Americans are warming up to the idea of artificial intelligence being their new personal shopping assistant. It’s already part of their everyday search routine for nearly half the country.
According to a new study by adMarketplace, 45% of U.S. adults now say they’ve used AI-powered search tools, with nearly 1 in 5 relying on them more than traditional methods. Whether it’s through chat-based platforms or embedded results in apps and sites, AI is becoming a go-to solution for those wanting faster, smarter answers.
AI search means less effort, better results
The biggest reasons Americans are embracing AI search are convenience and accuracy. A quarter of shoppers surveyed say they’re more likely to engage with AI tools when they deliver better results and require less effort. Think personalised product recommendations, tailored content, and intuitive native search features — all without hopping between tabs or sifting through pages of blue links.
More than two-thirds of Americans say they’ve already interacted with AI-generated prompts or suggestions during a product search, and over half of those are open to doing it again. The most popular feature is (unsurprisingly) personalisation, cited as the most valuable AI perk by 27% of respondents.
And while AI’s shopping assistant powers are catching on across the board, the biggest fans are younger men. Millennials and Gen Zers, especially males, are driving adoption, with men up to 10 percentage points more likely than women to use or trust AI tools in their online search journeys.
Still, not everyone’s sold. Roughly 1 in 5 Americans flat-out reject the idea of using AI for search or shopping, raising flags about trust, utility, or simply not seeing the hype.
When it comes to AI, there’s no one-size-fits-all. The challenge is making these tools feel natural, trustworthy, and useful enough to win over the sceptics while keeping the early adopters engaged.