Woolworths tops AI search visibility in grocery with 20% of brand citations, ahead of Coles at 17%, Amazon at 13% and Aldi at 7%, but Amazon dominates six of seven major retail categories analysed in research from agency Jaywing.
In electronics, Amazon leads with 42% but JB Hi-Fi holds 31% and Harvey Norman 22%. In health and beauty, Amazon takes 25%, Chemist Warehouse 21% and Priceline 8%. Home and living remains fragmented, with Harvey Norman at 21% and Bunnings at 17%.
The analysis found nearly 70% of AI retail queries show commercial or transactional intent, with more than half occurring during the mid-funnel consideration phase when shoppers are comparing options.
"AI search has already become a critical layer in how people discover products and consumers are asking complex questions and expecting direct recommendations, which means the AI engine effectively decides which brands enter the conversation," said Tom Geekie, CEO at Jaywing.
"This is a fundamental shift from traditional search and no longer about ranking number one for a keyword, but about being one of the few sources an AI model chooses to cite and summarise.
"If a brand is not present in the sources AI trusts and references, it simply does not appear in the answer."
The Jaywing Winning Retail Visibility in AI Search report was powered by search data from AI visibility platform Writesonic, analysing search intent, funnel stage, content formats and brand visibility across AI platforms.
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