Google AI Mode sends 57% of product links to Google Shopping: Study

Google AI Mode linked only to Google’s own pages in 46.5% of U.S. product answers, according to a new Findrix study of 55,198 AI-generated answers. Overall, 57% of links in AI Mode product answers led to Google Shopping product pages.

Why we care. Shoppers can discover your products through AI Mode without visiting your website. That means referral traffic alone won’t capture all your products’ visibility in Google’s AI search results.

Fashion and beauty lead. Google AI Mode linked only to Google pages most often for fashion and beauty products:

• Swimwear: 60.4% of answers.
• Women’s everyday fashion: 57%.
• Sun care: 54.1%.
• Activewear: 53.8%.
• Sports nutrition: This was an exception. Just 7.6% of answers linked only to Google pages.

Services and software differ. Just 5.1% of AI Mode’s links for local services, including plumbers, lawyers, and dentists, went to Google pages. For software questions, that figure dropped to 1.1%.

• Findrix co-founder Yosif Merman attributed the difference to Google’s product database, which contains prices, ratings, and inventory information. AI Mode can use that data to build product answers with fewer links to external websites, he said.

ChatGPT and Gemini link differently. None of Gemini’s measured links went to google.com. ChatGPT included about 25 links per answer, compared with about three for AI Mode. In product answers, ChatGPT linked to Walmart in 45.1% of cases and Amazon in 6.1%.

• Reddit citations also varied. ChatGPT cited Reddit in 35.6% of all U.S. answers, compared with 5.1% for AI Mode and 1.5% for Gemini.

About the data. AI visibility platform Findrix tested 18,400 buyer questions across 35 U.S. markets from Oct. 14 to 17. It collected 55,198 answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode, testing each question once per platform. The findings measure links shown in AI answers, not actual clicks or purchases.