Digital Horizons
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Digital Horizons
AI Shopping: How GPT Changed My Buying Process Forever
Remember when "Google it" was the automatic response to any purchasing decision? Those days might be numbered. We're witnessing a fundamental shift in consumer behavior that could reshape digital marketing forever.
I recently bought a washing machine without using Google once—not for research, price comparison, or even finding the store. Instead, I turned to ChatGPT, which recommended models, found the best prices in Australia, and even searched for coupon codes. I completed the entire purchase journey without encountering a single Google ad or search result. This wasn't a conscious choice to avoid Google; it simply felt like the most efficient path.
This pattern extends beyond personal purchases into business decisions too. When evaluating technologies like digital asset management platforms, AI provides comprehensive comparisons without the need to visit multiple websites or wade through marketing fluff and questionable reviews. The implications for advertisers are enormous—where will they place ads if consumers bypass traditional search engines? Will "Large Language Model Optimization" replace SEO as companies adapt to having their products recommended by AI systems? Could ChatGPT introduce its own advertising platform?
As our behaviors continue evolving across platforms like Meta and TikTok (which some of us still regularly delete to reclaim our attention spans), the digital marketing landscape faces unprecedented disruption. The question isn't just how consumers will adapt to AI tools, but how advertising platforms will transform to reach us in this new paradigm. What do your AI-assisted purchasing journeys look like? We'd love to hear how your habits are changing too.
The Digital Horizons Podcast is hosted by:
James Walker - Managing Director WHD
Brian Hastings - Managing Director Nous
At what point are Google going to try and continue to get ads in front of people throughout this AI buying process, which is completely changing?
Speaker 2:It's really quite incredible.
Speaker 1:I'm changing my user behavior as well, I messaged my mate who does the SEO stuff and I was like I didn't even use a single search that you could have ever got attributed to on this kind of thing. When I got back I realized my washing machine was not working. After I'd done this process I realized what the f? Just I'd completely changed my normal approach to how I would go about buying something yeah so I've got onto chat gpt.
Speaker 1:I've said what I was looking for, got recommendations via chat gpt, then I asked it to go find me the best prices within australia for the model that I decided to go for. Then I asked it for to search it for confine a coupon codes for that store that I was planning to buy it from, and then I just directly typed in the url, so direct traffic straight to the website. I probably may have even clicked off from the chat gpt link and purchased. Yeah, I didn't use a google shopping ad. I didn't use google search. I didn't use it during any part of that buying journey, which was a completely.
Speaker 1:I've never done that before and I actually, I guess, being that we're sort of we're so involved in this kind of thing um, in terms of work, I messaged my mate who does the seo stuff and I was like fuck, I didn't even use a single search that you could have ever got attributed to. On this kind of thing, or I couldn't have put an ad in front of anybody during this whole yeah thing, I found my own way through.
Speaker 1:I did without without using google, which is the first time I'd ever done that where and was conscious of it, and I was like this has changed the whole way. I probably will buy things in the future.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm using it for business tech decisions as well. I'm like recommend a DAM platform or like a digital asset management platform and in a table, put their pricing estimates per month based off users, the competitor differences between each of them, what they offer Basically, do my full research process and help me identify which is the best and most well-reviewed, but also most relevant platform to my needs, and I just got to avoid going to the sites and sifting through all the bullshit and seeing all the fake reviews.
Speaker 2:It references cap terror. It references that. The fake reviews, yeah, like I mean, it references cap terror, yeah, it references that. But yeah and um, but yeah, those fake reviews, you sort of it can pull it out and give a summary of well, people have said that this is a bit of a problem and I can delve then into the actual problems. And it feels like it's lazy on the surface because you're not doing the old-fashioned way. But if you find you don't trust a response in chat, for instance, you can still go back and do a bit more of that deeper research. But it's more often right than wrong in this sort of product review space and this going and finding multiple features and pulling them together. It's really quite incredible. I'm changing my user behavior as well. Then I'm spending my free time in platforms like Meta and TikTok. I still delete it once every two weeks to try to regain my attention span.
Speaker 2:I'm currently in a deleted phase. I'm better than everybody else at the moment because I don't have TikTok Keen to see how we continue to change our buying behavior, also our research behavior, within these platforms, especially with the introduction, I should say, of more AI tools in Google. Will I find a switch back to Google more as they start to introduce it?
Speaker 1:And we'll watch this space. Well, I want to understand where I'm going to be putting my ads. I'm thinking about more as an agency guy who obviously we run a lot of Google ad campaigns for our clients. I'm like, well, I didn't get a chance in that whole thing to see an ad. So at what point are Google going to try and, I guess, continue to get ads in front of people throughout this AI buying process, which is completely changing?
Speaker 2:And is the sort of LLMO, or large language model optimization, rather than search engine optimization, going to be even more important to serve the answers in your research in these GPT models, rather than serving an ad or is GPT going to bring out its own ad platform?
Speaker 1:Because I mean the thing about revenue-wise. I mean they've got the attention, they've got the user base. Maybe they're going to start serving ads within ChatGPT and that's where the shift will become. But yeah, as I said, it was a notable shift in my own behavior, which was something that wasn't intentional. It was just like this is what my brain went to All right, I've got to buy a washing machine. This is what I'm going to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, the end of Googling it.
Speaker 1:That's it.
Speaker 2:No, I'm nice on it, All right. Well, let's keep checking in on this and see how we go.