The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in the e-commerce space is a trend observing rapid shifts. A new report highlights a 28% year-over-year increase in ChatGPT referrals to retailer apps, showcasing growing reliance on AI tools for shopping assistance. During the Black Friday shopping weekend of 2025, powered by consumer interest and convenience, these referral patterns provide new opportunities for entrepreneurs and retailers alike.
A Closer Look at the Numbers
ChatGPT's ability to offer personalized shopping suggestions is making waves in the retail industry. According to Apptopia, this AI tool funneled 28% more users into retail apps compared to the prior year. While it represents a fraction of overall retail traffic, its potential and rapid adoption should be on every entrepreneur's radar.
- Amazon experienced a substantial shift, with its share of ChatGPT referrals rising from 40.5% in 2024 to 54% in 2025.
- Walmart also saw significant growth in its segment, jumping from 2.7% to 14.9% in the same period. These numbers highlight how major players are dominating this trend, using AI integration to further strengthen their foothold.
- Yet, despite their dominance, smaller retailers have room for growth if they can strategically position themselves within AI-driven discovery tools.
For context, only 0.82% of ChatGPT sessions led to e-commerce app referrals over Black Friday in 2025, modest growth from 0.64% in 2024. This low percentage underscores both the opportunity and challenge, AI-driven referrals are climbing, albeit slowly, allowing time for startups to innovate in this space.
Why the Spotlight on ChatGPT Referrals?
AI-powered conversational tools like ChatGPT have become a guiding force in consumer decisions. By asking specific, open-ended questions like, “What are the best budget-friendly headphones?” or “Where can I buy sustainable clothing?”, consumers engage with recommendations tailored to their needs. Clicking these suggestions transitions them directly to retailer apps or websites, closing the gap from inspiration to transaction much faster.
Entrepreneurs should focus on this shift for two reasons:
- High-Conversion Potential: Adobe reported a 38% higher conversion rate for shoppers redirected by AI tools versus other traffic sources like organic search or social media.
- Consumer Trust: Consumers increasingly value the ease of curated, AI-driven recommendations, offering smaller brands the opportunity to compete by establishing their domain authority within these ecosystems.
How Entrepreneurs and Retailers Can Adapt
Missed opportunities are a risk for those unwilling to adjust to emerging consumer behaviors. Entrepreneurs and retailers should consider these actionable steps to leverage this trend:
1. Optimize Content for AI Algorithms
Traditional SEO is evolving. AI tools like ChatGPT pull from vast datasets and prioritize content that answers specific consumer queries clearly. To ensure your brand gets recommended:
- Use conversational language in your product descriptions.
- Incorporate frequently asked questions related to your product or service.
- Regularly update content to reflect current trends.
2. Utilize AI-Ready Product Listings
AI tools are more likely to suggest products with clear, detailed, and transparent data. From images to specifications, ensure your product feed provides clarity to both the AI and the end consumer.
3. Prioritize Niche Expertise
Competing with the giants like Amazon is formidable, but smaller brands have the edge in niche areas. Focus on dominating specific categories where personalization, storytelling, or specialized knowledge make your offerings invaluable.
4. Integrate with ChatGPT-Compatible Platforms
Retailers may partner with platforms designed for conversational AI compatibility. For instance, explore guidance from the Amazon Services Portal or Shopify AI integrations that help businesses find ways to increase visibility in AI-driven discoveries.
5. Enhance Post-Referral Landing Pages
If a shopper clicks through from ChatGPT, the landing page they visit must maintain that momentum. Ensure it’s optimized for speed, mobile usability, and relevance to consumer queries.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Adapting to AI-driven referrals comes with challenges that can hinder success:
- Ignoring Mobile Optimization: As referrals often lead to apps or responsive websites, developers must ensure a seamless experience on mobile devices.
- Failing to Measure ChatGPT Traffic: Without understanding how much traffic is coming from AI tools, brands risk losing opportunities to adapt strategies accordingly.
- Underestimating Consumer Intent: AI users are often in discovery mode, selling too aggressively right away can disrupt their journey. Instead, focus on engagement first.
Entrepreneurial Insights
Unlike standard search engines, conversational bots center on precision and problem-solving. While smaller retailers have faced hurdles in capitalizing on AI-driven referrals compared to major players like Amazon or Walmart, this also acts as an invitation for startups to redefine their engagement strategies.
Instead of zero-sum competition, brands can leverage relationships within niche communities, refining their datasets so that AI platforms confidently recommend them. Early adopters with highly specific product offerings are often rewarded once trust develops between their brand and curated bots.
Conclusion
The 28% rise in ChatGPT referrals for retail apps marks a small but meaningful shift in how consumers navigate the online shopping world. While giants such as Amazon and Walmart currently dominate, they also reveal critical strategies that smaller businesses can adopt or refine. With the right focus on AI-compatible content, clear product feeds, and consumer trust, startups and retail businesses can establish themselves within these fast-evolving channels.
For entrepreneurs questioning future pathways for growth, tapping into AI-driven referrals is proving to be more than a trend, it’s an emerging pipeline for reaching modern consumers directly, one query at a time. Whether you’re a founder scaling your brand or exploring untapped opportunities, divisions between discovery and purchase are fast disappearing, and those aboard this shift stand poised to thrive.
FAQ
1. How much did ChatGPT referrals to retailer apps increase over the year?
ChatGPT referrals to retailer apps rose by 28% year-over-year during the 2025 Black Friday shopping weekend. Learn more about the report
2. Which retailers experienced the most growth in ChatGPT referrals?
Amazon's share of ChatGPT referrals increased from 40.5% in 2024 to 54% in 2025, while Walmart grew from 2.7% to 14.9% in the same period. Learn more about ChatGPT referral trends
3. How significant are AI-driven referrals compared to total retail traffic?
Despite their growth, AI referrals still represent a small fraction of overall retail traffic, with only 0.82% of ChatGPT sessions leading to e-commerce app referrals in 2025, up from 0.64% in 2024.
4. Why are ChatGPT referrals valuable for retailers and entrepreneurs?
AI-powered referrals offer higher conversion rates. Adobe reports a 38% higher likelihood of purchase for shoppers directed by AI tools compared to organic search or social media.
5. Can smaller retailers leverage ChatGPT referrals?
Smaller retailers can grow by optimizing their content for AI tools, focusing on niche expertise, and improving product data to appear in AI recommendations. Explore strategies for smaller retailers
6. How can businesses optimize for AI-powered tools like ChatGPT?
Brands should use conversational language in descriptions, provide clear product data, and stay updated with trends to improve their visibility in AI-driven discovery tools.
7. What are some common mistakes when adapting to AI-driven referrals?
Common pitfalls include ignoring mobile optimization, failing to measure ChatGPT traffic, and over-aggressively selling to consumers in discovery mode.
8. How is consumer trust influencing AI-driven shopping?
Consumers increasingly value curated recommendations from AI, giving brands that focus on building trust within these ecosystems a chance to compete with larger retailers.
9. What role do personalized suggestions play in AI-driven e-commerce?
AI tools like ChatGPT enable personalized shopping recommendations, which help transition users directly from discovery to purchase on retailer platforms more seamlessly.
10. How can startups leverage AI tools like ChatGPT to compete against giants like Amazon?
Startups can focus on niche markets, refine their datasets for AI compatibility, and provide excellent consumer experience to establish themselves within emerging AI channels.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.