By Hugo Huijer. Reviewed by Irfan Ahmad.
Google's AI Mode returns 95% fewer product listings than the standard search results on the same shopping queries, according to new data from Productrise. The study compared over 100,000 search results on both standard Google search and AI Mode on the same day, running the two surfaces side by side across 21 days in July 2026. The analysis analyzed more than 2 million product listings and AI Mode responses in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Image: Productrise
According to the study, the 95% gap comes from two separate effects. Standard search results return products on about 88% of the shopping queries tracked, while AI Mode returned them on only 23%.
When products did appear, standard search results showed about 22.5 listings per results page compared with about 4.3 in an AI Mode answer, which translates to roughly 5.3 times fewer slots to compete for. Together those effects add up to about 95% fewer product listings overall.
The image below shows a side by side comparison, for the same query on the same day, indicating the big discrepancies.
These observations were published right when Google moved more of its search experience toward AI. The company recently said that AI Mode had passed 1 billion monthly active users and that AI features in Search send billions of clicks to websites each week. Productrise also noted that AI mode already has a button in the address bar in the Chrome browser, AI overviews transition seamlessly into AI mode, and of course, there's always the option to fully switch to AI mode from any SERP. So a shift toward AI mode as the default would not require a big shift in people’s search behavior.
The takeaway is the same: optimized product data is getting more and more important. Because in AI mode, Google seems to be picking quality over quantity.
Multiple SEO experts commented on the study, offering mixed readings of what the numbers mean for online stores.
Jason Berkowitz, founder of the agency Break The Web, said the larger question was whether the limited visibility is permanent or a temporary stage as Google expands how it makes money from the format. He noted that Google is already testing sponsored product placements in AI Mode and suggested the surface could eventually resemble a "visual evolution of traditional search," with a familiar balance of paid and organic results.
Callum Lockwood, SEO director at Re:Signal, cautioned against reading the headline figure as a collapse in opportunity. He said AI shopping journeys are often conversational rather than a single query, so fewer products in one response does not necessarily mean fewer chances for a brand to be recommended across a full session. Product data, brand signals and broader organic visibility, he added, can no longer be treated as separate disciplines.
Here’s another example, on a search for "1/2 inch plywood," where a standard search (left) returned a carousel of ten products compared to four products in the AI Mode answer (right).
Jamie D'Alessandro, an SEO manager at Jakala, framed the shorter lists as a reason optimized product data matters more, not less. A listing with only a picture and a price is no longer enough, he said, adding that Google appears to be using reviews and other signals to decide which products are worth showing.
Productrise said strong placement in standard Shopping carousels is no guarantee of appearing in AI Mode, given how little the two surfaces overlap, and that brands should focus on the quality of their product data, including titles, descriptions and the conversational attributes Google has introduced. It added that appearing as one of four or five recommended products, rather than one of twenty, could lift click-through rates for the listings that do make the cut.
The company noted limits to the analysis. The queries it tracks are generally product-centric, and the study covers only the US and UK, where Google's Shopping Graph feeds AI Mode answers directly. Google has said its AI features benefit the open web and send traffic to sites.
Read next:
• European Commission Fines Google €890 Million Over Google Search and Google Play DMA Violations
• 2 in 5 Americans Feel Like Their Brain Is Fried After a Heavy AI Workday
Google's AI Mode returns 95% fewer product listings than the standard search results on the same shopping queries, according to new data from Productrise. The study compared over 100,000 search results on both standard Google search and AI Mode on the same day, running the two surfaces side by side across 21 days in July 2026. The analysis analyzed more than 2 million product listings and AI Mode responses in the United States and the United Kingdom.
According to the study, the 95% gap comes from two separate effects. Standard search results return products on about 88% of the shopping queries tracked, while AI Mode returned them on only 23%.
When products did appear, standard search results showed about 22.5 listings per results page compared with about 4.3 in an AI Mode answer, which translates to roughly 5.3 times fewer slots to compete for. Together those effects add up to about 95% fewer product listings overall.
The image below shows a side by side comparison, for the same query on the same day, indicating the big discrepancies.
These observations were published right when Google moved more of its search experience toward AI. The company recently said that AI Mode had passed 1 billion monthly active users and that AI features in Search send billions of clicks to websites each week. Productrise also noted that AI mode already has a button in the address bar in the Chrome browser, AI overviews transition seamlessly into AI mode, and of course, there's always the option to fully switch to AI mode from any SERP. So a shift toward AI mode as the default would not require a big shift in people’s search behavior.
The takeaway is the same: optimized product data is getting more and more important. Because in AI mode, Google seems to be picking quality over quantity.
Multiple SEO experts commented on the study, offering mixed readings of what the numbers mean for online stores.
Jason Berkowitz, founder of the agency Break The Web, said the larger question was whether the limited visibility is permanent or a temporary stage as Google expands how it makes money from the format. He noted that Google is already testing sponsored product placements in AI Mode and suggested the surface could eventually resemble a "visual evolution of traditional search," with a familiar balance of paid and organic results.
Callum Lockwood, SEO director at Re:Signal, cautioned against reading the headline figure as a collapse in opportunity. He said AI shopping journeys are often conversational rather than a single query, so fewer products in one response does not necessarily mean fewer chances for a brand to be recommended across a full session. Product data, brand signals and broader organic visibility, he added, can no longer be treated as separate disciplines.
Here’s another example, on a search for "1/2 inch plywood," where a standard search (left) returned a carousel of ten products compared to four products in the AI Mode answer (right).
Jamie D'Alessandro, an SEO manager at Jakala, framed the shorter lists as a reason optimized product data matters more, not less. A listing with only a picture and a price is no longer enough, he said, adding that Google appears to be using reviews and other signals to decide which products are worth showing.
Productrise said strong placement in standard Shopping carousels is no guarantee of appearing in AI Mode, given how little the two surfaces overlap, and that brands should focus on the quality of their product data, including titles, descriptions and the conversational attributes Google has introduced. It added that appearing as one of four or five recommended products, rather than one of twenty, could lift click-through rates for the listings that do make the cut.
The company noted limits to the analysis. The queries it tracks are generally product-centric, and the study covers only the US and UK, where Google's Shopping Graph feeds AI Mode answers directly. Google has said its AI features benefit the open web and send traffic to sites.
Read next:
• European Commission Fines Google €890 Million Over Google Search and Google Play DMA Violations
• 2 in 5 Americans Feel Like Their Brain Is Fried After a Heavy AI Workday
