September, 2026.— As generative AI rapidly becomes a new gateway for online shopping, one of the largest independent studies of AI-powered retail discovery has found the technology overwhelmingly directs shoppers toward major retailers—even when consumers never asked for national chains. The findings raise new questions about how independent businesses will compete as AI increasingly shapes where people shop.
AI research consultancy Vaer AI conducted the study on behalf of Lightspeed Commerce Inc., (NYSE | TSX: LSPD) (“Lightspeed” or the “Company”) the unified omnichannel platform powering ambitious retail, golf and hospitality businesses in over 100 countries. Among the largest independent analyses undertaken into AI-powered retail discovery, the research analyzed nearly half a million AI-generated shopping recommendations and more than 2.4 million links across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overview and Gemini, leveraging more than 20,000 shopping prompts spanning different products, categories and retailer comparisons.
Across the study, AI consistently favored larger retailers over smaller competitors. In head-to-head comparisons between a national chain and a smaller retailer, AI selected the larger retailer 90–94% of the time when relying on its own training data. Even with live web search enabled, national chains remained the dominant recommendation, accounting for 46–58% of responses.
The research also found the bias became more pronounced as shoppers moved closer to making a purchase. While local retailers appeared as the top recommendation in roughly one-third of broader shopping searches, that fell to as little as one in ten for specific product searches. Google AI Overviews demonstrated the strongest preference for larger retailers, recommending no local store in 68% of shopping responses. By comparison, ChatGPT and Google AI Mode surfaced a local retailer in roughly 70% of responses.
Tom Wells, Founder and Principal Consultant at Vaer AI, said: “This is one of the first large-scale attempts to measure how generative AI influences retail discovery, and the findings suggest AI is already reshaping competition between retailers. The bias toward national retailers begins in training, and while live search introduces more variety, it doesn’t eliminate the problem. As more shoppers turn to AI as a starting point for discovery, visibility within these systems will become just as important as search engine rankings have been over the past two decades.”
Consumers Are Using AI—But Want It to Better Support Local Businesses
The AI audit is reinforced by a companion survey of 2,000 North American consumers, conducted by Censuswide and commissioned by Lightspeed Commerce, suggesting the issue extends beyond how AI recommends retailers to what shoppers expect from the technology. While AI is already influencing shopping decisions for millions of consumers, many believe it should do a better job helping people discover local businesses.
- 56% have already used AI to help make shopping decisions.
- Adoption rises to nearly three-quarters among consumers under 35.
- 41% trust AI shopping recommendations, rising to nearly 60% among consumers aged 25–34.
- 50% say they’d be more likely to shop locally if AI made nearby independent retailers easier to discover.
- 33% believe AI should prioritize small or local businesses in shopping recommendations, compared with 13% who think large brands should receive priority.
Dax Dasilva, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lightspeed Commerce, said: “Search transformed how retailers competed online, and generative AI has the potential to reshape that dynamic all over again. As consumers increasingly rely on AI to decide where to shop, visibility within those recommendations will become a critical driver of growth for retailers of every size. Businesses that aren’t visible in AI recommendations risk becoming invisible to the next generation of shoppers. Consumers have a role to play too: when using AI to shop, explicitly asking for ‘independent’ or ‘locally owned’ businesses can help ensure smaller retailers aren’t overlooked.”
One Simple Change Can Help You Discover More Local Businesses
Consumers can also take simple steps to broaden the retailers AI recommends. Rather than simply asking where to buy a product, shoppers can ask AI for independent businesses, explicitly adding ‘independent’ to their prompts to help surface retailers that might otherwise be overlooked.
In a controlled follow-up, Vaer AI tested whether the words a shopper adds to a prompt changes the result. Adding a single word—‘independent’—cut the share of AI recommendations going to large national chains from about 44% to as little as 9%, and more than doubled the small and local stores the AI named. The takeaway for shoppers is specific: ask for ‘independent’ or ‘locally owned’ stores explicitly.
To help retailers become more visible as AI reshapes consumer discovery, Lightspeed is launching a public awareness campaign focused on AI visibility. The campaign will begin with an interactive storefront activation that demonstrates—in real time—how AI generates shopping recommendations, while also providing independent businesses with practical guidance on improving their visibility in AI recommendations and encouraging consumers to discover and support local retailers.
This comes as Lightspeed continues to expand its own suite of AI products, including Lightspeed AI, AI Blog, and AI Showroom. These AI-driven initiatives help retailers to make smarter decisions without navigating complex dashboards or reports, tap into new revenue opportunities, and create compelling consumer content with ease.
