discovery. AI-generated copy is helpful, but final edits should ensure brand voice and differentiation.

For ecommerce managers

AI search and social platforms are now the new front doors to online stores. Ecommerce managers need to expand tracking beyond organic traffic to include AI referrals and chatbot conversions.

Infrastructure readiness is key, hosting must be able to handle sudden spikes from viral mentions or AI recommendations. Teams should also double down on personalization since 49% of marketers already use AI to tailor customer journeys.

For CEOs and CMOs

AI search already drives 46% of ecommerce traffic. This is not a future trend, it is a core revenue channel. Leaders should reposition AI optimization as a strategic imperative alongside paid media and traditional SEO.

Flexibility is critical: messaging, campaigns, and infrastructure must all adapt quickly as platforms evolve. Inaction carries risk, 73% of marketers believe companies that fail to adopt AI search optimization in the next five years will fall behind.

Fair use statement

This content is based on proprietary research conducted by Liquid Web and is shared here under fair use for educational and informational purposes. If you reference any part of this article, please provide proper attribution with a link back to the study so your readers can see the findings in their entirety.

Share this content

<a href="https:www.liquidweb.com/white-papers/ai-and-social-media-shopping-study/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Liquid Web study on AI ecommerce trends.</a>

Learn more about this study

Liquid Web surveyed 535 marketing professionals working at ecommerce companies across a range of industries, including fashion/apparel (19%), consumer electronics (18%), home goods (13%), food/beverage (8%), beauty/personal care (7%), sports/outdoor (5%) and other unspecified categories (30%). Respondents held roles such as digital marketer (28%), owner/founder (22%), ecommerce manager (19%), content strategist (14%), social media manager (10%), SEO specialist (5%), and paid media manager (2%). Some percentages in this study may not total exactly 100% due to rounding.

Liquid Web delivers scalable hosting solutions, including cloud VPS, managed VPS, and dedicated servers, that support ecommerce teams navigating shifts in AI and social-driven traffic. Liquid Web’s portfolio supports a wide range of digital needs for businesses, from high-performance bare metal infrastructure to WordPress optimized hosting and ecommerce hosting.

For online retailers, Liquid Web provides fully managed solutions, includingoptimized Magento hosting and flexible managed WooCommerce hosting, built to scale with customer demand and site complexity.

With Black Friday web hosting deals around the corner, it’s an ideal time for businesses to upgrade to infrastructure built for speed, security, and reliability.

Explore ecommerce hosting solutions