"Artificial intelligence proved to be a widely used tool during the 2025 holiday season, with retail, travel, financial services and the tech and software industries experiencing triple-digit growth in AI referral traffic year over year in November and December. While the AI transformation could be observed across multiple industries, retail has felt an especially significant impact from the technology, with generative AI traffic growing 693% YoY, according to Adobe data."
"AI-driven traffic surged across industries, said Vivek Pandya, director, Adobe Digital Insights in emailed remarks to Marketing Dive. This means for marketers and retailers alike, we saw deeper engagement is translating directly into higher conversion during the 2025 holiday season. Adobe's "Quarterly AI Traffic Report analyzed more than one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites and over 100 million stock keeping units from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31."
"AI has upended search traffic, forcing marketers to rethink their approach to search engines. While disruptive, AI-driven search has yielded remarkable results, according to the report. For example, AI referrals converted 31% more than non-AI sources over the 2025 holiday season. On Thanksgiving and Black Friday, AI referrals converted 54% and 38% more, respectively, than non-AI sources. AI is also delivering high-quality traffic."
AI produced triple-digit growth in referral traffic across retail, travel, financial services, and tech/software during November and December 2025. Generative AI traffic in retail grew 693% year over year. Analysis covered more than one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites and over 100 million SKUs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, alongside a consumer survey of over 1,000 shoppers. AI referrals converted 31% more than non-AI sources overall, with 54% and 38% higher conversion on Thanksgiving and Black Friday respectively. AI-driven traffic delivered 14% higher engagement, 45% longer session duration, and 13% more pages per visit. Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity drove rapid traffic growth.
Read at www.marketingdive.com
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