Shopify says AI search is driving more traffic and sales, not replacing Google
Shopify has reported that AI-powered search tools are boosting traffic and sales for merchants on its platform rather than eating into traditional search, contrasting with the impact AI summaries have had on online publishers, where click-through rates and advertising revenue have suffered. President Harley Finkelstein told analysts on the company's second-quarter earnings call that AI acts as a "complement to search, rather than a substitute for it," with smaller, long-tail merchants benefiting particularly, and the company credited AI search with helping drive an earnings beat and strong revenue growth.
Shopify said AI-driven traffic and orders to its stores tripled year-on-year in the second quarter, while traditional search sessions still grew 1.3 times over two years and continued to account for roughly a third of storefront visits. Quarterly revenue rose 36% to $3.6 billion, ahead of Wall Street's $3.4 billion forecast, and gross operating profit climbed 31% to $1.71 billion. Finkelstein explained that AI agents search across multiple product attributes rather than keywords alone, meaning half of AI-referred sessions land directly on product pages—2.5 times the rate for traditional search—and 75% of AI-attributed purchases fell outside Shopify's top 100 "sweet spot" categories; the firm has also built connectors to tools including Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Replit.
- Shopify says AI search boosts sales, doesn't replace Google search
- AI-driven store traffic and orders tripled year-on-year in Q2
- Quarterly revenue rose 36% to $3.6 billion, beating forecasts
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
AI search is genuinely complementary to traditional search, expanding rather than cannibalising the market. The evidence includes 75% of AI-attributed purchases coming from outside Shopify's top 100 categories, particular benefits to smaller merchants, and the concurrent growth of both AI-driven and traditional search traffic, indicating the technology surfaces new value rather than merely redirecting existing demand.
The case against
This echoes the initial optimism around AI summaries for publishers before they began cannibalising click-through rates and advertising revenue. The sharply asymmetric growth rates—AI-driven traffic tripling whilst traditional search grew 1.3 times—suggest substitution is already occurring beneath the surface of absolute growth. Furthermore, Shopify has clear commercial incentives to portray AI positively, making the company's own earnings claims an unreliable basis for assessing whether the growth is genuinely non-cannibalising.