Gen AI is rapidly becoming a mainstream and influential companion in consumers’ purchase journeys. A Capgemini survey last year found that 58% of consumers have replaced traditional search engines with Gen AI tools for product/service recommendations, up significantly from 25% in 2023.
And adoption is growing rapidly. A recent BCG report found that shopping-related Gen AI use grew by 35% between February and November 2025. Shopping-related usage—research into and recommendations for brands, products, and services—has become the third most popular application of Gen AI, after general information seeking and work uses.
“Adoption of generative AI in India has moved well beyond early experimentation. Awareness now stands at 94%, while usage has increased to 62%, placing India among the highest-adoption markets globally. Its application spans professional and consumer decision-making, with 63% of users relying on these tools at work and 64% using them to research brands and products as part of the purchase journey,” cited Kanika Sanghi, partner and director, BCG.
Shoppers used Gen AI across categories—not just special, big-ticket items, such as consumer electronics, but also routine, everyday purchases, like groceries.
Why are Gen AI tools so influential in a consumer’s purchase journey? In the BCG survey, respondents described Gen AI as direct, objective, transparent, and personalised. Some said Gen AI helped them clarify what they wanted when they weren’t sure.
With voice assistants and visual AI letting consumers describe what they want, these algorithms begin to learn each shopper’s language over time, shortening the path to purchase. Accenture’s 2025 Consumer and AI Report found that 64% of global shoppers “love” when AI helps them discover products that fit their preferences and 30% of active gen AI users actually trust AI suggestions more than those from friends, retailers or search engines.
BCG’s recent report seconds this. The clearest and most frequently cited upside was the confidence Gen AI instils in final purchase decisions. According to their survey, more than 60% of consumers expressed high trust in Gen AI results, with one consumer commenting, “It’s like I’m speaking with the smartest person in the room.”
Another respondent in the BCG survey pointed out that AI results felt more objective and transparent than ads, influencer content, or sponsored results. “It felt like they gave a true, unbiased opinion on the pros and cons when comparing two different brands or models,” they said.
Why this matters
Brands and retailers reach consumers through many established touchpoints: search engines, brand websites, in-store displays, and social media, to name a few.
Gen AI is both a part of this mix and a source of new touchpoints, such as conversational AI experiences and answer-first interactions that sit alongside traditional ones. One BCG respondent mentioned how Gen AI tailors its answers to their needs, context, and routines. “It told me which smartwatch to get based on how I work out,” they said.
As emerging touchpoints complement traditional ones, adding to the broader proliferation of interactions that shape today’s nonlinear shopping journeys, marketers need to be deliberate about which touchpoints they emphasise at different stages of the journey.
Brands and retailers have a big opportunity to capitalise on Gen AI’s influence on consumer purchase decisions. Not doing so risks losing out on visibility to consumers and thus surrendering a competitive edge.
But brands should remember that Gen AI sits within a broader ecosystem. Consumers stitch together social, search, brand sites, influencers, and AI, often moving fluidly among many touchpoints. Therefore, brands need to mirror the way consumers think.
According to the BCG report, brands need to recognise not only the problem each consumer is trying to solve but also the context in which the problem exists, and ensure that their brand shows up clearly in AI answers. “Brands in India will need to ensure they are effectively represented in AI-enabled journeys through clear value propositions, high-quality data, and responsible AI practices”, Singh said.
That means de-averaging across products, customer needs, and journeys and optimising for AI through approaches such as AEO and GEO, while considering the blend of touchpoints—including in-store, search, and AI—that are part of distinct consumer purchase pathways.
According to the BCG report, brands should start with their brand identity. Ensure clarity in defining who they serve, their unique value proposition, and their right-to-win. Then, translate that into compact, answer-ready modules.
Brands should also ensure that their product (or service) story can be returned as a clear, trustworthy answer. For example, BCG recommended using plain-language explanations, side-by-side comparisons (particularly in categories where products and specs matter), and straightforward proof points that address the real questions consumers ask.
