Smart Speakers Were Never Trusted to Shop, is AI Different?

A new year, a new click bait headline on how SEO is dead. This time, it’s Agentic AI driving a nail in the coffin. Last year, it was all about ChatGPT. (As Google’s Gemini became more powerful and beat ChatGPT in a variety of tests, the narrative in 2025 changed. Google’s stock price took off as a result with Google ultimately landing a deal with Apple’s Siri and keeping its status as the default search engine on Apple devices.) For 20+ years, there have been multiple attempts to dethrone Google and consumer behavior.

One of the biggest disruptions before AI was voice search powered via smart home speakers.

Amazon’s Alexa was released first, in the summer of 2015. While Google Home launched for the Christmas Holiday in 2016. For 3 - 4 years, those in the SEO industry fielded calls from clients curious about Amazon Alexa skills to whether smart home speakers would replace Google Search. I recall completing multiple Voice SEO Audits with the latest statistics on usage, device popularity and strategies for brands to be more visible and recommended in voice based searches.

Ultimately, interest in voice search fizzled out after 3 years, due to an inability for Google and Amazon to monetize their investments. While millions of devices were sold, consumers preferred using smart speakers for free actions (checking the weather, time, playing music and my favorite - fart and animal noises). A WSJ article revealed Amazon lost $25 billion between 2017 ‒ 2021 on Echo, Kindle and other Alexa powered devices. Despite a deep integration between Amazon.com and Alexa, the amount of shopping revenue tied to Alexa is insignificant.

More fundamental to why Voice Search never took off, it was never trusted to make important buying decisions or even as a tool to research services and products. It could have been the interface, the lack of visual signals (product images, videos, reviews, descriptions, specs), all items that are important when choosing a product or service. It could have been the intelligence, something Google and Amazon have now fixed, by rolling out Gemini and Alexa AI. Several voices in the industry now wonder if Voice Search will make a comeback with the addition of AI assistants integrated into smart speakers. It could be something even more difficult to change, a habit of using Google because it’s easy, everywhere and trusted!

Already, SEO agencies and clients are facing declines in organic search for content targeting TOFU keywords (top of funnel). Google’s AI Overviews trigger for many general keywords and informational searches. For local businesses, awareness & interest often occur in the local map pack. There are fewer AI Overviews that trigger for local and regional keywords. However, Google has started to roll out the AI Local Pack for several local queries. For competitive transactional keywords, Local Service Ads and traditional Google Ads are more likely to dominate search results. Reddit and user generated content platforms continue to gain visibility within Google and are becoming a destination and starting point for awareness and interest. This is the rise of Zero Click Search and the impact depends on the industry. Content heavy sites (newspapers, digital media and publishers) such as Buzzfeed are particularly vulnerable. In 2025, Buzzfeed revealed how 36 of their top 100 keywords triggered an AI Overview. Nearly 70% of all keywords triggered a zero click search from Google for Buzzfeed. Many brands are starting to pivot content away from TOFU. For 2026, it’s no longer a reliable source of organic traffic and leads.

Excluding Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini are also capturing Top of Funnel searches. Multiple businesses in different industries are starting to receive their first leads from ChatGPT. With UTM tracking, ChatGPT is automatically pulled in as a referral source and new customer surveys have resulted in users choosing ChatGPT or other Generative AI tools as the source for a lead. Generative AI tools are therefore starting to capture the middle of the funnel. A brand mention with a website link in ChatGPT is likely to occur only 56% of the time. Many Generative AI tools still prefer third party comparison blogs/listicles.

Meanwhile, many AI prompts recommend a brand without a website link. This tends to trigger a branded search in Google. More research is conducted from reading reviews to case studies, images of the team and products to eventually conversion! As of 2026, only Shopify and Etsy merchants can benefit from conversion directly in ChatGPT. Most transactions for products and services still require shoppers to visit websites. Will consumers leverage AI as an assistant or designate purchase decisions? Trust is key and although ChatGPT and other tools are marking it easy to never leave the chatbot window, is that really how minor and major purchases will be made in the future? As Agentic AI continues to evolve, will consumers give up the power of decision making, comparison shopping and conversion to AI?

There is a very specific demographic who is willing to trust ChatGPT throughout the marketing funnel and ultimately purchase from a Shopify or Etsy merchant. Many consumers are using AI as one tool of many in the hunt for the best service or product with multiple touch points along the way (Ads, Social Media, Reddit, Google, etc) 44% of U.S. consumers in a Gartner survey conducted in 2025 said they would be willing to let AI tools assist with shopping tasks. This varied significantly by age demographics, with 56% of millennials willing to pass tasks to AI, followed by 48% of Gen Z respondents, 47% of Gen X respondents and 25% of baby boomers. And nearly 60% of U.S. consumers have used a generative AI tool for help with online shopping, according to an August 2025 survey from Omnisend, signaling a large user base of potential shoppers within the platform.

ChatGPT’s usage is still skewed towards younger generations and wealthier incomes whereas Google remains the dominant search engine with 77.9% market share for all age groups.

The jury is still out on whether consumer behavior will significantly change and trust AI to make recommendations. While surveys have indicated an openness to purchasing via Agentic AI, the same surveys also pointed to purchases happening via Voice Search and smart speakers. Meanwhile, Ads are just getting rolled out and could also result in a loss of trust. As Generative AI becomes more mainstream, it is likely more diverse demographics will embrace AI at all stages of the funnel. However, it is unlikely for AI to completely replace Google, Reddit, social media and other research platforms for products and services.

Written by Corey Barnett

Corey is an independent digital consultant for agencies and clients from Dallas to Dayton. When he isn't thinking about the internet of things, he is a connoisseur of fine beer, traveling, indie music and is currently learning the bagpipes.