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Perplexity vs ChatGPT vs Gemini: Which AI Search Engine Converts Best for Ecommerce in 2025?

Sean Dorje

Published

October 1, 2025

3 min read

Perplexity vs ChatGPT vs Gemini: Which AI Search Engine Converts Best for Ecommerce in 2025?

AI search engine disruptors like Perplexity, ChatGPT and Gemini now influence more ecommerce revenue than classic Google SERPs. In this piece, we benchmark which engine converts best—and how merchants can win.

Why AI search engines now make or break your ecommerce funnel

The shift from traditional search to AI-driven discovery is reshaping ecommerce fundamentally. Traffic from generative AI sources surged 1,300% during the 2024 holiday season, with 53% of consumers planning to use AI for shopping in 2025. This explosion matters because the economics are different: when AI answers appear, organic click-through rates plummet from 1.41% to 0.64% for informational queries.

Yet the opportunity is massive for brands that adapt. ChatGPT drives 20% of Walmart's referral traffic, nearly 15% to Target, and 10% to eBay. These aren't just visits—they're high-intent shoppers who convert differently than traditional search users.

The stakes keep rising as AI engines become the default discovery layer. Zero-click results already exceed 60%, meaning most searches end without users ever clicking through to websites. Merchants who don't optimize for AI visibility risk becoming invisible to tomorrow's shoppers.

Methodology: 500 real consumer prompts, Relixir's simulation module, and conversion-weighting

To understand which AI engine delivers the best ecommerce outcomes, we designed a comprehensive testing framework. Relixir's AI-powered platform simulated thousands of buyer questions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini to reveal exactly how each engine handles commercial intent.

Our approach combined internal simulation data with external usage statistics. Relixir achieved 73% share-of-voice improvement within 30 days in pilot programs, demonstrating the platform's ability to diagnose and optimize AI rankings at scale.

We weighted results by actual market share and traffic volumes. ChatGPT maintains 59.7% AI market share with 3.8 billion monthly visits, while Perplexity processed 780 million queries in May 2025, and daily queries hit 30 million.

Building a balanced 500-prompt basket (awareness → checkout)

We constructed our prompt set to mirror real shopping journeys. AI queries average 23 words compared to traditional search's 4 words, reflecting the conversational nature of AI shopping.

The prompt distribution covered three funnel stages: informational queries ("what's the best running shoe for beginners"), comparison queries ("Nike vs Adidas for marathon training"), and transactional queries ("buy waterproof trail runners size 10"). This approach captured how Google AI and ChatGPT demonstrate only 47% agreement rates for identical queries, highlighting each engine's unique interpretation patterns.

Leaderboard: Perplexity edges out ChatGPT and Gemini on conversion-weighted "AI Shelf Share"

Our analysis reveals clear winners in the AI commerce race. ChatGPT drives more than 20% of referral traffic to major retailers, demonstrating raw volume leadership. Yet conversion quality tells a different story.

Across our 500-prompt simulation, Perplexity delivered superior commercial outcomes despite lower overall traffic. The platform's real-time web integration and citation approach created stronger purchase intent signals. ChatGPT's vast user base generated volume but showed higher variance in recommendation consistency. Gemini, while benefiting from Google's ecosystem reach, lagged in pure conversion metrics.

The average age of URLs cited by AI assistants is 1064 days—25.7% fresher than organic SERPs—indicating these platforms prioritize recent content that often includes updated pricing and availability.

Perplexity: real-time web plus citations drive highest link-outs

Perplexity blends AI with real-time web, delivering concise, cited answers that build shopper trust. The platform's unique approach combines multiple models to generate comprehensive product comparisons with source attribution.

The highest volume of traffic and best conversion rates among AI platforms position Perplexity as the commerce champion. Its citation-heavy format encourages click-throughs by providing transparent sourcing that shoppers can verify.

Perplexity orders their in-text references from newest to oldest, prioritizing fresh inventory data and current pricing—critical factors for ecommerce success.

ChatGPT: scale & referral power, but volatile answers

ChatGPT's massive reach makes it impossible to ignore. Around 2% of all ChatGPT queries involve shopping—about 50 million queries per day—creating enormous referral potential for merchants.

However, ChatGPT maintains high consistency in only 12.1% of repeated query scenarios. This volatility means product recommendations can shift dramatically between sessions, potentially confusing shoppers.

ChatGPT builds its understanding by looking directly at market participants, treating their websites as primary sources. This approach favors established brands but can overlook emerging players.

Gemini: Google ecosystem reach, but inventory bias risks

Google's Shopping Graph integration creates systematic biases toward available inventory over product quality. While this ensures purchasable recommendations, it may not surface the best options for shoppers.

Google Gemini's Shopping Features let users compare and buy products directly within the app, leveraging Google's vast merchant network and payment infrastructure.

Google's AI Overviews and organic results are the most likely to cite older pages, potentially missing newer products or updated offerings that competitors surface.

What really drives checkout: traffic quality, intent signals, and personalization

Adobe found 8% higher engagement from AI traffic, with visitors lingering longer and viewing 12% more pages per visit. Yet paradoxically, this engaged traffic converts 9% less than other sources.

