Shopify says AI referrals tripled and did not replace search

What happened?

On its second quarter earnings call, Shopify told analysts that AI is adding traffic rather than taking it away. The company said AI driven traffic and orders to Shopify stores tripled year over year, while traditional search sessions grew over the past two years and still make up roughly a third of all storefront sessions. President Harley Finkelstein described AI as a complement to search rather than a substitute, and said the effect has been strongest for smaller merchants in the long tail. These are company reported figures from an earnings call, not independent measurement.

Why does it matter?

Most of what you have read about AI search says it eats your traffic. That story comes largely from publishers, where a summary answers the question and the click never happens. Program pages and product pages behave differently, because the answer is the thing itself. Shopify reports that half of AI referred sessions land straight on a product page, roughly two and a half times the rate from traditional search, and that three quarters of AI attributed purchases fell outside the top hundred categories. Being small and specific may help you here rather than hurt you.

Should I do anything?

Take your single most important program or service page and read it as though you arrived with no context. AI referrals tend to land deep inside a site rather than on the homepage, so that page has to stand on its own. Put the plain answer in the first two sentences, name your organization, and say who the program serves and where. Assume the visitor will never see your navigation or your homepage. One page is enough for now. Leave the rest of the site alone until that one reads cleanly.

Learn more

• Shopify Q2 2026 investor materials and press release
• TechCrunch: Shopify says AI search is driving more traffic and sales
• Our guide: AI referral traffic
• Our guide: improve program and service pages