§ Research — 2 papers · 1 published · Kaiser & Schulze

How AI assistants change the way people find and buy online. We measure it with first-party analytics data from the websites of thousands of companies, not with surveys or simulated prompts.

For us, e-commerce includes every company that sells goods or services on its website, to consumers (B2C) and to businesses (B2B).

202420252026

001 · organic-llmAug 2024 – Jul 2025

002 · chatgpt-adsJun 2025 – Aug 2026

Bars show each study's data window.

001: Aug 2024 – Jul 2025 · 002: Jun 2025 – Aug 2026

Key findingsNo. 002 · 2 / 2

After the introduction of ads, organic ChatGPT referrals fell by about 6 to 8%.
Visitors who still arrived converted as before.
Paid ChatGPT visits generated less value for advertisers than paid search.
Actual prices are more than six times the parity price compared to Google Search.

ecommerceresearch.org/chatgpt-ads

Preprint · v1 · Oct 2026No. 002 · 1 / 2

Can Advertising Fund Free AI?

Evidence from ChatGPT's International Advertising Rollout

Paid ChatGPT versus established channels on conversion, order value, revenue per session and engagement

Key findingsNo. 001 · 2 / 2

Conversion is low: below every traditional channel except paid social.
But it is improving: conversion rose over the year while other channels stayed flat.
Order values trail every other channel, significantly for four of eight, and they fell over the year.
Organic LLM already out-converts five of eight channels for complex products.

ecommerceresearch.org/organic-llm

Marketing Science · 45(4) · 699–715No. 001 · 1 / 2