Generative AI is giving shoppers a faster way to compare options and discover unfamiliar brands. For retailers, that creates both an acquisition opportunity and a loyalty challenge. New Amperity research found that 74.5% of consumers use tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, including 37.8% who use them at least daily.
Among generative AI users, 79.9% use these tools to research products, compare services, or plan travel. Eighty percent sometimes or often act on those recommendations by clicking a link, making a purchase, or booking a service.
Retailers can no longer assume that brand recognition will carry them from discovery to purchase. Generative AI can introduce a shopper to a competitor in seconds. What happens after that introduction depends on the experience each retailer can deliver.
Key takeaways
74.5% of consumers use generative AI, and 37.8% use it at least daily.
Among generative AI users, 79.9% use it to research products, compare services, or plan travel, and 80% sometimes or often act on its recommendations.
Only 23% of consumers go directly to a familiar brand without factoring in AI recommendations.
63.3% consider themselves somewhat loyal but will switch for a better offer.
Retailers need accurate, current, and governed customer context to turn AI-driven discovery into relevant experiences and repeat business.
AI is expanding the shopper’s consideration set
Brand discovery once depended heavily on familiarity, search rankings, advertising, and shelf presence. Generative AI gives shoppers another route: ask a question, compare the summarized options, and follow the recommendation.
Brand preference still carries weight. Only 6.3% of consumers said they trust an AI recommendation more than their existing brand preferences. But 54.5% said a strong AI recommendation could influence their decision even when the brand matters to them.
That influence is already changing behavior. The report found that just 23% of consumers go directly to a brand they know without considering AI recommendations. More than half, 51.7%, said generative AI had led them to choose a brand they had not heard of or would not have considered, and they were satisfied with the experience.
Established retailers face more competition at the moment of discovery. Emerging brands have a new path into consideration without first matching an incumbent’s awareness or advertising reach.
Discovery is easier, but loyalty is harder
An AI recommendation may win the first visit. It does not guarantee the second.
Only 26% of consumers describe themselves as very loyal to their favorite brands and service providers. Another 63.3% are somewhat loyal but willing to switch for a better offer. Most consumers also reserve their loyalty for a small group: 64.1% said they are truly loyal to only two or three brands in a typical category.
Retailers are competing for one of those limited spots every time an AI tool introduces another option.
The report shows what helps brands hold their position. Loyalty programs ranked as the strongest driver of loyalty, followed by consistent experiences across channels and confidence that customer data is used responsibly. Real-time offers, recognition of purchase history, and personalized offers also ranked above AI-generated recommendations themselves.
AI may influence where the shopper starts. Value, recognition, consistency, and trust shape whether the relationship continues. Stronger loyalty and retention strategies depend on knowing which customers need attention, what they need, and when to reach them.
Personalization can earn the next purchase or lose it
Consumers want brands to recognize them once the interaction moves into an owned channel. Nearly three-quarters, 72.3%, said personalized experiences are important when choosing a brand. Half said they are more loyal to brands that demonstrate they know them through personalized experiences.
Most brands are falling short of that expectation. Only 15% of consumers said the offers and recommendations they receive are often genuinely relevant. Almost one-quarter, 23.3%, said they are rarely or never relevant.
Poor personalization carries a direct cost:
40.9% are less likely to choose a brand after receiving irrelevant offers or advertising.
45.4% are discouraged by repetitive or duplicate messages.
46.1% are less likely to choose brands with inconsistent messaging or pricing.
57.5% pull away from personalization that feels invasive or “creepy.”
More AI-generated messages will not fix an incomplete understanding of the customer. They can distribute the same stale preference, duplicate offer, or mistaken identity faster and across more channels.
Effective real-time personalization connects what a shopper is doing now with their purchase history, preferences, loyalty status, and relationship with the brand. A live signal alone cannot provide that understanding.
Trusted customer context connects discovery to loyalty
Retailers cannot control every recommendation made by a consumer-facing AI tool. They can control the quality of the experience shoppers encounter after following one.
That requires trusted customer context: an accurate, current, and governed understanding of each customer built from resolved identity, historical data, real-time signals, and permissions.
Trusted customer context helps retailers recognize that a newly acquired shopper is also a loyalty member, distinguish a recent purchase from current intent, suppress an offer for something the customer already bought, and maintain consistent treatment across the website, app, store, service center, and marketing channels.
Identity resolution connects fragmented records and interactions to the right customer. Historical and real-time data explain the relationship and what is happening now. Governance keeps permissions and intended use attached to that context as it moves across systems.
Together, those elements give brand-operated AI a more dependable foundation for recommendations and decisions. Without them, an AI system may generate a polished response based on a partial or outdated customer profile.
Trust has become part of the customer experience
Seventy-eight percent of consumers said they would be more likely to engage with personalized experiences if they trusted how their data was being used. Another 74.9% said transparency about data use would make them more loyal.
Responsible data use cannot sit apart from personalization. Retailers need clear security, privacy, and governance practices that keep customer data protected and its use appropriate across teams, channels, and AI systems.
Consumers are willing to respond to personalized experiences when the value is clear and the brand handles their data responsibly. Relevance without trust risks feeling invasive. Trust without relevance gives shoppers little reason to share more.
Three priorities for retailers
Generative AI can influence where a shopper begins. Retailers still determine whether that discovery becomes a lasting relationship.
Recognize the customer: Connect fragmented identities and interactions so an existing customer is not treated like a stranger.
Understand the moment: Combine current behavior with purchase history, preferences, and loyalty status before deciding what is relevant.
Protect the relationship: Keep permissions, governance, and transparency attached to customer context across every channel and AI-enabled workflow.
Winning an AI recommendation is only one part of the journey. The larger opportunity is to earn the next purchase through value, recognition, consistency, and trust.
Download The 2026 Consumer Priorities Report to explore how generative AI is changing brand consideration, loyalty, personalization, and consumer trust.