Shopify's analysis of Q1 2026 storefront data shows that AI-referred sessions (from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, Grok, etc.):
- Convert at ~50% higher rates than organic search
- Carry 14% higher AOVs
- Outperform organic conversion in 23 of 25 merchant categories by an average of 56%
AKA, keep investing in SEO.