The conversion gap reveals a fundamental challenge: AI traffic quality varies dramatically by query type and user intent. Users who arrive via an AI recommendation convert into buyers 23 times more often when the AI correctly matches intent to inventory.

Understanding these dynamics requires examining what actually drives purchase decisions. 76% of consumers prefer buying from companies offering personalized shopping experiences, with personalization driving 78% higher repeat purchase rates.

Personalized answers lift AOV & CVR

BrandAlley achieved 77% higher conversion rates and 68% increase in average order value through AI-powered personalization. Their transformation demonstrates how matching AI recommendations to individual preferences drives superior outcomes.

AI-driven personalized recommendations contribute to a 15-20% increase in conversion rates across the industry. The key is ensuring AI engines have access to rich product data and user context to generate relevant suggestions.

Decoding each engine's ranking DNA: freshness, citations, and schema

Each AI engine prioritizes different signals when selecting products to recommend. The average age of URLs cited varies significantly, with ChatGPT preferring content 393 days newer than organic Google results.

ChatGPT appears to use community discussion as an authenticity signal to support primary claims from corporate sites. This means customer reviews and forum discussions influence rankings alongside official product pages.

Schema.org markup has evolved from an SEO enhancement to a critical AI training dataset. Properly structured data helps AI engines understand product attributes, pricing, and availability with precision.

Relixir's 5-step GEO playbook for owning Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Gemini

Generative Engine Optimization involves structuring and formatting your content to be easily understood, extracted, and cited by AI platforms. It's the evolution from keyword targeting to answer ownership.

Step 1: Implement comprehensive schema markup. Add FAQPage and HowTo schema to every product page, ensuring AI engines can parse your content structure.

Step 2: Create authoritative comparison content. Since AI engines favor primary sources, publish detailed comparisons that position your products within the competitive landscape.

Step 3: Optimize for conversational queries. Structure content around natural dialog formats that match how people actually speak to AI assistants.

Step 4: Maintain content freshness. Regular updates signal relevance, especially for inventory-dependent ecommerce where pricing and availability change frequently.

Step 5: Monitor and iterate with Relixir's platform. The platform simulates thousands of deal-stage questions, diagnoses ranking gaps, and auto-publishes optimized content.

Key takeaways: conversion-first GEO beats keyword-only SEO

The data reveals a clear hierarchy: Perplexity delivers the highest-quality ecommerce traffic through real-time citations, ChatGPT provides massive reach with consistency challenges, and Gemini leverages ecosystem advantages with inventory bias risks.

A Series B startup achieved a 17% increase in inbound leads using Relixir's AI-powered GEO platform while saving 80 hours monthly in content creation. This demonstrates how automated optimization outperforms manual approaches.

For merchants serious about capturing AI-driven revenue, the path forward is clear. Traditional SEO tactics fail in an AI-first world where Microsoft Build 2024 revealed Copilot's click-through rate on cited answers is 6× higher than classic organic links.

Relixir's comprehensive platform addresses this shift by automating the entire GEO workflow—from AI visibility analytics to content generation to performance tracking. By implementing these strategies, ecommerce brands can capture their share of the exploding AI search market before competitors claim the space.

The bottom line: AI search engines aren't coming—they're here, driving real revenue today. Merchants who optimize for how Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Gemini evaluate and recommend products will own tomorrow's digital shelf. Those who don't risk watching competitors capture their customers at the moment of highest purchase intent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which AI search engine converts best for ecommerce in 2025?

How did you evaluate Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Gemini?

Relixir's AI-powered platform simulated thousands of buyer questions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini to reveal exactly how each engine handles commercial intent. We weighted results by actual market share and traffic volumes. We constructed our prompt set to mirror real shopping journeys.

Why do AI search engines now make or break the ecommerce funnel?

Traffic from generative AI sources surged 1,300% during the 2024 holiday season, with 53% of consumers planning to use AI for shopping in 2025. Zero-click results already exceed 60%, meaning most searches end without users ever clicking through to websites. Merchants who don't optimize for AI visibility risk becoming invisible to tomorrow's shoppers.

What differentiates Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Gemini for shopping outcomes?

Perplexity blends AI with real-time web, delivering concise, cited answers that build shopper trust. ChatGPT's vast user base generated volume but showed higher variance in recommendation consistency. Google's Shopping Graph integration creates systematic biases toward available inventory over product quality. Google's AI Overviews and organic results are the most likely to cite older pages, potentially missing newer products or updated offerings that competitors surface.

What actually drives checkout and conversion from AI traffic?

Adobe found 8% higher engagement from AI traffic, with visitors lingering longer and viewing 12% more pages per visit. Yet paradoxically, this engaged traffic converts 9% less than other sources. Users who arrive via an AI recommendation convert into buyers 23 times more often when the AI correctly matches intent to inventory.

What results has Relixir delivered with GEO and how does the platform help?

A Series B startup achieved a 17% increase in inbound leads using Relixir's AI-powered GEO platform while saving 80 hours monthly in content creation. Relixir's comprehensive platform addresses this shift by automating the entire GEO workflow—from AI visibility analytics to content generation to performance tracking.

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