Google-funded Ipsos study: AI search shoppers hit 12 touchpoints before buying
· 2d ago · Originally reported by PPC Land
Google commissioned Ipsos research covering 14,305 AI-using shoppers across 25 markets, finding they interact with roughly 12 touchpoints before purchase — nearly three times the typical path. The study is aimed at CMOs, but questions remain about whether brands can prove sales when Google's AI-driven reporting omits click data.
Why it matters
As AI answers replace traditional search results, the buying journey fragments across many more surfaces, making attribution harder. Marketers may struggle to connect ad spend to revenue when key interaction data isn't visible in reporting.
Explain it like I’m new here
It's like trying to figure out which store convinced you to buy a toy when you saw it in five different places first — AI search makes the trail even longer and harder to follow.
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