New data shows rising consumer use of AI for shopping, with ChatGPT driving more referrals—though most benefit still flows to major retailers.
ChatGPT Referrals Surge Over Holiday Weekend
ChatGPT referrals to retail apps rose by 28% year-over-year during the Black Friday weekend (Thanksgiving through Sunday), according to new data from mobile insights firm Apptopia. This signals a growing trend of AI-assisted shopping, where users turn to tools like ChatGPT for product discovery and deal-hunting.
While this growth highlights ChatGPT’s rising influence in e-commerce referral behavior, its overall share remains relatively small in the broader online shopping ecosystem.
Big Retailers See the Biggest Gains
The increase in referrals hasn’t been equally distributed. Amazon and Walmart have gained the lion’s share of this AI-driven shopping traffic:
- Amazon’s share of ChatGPT referrals jumped from 40.5% in 2024 to 54% in 2025
- Walmart’s share increased significantly from 2.7% to 14.9%
These numbers suggest that AI chatbots may be reinforcing the dominance of major e-commerce platforms, rather than driving significant traffic to smaller or niche retailers.
Defining a ChatGPT Referral
Apptopia’s definition of a “referral session” is specific: a retail app session that begins within 30 seconds of using ChatGPT. Referrals are counted either when ChatGPT provides a product idea or when the user clicks a link from the conversation that opens the app.
Although the 28% increase in referrals is notable, these still represent a small fraction of overall ChatGPT usage:
- In 2024, just 0.64% of ChatGPT sessions led to e-commerce app visits
- In 2025, this rose only slightly to 0.82%
AI Traffic Is Rising Rapidly Across Retail
Apptopia’s findings align with broader trends reported by Adobe, which analyzed AI’s impact on e-commerce web traffic:
- On Black Friday, AI-driven clicks to U.S. retail sites were up 805% year-over-year
- On Cyber Monday, AI traffic rose 670%
- Between November 1 and December 1, AI referrals increased 760%
Adobe also noted that users arriving at retail sites from AI chatbots were 38% more likely to make a purchase, indicating a higher conversion rate from AI-sourced leads.
While ChatGPT referrals still make up a tiny percentage of overall holiday shopping traffic, the data suggests we’re at the early stages of a larger shift in how consumers find products. As AI tools become more deeply integrated into everyday decision-making, their influence on e-commerce is expected to grow significantly.
For now, however, major retailers are capitalizing the most, leaving smaller players with limited visibility in AI-powered search results.
