Shopify says artificial intelligence-powered search is becoming a significant source of traffic and sales for merchants, with the company reporting that AI is complementing traditional search rather than replacing it.
Speaking during Shopify’s second-quarter earnings call, President Harley Finkelstein said AI-driven traffic and orders to Shopify stores tripled year over year during the quarter. At the same time, conventional search remained one of the company’s largest traffic sources and continued to grow, contradicting concerns that AI assistants are replacing traditional search engines.
According to Finkelstein, traditional search sessions have increased by 1.3 times over the past two years and continue to account for roughly one-third of all storefront sessions across Shopify’s platform.
AI search delivers stronger purchase intent.
Shopify credited part of its stronger-than-expected quarterly performance to the growing role of AI search. The company reported second-quarter revenue of $3.6 billion, up 36% from a year earlier, while gross operating profit rose 31% to $1.71 billion, both exceeding Wall Street expectations.
Finkelstein said AI search differs from traditional keyword-based search because AI agents can analyse richer product data and understand detailed customer requirements instead of simply matching keywords.
He illustrated the difference with a shopper looking for a car seat that fits three children across the back of a sedan. Rather than focusing only on the phrase “car seat,” an AI agent can consider dimensions, vehicle type, and seating requirements simultaneously to recommend products that genuinely meet the buyer’s needs.
Higher conversions for merchants
Shopify said AI-assisted shopping journeys are shorter and more efficient, with about half of all AI-referred visits landing directly on product pages. That rate is 2.5 times higher than traffic arriving through traditional search, helping improve conversion rates for merchants.
The company also noted that 75% of AI-attributed purchases during the second quarter came from outside its top 100 product categories, highlighting the benefits AI search provides to smaller merchants that make up much of Shopify’s customer base.
Shopify has also expanded its AI ecosystem through integrations with services including Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Manus, Replit, Vercel and vibe-coding platform Lovable, allowing merchants to build AI-powered shopping experiences while continuing to use Shopify’s checkout infrastructure.
