Search and AI answers need separate measurement, paper argues
Traditional web search and AI-generated answers send shoppers to products in very different ways. A new working paper says measuring both channels the same way causes businesses to miss what's really driving sales. It calls for separate tracking methods built for the AI era.
For years, online shopping traffic came mainly from search engines like Google, and performance was tracked through clicks and impressions. Now that tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity recommend products directly inside their answers, there are two distinct paths a customer can take — the classic search results page, and being mentioned inside an AI reply.
The paper calls these 'two surfaces' and argues each needs its own measurement approach. The core problem is that visits arriving from AI-generated answers often don't show up cleanly in standard click-tracking tools, so the real contribution of AI recommendations tends to be undercounted. Businesses that don't adapt their analytics risk making budget decisions based on incomplete data.
Key points
- Classic search results and AI-generated answers work differently, so the same metrics don't apply to both
- Visits that come from AI answers are often missed or undercounted by standard click-tracking tools
- Treating both channels the same can cause businesses to underestimate how much AI drives their traffic or sales
- This is a working paper — a draft shared before formal publication — so findings may still change
Quick term guide
- working paper
- A research draft shared publicly before it goes through formal academic review and publication.
- business
- An activity where you provide value to others in exchange for money.
- search engine
- A website like Google or Bing that helps you find information on the internet.
- engine
- The core software that provides the basic functions for a game to run.
- surface
- Here it means a distinct channel or interface where users encounter information, such as a search results page or an AI chat answer.
- analytics
- Stats that show things like visits, clicks, and user activity.
- metrics
- Numbers and statistics used to measure how well a business is performing.
- share
- A server folder made available to apps or other devices.