AI and Social Media Lead Consumer Product Discovery

NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- A new report from Emplifi, an AI-powered social media management platform, and Semrush, an Adobe company, reveals how consumers are increasingly relying on a blend of social media, AI tools, and online communities to discover, research, and validate products.

The findings underscore the growing importance of AI in the discovery journey, with 85% of consumers trusting product recommendations shared by other Reddit users. More than one in four consumers (26%) intentionally add "Reddit" to their product searches to find authentic customer opinions. Among consumers who have made a social commerce purchase, 47% have done so through Instagram, followed by Reddit (18%) and Pinterest (17%), underscoring the diverse roles different platforms play in the customer journey.

The prominence of social media also points to the growing role of user-generated content and peer perspectives in how consumers explore products. According to the report, combined estimated US monthly visits to five leading LLM platforms rose from approximately 2.3 million in June 2023 to 1.33 billion in June 2026, an increase of nearly 580 times. AI referrals to 30 major US retailers have increased 190 times over the same period, with AI referral traffic to the 30-domain retail basket now equaling an estimated 8% of its social referral traffic, up from just 0.04% three years ago.

In a traffic-weighted June 2026 snapshot across eight major US retailers, TikTok accounted for approximately 0.5% of outbound social-referral visits, consistent with discovery occurring largely within the platform and illustrating the limitations of click-based attribution. The report also highlights Reddit's growing role at the intersection of search, community, and AI. While consumers increasingly rely on Reddit to validate purchasing decisions, search referrals to Reddit have tripled since 2023, reaching 1.31 billion monthly visits in the US, while AI-referred visits to Reddit have grown 76 times.

The prominence of social media and AI in the discovery journey underscores the need for brands to be present across these channels.

As AI increasingly shapes the research phase of the buying journey and consumers continue to seek authentic opinions before making purchase decisions, the report concludes that brands should stop treating SEO, social media, and AI as separate disciplines. Instead, organizations should build integrated discovery strategies that improve visibility wherever consumers search, compare, and validate products.