Why Smart Brands Are Rethinking Discovery in the Age of AI

The shopping journey used to start with a search bar. Now it starts with a conversation. Consumers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence tools to research products, compare options, and make decisions before they ever land on a brand’s website, walk into a store, or open an app. For retailers, the immediate challenge is visibility: AI is reshaping how brands get discovered, evaluated and surfaced in the first place.

Blackhawk Network (BHN) research found more than half of consumers used AI for holiday gift shopping in 2025, with adoption reaching 65 percent among younger shoppers compared with 37 percent among older consumers. The scale of that shift is already visible in traffic data: Adobe reported a 693 percent year-over-year increase in retail website visits driven by generative AI tools during the same holiday season. That growth has raised questions about whether AI will change consumer demand, but the more immediate change is happening earlier in the purchase journey.

AI is Reshaping the Front Door of Commerce

For years, discovery has followed a familiar pattern: shoppers began with a search query, opened multiple tabs, read reviews, and gradually narrowed their options for the limited (and often SEO-driven) choices that came up before making a decision. Or they asked their friends and family for recommendations, researched those suggestions and compared to what they would find online.

AI changes where that process begins and how it unfolds.

A single prompt can now generate web-based recommendations, compare pricing, summarize product reviews, and weigh product attributes all at once, giving consumers a much faster way to evaluate the products and services available to them — including those they, and their personal circle, don’t know about.

Modern discovery is also happening through chat interfaces, messaging and social media platforms, and AI assistants that help narrow decisions before shoppers open up a search bar or talk to their network. In many ways, the experiences resemble asking a knowledgeable friend for advice, but they rely on AI, making it even more powerful.

AI Compresses Comparison

Once AI becomes part of the discovery process, it changes how options are evaluated. Instead of visiting multiple websites, shoppers can ask an AI assistant for recommendations and receive several products at once, complete with pricing, reviews and context.

That shift reduces the steps between discovery and decision. Products are evaluated side-by-side rather than sequentially, often within a single interaction. For brands, this means being compared earlier and more directly, before a consumer has spent time engaging with any one option.

AI Provides Better Value Comparisons

Comparison is becoming more streamlined, and the factors that influence decisions are shifting with it. When options are presented together, how consumers define value becomes more important. Research shows that 63 percent of consumers believe AI tools help them find better deals, reinforcing why these tools are increasingly used to inform purchase decisions.

Incentives and stored value can play a meaningful role in shaping purchase decisions. BHN research shows consumers are increasingly treating points and other stored value as budgeting tools. Therefore, if two products appear similar in price and quality, benefits such as loyalty points, promotional credits or gift card rewards can break the tie.

When AI systems rank and filter options, these signals are not just influencing consumers, but shaping which products are surfaced in the first place. It’s also impacting how brands approach marketing.

Value Supersedes Discounts

As AI becomes more embedded in the discovery process, it’s surfacing promotions more visibly. These better value propositions, particularly those that offer rewards, are influencing marketing ROI in that they factor in long-term value as opposed to a one-time discount. This is good for brands and shoppers.

Research has found that reward-based promotions can drive stronger sales outcomes than traditional discounts, not just in driving discovery but also in improving customer satisfaction, shortening sales cycles, increasing profit per customer, and opening up cross- and upsell opportunities. This is because tools like gift cards, digital incentives, reward credits and other forms of stored value increase purchase power by giving consumers a practical benefit they can use later, bringing them back to the brands that rewarded them.

With household debt rising and budgets still under pressure, shoppers are looking harder for ways to stretch purchasing power. AI is making those tradeoffs easier to see in the moment.

As AI systems are increasingly positioned to incorporate elements like loyalty balances, promotional credits or gift card value into the comparison process, consumers are leaning on these suggestions, particularly as the economy continues to stretch budgets.

Done well, these rewards may also strengthen loyalty and repeat engagement, which could help brands stay differentiated even as AI plays a bigger role in shaping discovery.

Demand Now Depends on Discovery

Discovery is happening earlier and often outside of brand-controlled environments. By the time a consumer reaches a retailer’s site, much of the consideration set is already defined. Over time, the products that gain demand will be those that AI systems choose to surface early in the discovery process.

That requires a new approach. It’s no longer enough to optimize for conversion at the point of purchase, focus solely on SEO, or slash prices occasionally. Brands need to think about how they show up in LLMs and how they convey value, including how they leverage promotions that involve rewards.

Consumers still buy products because they meet specific needs. What AI changes is how those options are surfaced and evaluated. The brands that stand out will be the ones that make their value easy to recognize early in the journey.

Brett Narlinger is chief revenue officer at Blackhawk Network (BHN), a global branded payments provider.