Emplifi and Semrush Find 66% of Consumers Use AI for Product Research

Emplifi and Semrush released a report finding that 66% of surveyed consumers have used AI tools to research products or discover gift ideas. The research covered 1,638 consumers in the United States and United Kingdom from April 14 to May 1, 2026, alongside Semrush traffic, search, and AI visibility data.

The survey found that 11% of consumers now begin product research with an AI tool. Estimated monthly US visits to five leading large language model platforms rose from about 2.3 million in June 2023 to 1.33 billion in June 2026, while AI referrals to 30 major US retailers increased 190 times.

Nearly four in ten consumers ranked social media among their top three channels for discovering products. The report found that 85% trust product recommendations from other Reddit users, while 26% intentionally add Reddit to product searches. Search referrals to Reddit have tripled since 2023 to 1.31 billion monthly US visits, and AI referred visits to the platform increased 76 times.