How Gen Z finds products: AI instead of search

61% of Gen Z used AI when making a purchase in the past year, and 58% used it specifically to find products. For comparison, boomers use AI shopping tools roughly half as often.

Key figures

• 61% of Gen Z used AI when purchasing in the past year Consumer surveys, 2026
• 58% use AI specifically to find and discover products Consumer surveys, 2026
• 74% of Gen Z AI users consult assistants when researching products Consumer surveys, 2026
• 28% of Gen Z against ≈16% of boomers use AI tools for shopping Consumer surveys, 2026

How widespread is AI use in this group?

Widespread enough to count as normal rather than early adoption. Surveys show 61% of Gen Z used AI when making a purchase in the past year Consumer surveys, 2026 , and 58% used it specifically to find and discover products Consumer surveys, 2026 .

The second figure matters more than the first. Using AI for the final purchase is convenience; using it for discovery means the entry point is shifting — the point at which a store either appears or doesn’t.

How large is the generational gap?

Roughly twofold. 28% of Gen Z report using tools like ChatGPT, AI Overview or Gemini for shopping, against roughly 16% of boomers Consumer surveys, 2026 .

A gap of that size isn’t a revolution but a stable difference. It means the channel isn’t replacing existing ones but layering onto them at different intensity by audience age.

Is AI displacing classic search?

The data doesn’t show that. It records an additional step in product discovery which, for younger audiences, often becomes the first — while absolute classic search volumes remain far larger.

It’s more accurate in practice to speak of the first step being redistributed rather than the channel being replaced. Someone who asked an assistant still goes to a site afterwards; the only question is whose.

What follows for a store?

One shift in priority: the product page has to be citable, not only rankable.

In practice that means specific attributes instead of marketing phrasing, direct answers to common questions, and verifiable facts with a source wherever numbers appear. That’s the material an assistant assembles an answer from — and the material it can quote.

Where do these figures come from?

This report aggregates 2026 consumer surveys on AI use in shopping with an age-group breakdown. The data describes stated rather than measured behaviour; younger groups consistently report new-technology use more readily, so absolute percentages should be read as orders of magnitude. Generational comparison is only valid within a single study.