AI chatbots steer shoppers to brands. Here’s how to join the conversation
Download the full What The Future: Family issueAmericans with children in their household spend more on gifts than those without. And in 2025, they were twice as likely as those without kids to use AI for holiday shopping. This makes it critical for brands to understand how chatbots influence parents and other shoppers.
New generative engine optimization (GEO) tools evaluate which brands and products are suggested by chatbots, and the sources they cite when making those recommendations. Those insights help marketers and strategists use the communication styles and channels that influence AI, making it more likely that their brand comes up when someone asks a question about their category.
But families aren’t just turning to AI for ideas about what to buy. Chatbots guide users directly to retailers and, in some cases, now let them go from query to checkout without changing tabs. As the technology evolves and platforms commercialize, a growing share of shopper experiences could transpire entirely within chatbot windows. The competition to influence those conversations will be fierce. Brands will need marketing strategies rooted in GEO to stay in the conversation and capture that spending.
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