Search and social continue to drive the majority of purchase-driving traffic and revenue. AI Assistants convert at a higher rate per visit, but from a fraction of the volume. This study looks at both questions: how well does intent convert on each channel, and how much commercial scale does each one actually deliver?
AI Assistants CR%
6.31%
AI Assistants RPC
€7.77
Traditional CR%
2.79%
Traditional RPC
€3.63
Finding 01
Search and social remain the dominant drivers of digital commerce performance, accounting for over 90% of campaign revenue. While AI Assistants are beginning to influence purchase journeys, their contribution to overall traffic (0.81%) and revenue (1.72%) remains relatively small today.
Share of campaign revenue by channel
Share of campaign clicks
Search converts at 5.65% on €163.52 average order value and returns €9.23 per click, funding 57.1% of campaign revenue on its own. Social buys reach — the largest click share of any channel — at a 1.81% conversion rate and €1.77 per click. That combination of scale and efficiency continues to underpin overall commerce performance.
AI Assistants sit at the other end: €7.77 per click and a 6.31% conversion rate on 0.81% of clicks and 1.72% of revenue. Owned website traffic is the quiet outlier — the highest conversion rate in the benchmark at 8.37% and €11.68 per click, still only 3.36% of revenue. Quality signals are encouraging, though scale remains the primary constraint.
Revenue per click by channel
Despite growing consumer adoption of AI Assistants, established digital channels continue to drive the vast majority of commerce activity. AI Assistant referrals represent a small share of traffic but show encouraging signals of purchase intent.
AI assistant share of clicks
0.81%
of all campaign clicks
AI assistant share of baskets
1.81%
of all campaign baskets
AI assistant share of revenue
1.72%
of all campaign revenue
AI Assistants are a high-intent referral source, but have not yet challenged the commercial scale of traditional channels.
Finding 02
Shoppers arriving via AI Assistants demonstrate stronger purchase intent than the average digital shopper, delivering higher conversion rates and revenue per click. However, traffic volumes remain significantly lower than those generated by traditional digital channels.
Conversion rate by channel
AI assistant revenue per click
€7.77
vs €3.63 traditional average
AI assistant share of revenue
1.72%
vs 98.28% traditional share
AI Assistants convert 3.5× better than Social, a sign that AI users arrive far deeper into the purchase journey. But Search keeps outperforming because it blends that intent with scale. Today, AI Assistants behave more like a consideration and evaluation layer than a mass-reach acquisition channel.
Search remains the dominant intent engine for commerce. AI Assistants complement search behaviour rather than replace it.
Search vs AI Assistants — same intent, different scale
27.9×
more clicks
25.0×
more baskets
33.1×
more revenue
Search delivers versus AI Assistants, H2 2025 – H1 2026.
Finding 03
The impact of AI Assistants is highly category dependent. In the highest-value categories — consumer electronics, CPG, fashion — traditional channels convert better. AI Assistants perform best in research-heavy, considered-purchase categories like toys, health and industrial supplies.
Conversion rate by vertical
AI Assistants outperform traditional channels in conversion effectiveness across several consideration-driven categories. Shoppers lean on AI guidance when a purchase involves research, comparison, recommendations or higher consideration — and lean back on search and social for habitual, price-led buying.
Finding 04
94.8% of AI Assistant clicks arrive through the brand website before moving on to a retailer — shoppers who already know the product. Social and paid still do the discovery work, split across direct-to-retailer campaigns and shoppable landing pages.
Direct to retailer
Social or paid ad straight to the retailer product page.
of all AI Assistant clicks
of all traditional-channel clicks
Dynamic tracking
Social or paid ad to the brand website, then on to the retailer.
of all AI Assistant clicks
of all traditional-channel clicks
Shoppable landing page
Social or paid ad to a shoppable landing page, then on to the retailer.
of all AI Assistant clicks
of all traditional-channel clicks
AI users respond best when they are taken straight into a frictionless shopping journey — clear retailer selection, live availability and a seamless path to purchase. Friction after the Assistant hand-off is where this traffic is lost.
Conclusions
Four conclusions from twelve months of campaign performance across search, social, email, owned channels and AI Assistants.
Conclusion 1
AI Assistants post the second-best conversion rate in the benchmark (6.31% vs a 2.79% traditional average) while taking 0.81% of campaign clicks and 1.72% of campaign revenue.
Conclusion 2
Together they account for 90.1% of campaign revenue. Nothing in the data supports moving that budget toward AI channels today.
Conclusion 3
AI assistant clicks grew +221.8% year on year, but conversion fell 47.8% and revenue per click fell 34.3%. Traditional revenue per click rose 36.8%.
Conclusion 4
Assistants lead in toys, health and industrial supplies. In electronics, CPG and fashion — the highest-value categories — traditional channels convert better.
Today and tomorrow
Traditional digital channels continue to generate the majority of commercial outcomes today. At the same time, AI Assistants are becoming an increasingly important influence within the purchase journey. The task now is preparing for that shift without defunding what works.
Today
Search, social and email account for 94.3% of campaign revenue and 94.9% of clicks. These channels remain the core investment for commercial outcomes.
Tomorrow
The future of commerce is "Search and AI, not Search versus AI”. It is a blended commerce ecosystem where AI increasingly influences discovery while traditional channels continue to drive the majority of commercial outcomes.
What to do next
Search and social produce 90.1% of campaign revenue. A reallocation toward AI channels today would trade 90% of proven revenue for a 1.7% opportunity.
6.31% conversion and €7.77 per click are worth capturing — through feed accuracy, structured product data and retailer availability, not media spend.
+221.8% click growth alongside -47.8% conversion is the signal to track. When AI assistant revenue per click stabilises above traditional, the case for investment changes.
Toys, health and industrial supplies already convert better via assistants. Electronics, CPG and fashion do not — keep those budgets in search, social and retail media.
ChannelSight measures every click, basket and conversion across retailers, marketplaces and AI Assistants.
Methodology: we benchmarked every campaign channel — search, social, email, owned and AI Assistants — over the last six months of 2025 and the first six months of 2026, comparing each channel’s share of campaign clicks and revenue alongside conversion rate, AOV and revenue per click. Source: ChannelSight campaign dataset; all shares calculated against campaign totals.