• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, December 11, 2025

BrightEdge analyzed tens of thousands of shopping queries using one of its products to decode how ChatGPT, AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews represent brands at each stage of the user journey.

Findings are based on analysis of informational, consideration and transactional queries.

The patterns reveal where the biggest competitive battles lie, and it's not where most marketers might expect.

Informational queries are typically educational -- such as "what is a an OLED?" -- while consideration typically would be around questions such as the "best coffeemaker to brew cappuccino?" and other types of research. Transactional or ready-to-buy queries are questions such as "what Samsung TVs are available at Walmart?" 

AI mode dominates what BrightEdge considers the consideration query with 8.3 brands per query. This is the most difficult type of query to dominate, according to BrightEdge. 

ChatGPT follows at 6.5 brands per query, and Google AI Overviews (AIO) trails at 3.9 brands per query.

Google AIO, however, appears most for informational queries at 30.3%, yet mentions the fewest brand names at 1.4 brands per query.

Brands per query means the average number of brands that show up per query.

This means traditional search results remain very important, per BrightEdge analysts. AIOs educate users, but at least today, they do not recommend brands.

The research shows that each AI engine understands and responds differently when mentioning brands in the user shopping journey. They provide more options during research, streamline choices at purchase, and adapt strategies to user needs. 

Google relies on shopping carousels for transactional queries, for example, which is why AIO appears only 14% of the time.

For brands preparing for the remainder of the holiday season through the end of the year, success requires understanding which queries to target, where in the journey those queries fall, and how each AI engine will respond. The competitive landscape is not about keywords, but rather intent, timing, and platform-specific behavior.

“Consumers are increasingly using AI across different stages of the buying journey," explains Jim Yu, BrightEdge CEO. "As AI improves and more people trust the technology to help them choose gifts for the holidays, the next steps like assisting with big-ticket items or even managing the whole order from start to finish aren’t far behind."