The Future of Search Is Here - And It’s a Big Deal for Retail

Search isn’t standing still. It’s shifting, fast, and AI is right at the centre of that change. For ecommerce and retail brands, this isn’t just about keeping up with new features, it’s about how your customers are discovering and deciding what to buy.

Last week we went to Google’s Future of Search Summit for their top UK agencies. One thing was crystal clear: shoppers are starting to search differently. Short, functional queries like “men’s running shoes” are the old way consumers searched, the future is using:

• AI Overviews to compare features (ads coming soon here! They’re already in the US)
• AI Mode to ask nuanced, longer questions and have a back-and-forth conversation about the best options
• Visual tools like Google Lens to search from photos or screenshots, with 1 in 5 visual searches showing commercial intent
• Younger shoppers in particular are starting more than 10% of their searches with Circle to Search literally circling a product on their phone to find it online

For brands, that means the traditional keyword-led approach is only getting you part of the way. Shoppers are discovering products earlier in their journey, often before they’ve narrowed down a brand or model. That’s where Google’s latest ad formats come in. Ads now appear inside AI-powered answers, right alongside helpful content. Imagine a customer searching “how to care for suede boots” and seeing your ad for a protective spray or cleaning kit in the same result. You’re not just competing for attention, you’re part of the solution.

AI Max

The other big update is AI Max for Search campaigns. This isn’t just a small tweak to how you target ads, it’s a whole new way of matching your products to intent. It uses Google’s AI to find customers who are likely to buy, even if they don’t use the exact keywords you’ve been targeting. It can generate headlines and descriptions from your product feed, landing pages and existing ads, and it can send people to the page most likely to convert - not just the one you originally set. 

Retailers switching from a purely keyword-based strategy are seeing up to 27% more conversions without increasing their cost per sale.

If you want to try it, the smartest move is to run an AI Max experiment. Split your existing campaign so half the traffic runs on your current setup and half on AI Max, then compare performance. The trick is to give it time (I know, we don’t have a lot of it with peak around the corner) but it needs a couple of weeks to learn before you judge the results. Keep budgets steady, avoid big creative changes mid-test, and use the built-in controls to make sure your ads still align with your brand.

Why does this matter now? Because these AI-powered search experiences are already here, and they’re only going to grow. Peak shopping moments; from back-to-school to Black Friday will increasingly be shaped by them. If you wait until the format is mainstream, you’ll be competing with brands that already know how to make it work.

For ecommerce and retail brands, the message is simple: show up where your customers are actually searching, not just where they used to. 

The Essential Checklist

• Make the best product feed you can with your tech stack/capabilities. So much is reliant on this and it’s so understated. 
• Prepare your creative and landing pages for AI-driven discovery.
• Test AI Max ahead of peak, and get ready to be part of the answer when your customers ask the question.

At Genie Goals, we’re helping brands do exactly that - experimenting, learning and scaling before the competition catches up.

If you want to see what AI-powered search could mean for your sales this peak season, drop us a note on our contact page!

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