When AI Does The Deciding, Who Gets The Loyalty?
Raj De Datta is CEO of Bloomreach, a platform that personalizes the e-commerce experience, and the author of “The Digital Seeker.”
gettyAs AI increasingly becomes the intermediary between consumers and brands, more and more consumers are crediting AI for their experiences. Consumers are, therefore, becoming more loyal to AI systems, not brands.
Business leaders don’t need to be told that this is a pretty big deal.
But it shouldn’t come as a surprise, either. Consider what we’re seeing. ChatGPT crossed one billion monthly active users in May 2026, and Capital One reports 60% of consumers are using AI to shop, with AI-driven traffic to retail sites up 393% year over year.
It’s not just e-commerce: In travel, a recent Qlik survey found 58% of Americans are now using AI tools to plan summer vacations, compared to 55% using traditional travel sites, marking the first time AI has overtaken the old way.
But adoption is only part of the story. We’re now seeing the implications of that adoption, too. According to a survey of over 4,000 consumers across the U.S. and U.K. conducted by my company, 43% of consumers say they feel more loyal to the AI tool that found them the right product than to the actual brand that made it. That data should give every brand a reason to pause.
Loyalty is going to AI, not the brand behind the purchase. And yes, this might look like an existential threat to brands everywhere. But it doesn’t have to be.
This has actually played out before, whether its department stores a century ago or, more recently, with Amazon. You can even consider it from a technology lens, with the onset of e-commerce or the evolution of mobile. The lesson we’ve learned again and again is that brands need to evolve to survive. The game has changed, and there are two distinct problems brands now need to solve.
Brands need to ensure that AI systems represent them accurately and, crucially, do everything they can to stand out once customers show up.
Getting recommended by an AI system is no longer just a visibility problem. It’s an accuracy problem. A 2025 Columbia University Tow Center study tested AI search engines across 1,600 queries and found the majority of responses contained citation errors.
Brands need to ensure they’re being referenced and described accurately, which starts with ensuring their site and product data is in order. Highly-structured product catalogs, intent-driven metadata (“cocktail dress for a wedding” instead of just “mini dress”) and descriptions that reflect the brand all help the visibility and accuracy of what AI pulls.
Beyond that, they’ll need to be actively monitoring what models are saying about them, like how they’d monitor press coverage or social sentiment. If your site content, product pages and catalog data are thin, outdated or inconsistent, you’re invisible to AI and vulnerable to misrepresentation.
The bigger question is how you create memorable experiences once consumers choose your brand.
Consumers are more forthright with AI systems than they are with brand sites. For example, a customer may ask Claude to help plan a trip for her family and explain her kids’ ages, preferences, budget, dietary restrictions, pet peeves and whatever else they care most about. Most brands just don’t have that level of visibility.
AI systems are accumulating a richer, more current picture of each customer than any single brand will ever hold on its own. So, brands need to adjust their strategy, and that comes down to three things.
First, compete on depth, not breadth. An AI assistant may know a customer shops for swimsuits at five different brands. Only you know that this particular customer runs a size up, returns anything without UPF protection and bought a matching one for her daughter last summer. That’s relationship-specific memory, and it’s not something a general-purpose assistant is likely to have. It’s the same instinct that let independent, specialty retailers out-loyalize the department stores decades ago.
Second, give customers a reason to tell you directly. If someone is willing to tell an AI assistant their family’s dietary restrictions and travel budget, they’ll tell a brand, too. Brands can then provide better recommendations, faster service and a genuinely different experience next time. Every direct touchpoint or on-site conversation should function as an invitation to close that information gap. Brands need to integrate AI conversations and memory directly into their products and engagement programs to create an incredible experience.
Third, win on what data can’t buy. AI can synthesize information, but it can’t offer a discount or proactively communicate something new. That kind of relational trust is what built loyalty before AI, and it will matter even more moving forward. I want to know if my favorite pair of jeans is now available in a new color, or if the vacation package I was browsing has gone on sale. Brands must use the data they’ve collected to proactively help customers in their journey. This is where brands can win and build long-term trust.
Brands need to invest in personalization and start thinking about deeper ways to build loyalty. The consumer relationship isn’t disappearing into AI, but it is being rerouted through it. And the brands that remain laser-focused on delivering a better customer experience in this new world may just see new levels of loyalty as a result.
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