Why Retailers Shouldn’t Ignore ChatGPT This Golden Quarter

Anecdotally, we’ve all been hearing about the increased usage of ChatGPT, but what impact is it actually having on Irish consumer behaviour, if any? As we catapult into the busiest shopping season of the year, we felt that this was an important question to answer.

We partnered with Amárach Research to carry out a nationwide survey during September 2025 to find out how Irish people are using ChatGPT. 

The research has allowed us to put figures against the 3 numbers that matter most to advertisers as they are planning their marketing strategy and investment. They are: 

We’ve presented the figures above as a % of total respondents for clarity and transparency. For example, 55% of ChatGPT users are using it to make purchasing decisions, which equates to 30% of total respondents.  

The research suggests that this figure will increase as usage is expected to increase.

The Rise of AI-Assisted Shipping

When asked if they’ve ever used ChatGPT, 54% of respondents said yes. Among younger consumers, adoption was higher: 95% of 18–24s and 63% of 25–34s have used the AI tool. Among the 35–44 bracket, usage is above 60%. 

55% of ChatGPT users have turned to the tool to research or choose a product or service. Doing the sums, this means that 30% of total respondents are using ChatGPT to inform purchasing decisions. 

From Research to Conversion

We also wanted to understand what impact, if any, ChatGPT had on the purchase process. 18% of total respondents made a purchase informed by their ChatGPT research.  

Categories Already Impacted

The survey asked which product categories consumers had researched with ChatGPT. The results highlight a mix of high-value and everyday retail sectors:

It’s no real surprise to see Education & Learning rank so highly, but it’s important for the travel industry to take note. AI could be playing the role of travel agent for almost half of ChatGPT users.

For retailers in electronics, ChatGPT is now an important product research channel.

Retail is detail, as they say, and the devil really is in the detail here. Although Fashion & Apparel was at 23% overall, this figure doubles to 40% for 25 to 34-year-olds. This could be a window into the future of shopping in this category, perhaps.

This Trend is Likely to Accelerate

The survey found that 1 in 3 respondents expect to increase their usage of ChatGPT over the next year. 

What Steps Should Businesses Be Considering Now 

30% of people using Chat GPT to help inform a purchasing decision would equate to approximately 1.3 million Irish adults. If that figure continues to increase, as the survey suggests that it will, businesses would be prudent to consider the following:

1. Assessing Current AI visibility. Test your products, brand, and categories directly in ChatGPT. Start tracking how visible your business is vs your main competitors.
2. Get on Reddit. Seriously. ChatGPT has a content licensing deal with Reddit, making it a key information source for the results that it serves.  Businesses should start proactively managing their brand presence on Reddit to impact ChatGPT visibility.
3. Get ready to include ChatGPT in your marketing mix. Advertising makes the world go round, and it’s hard to see a future where some form of advertising doesn’t play a role for ChatGPT.  They have recently rolled out instant purchases directly from ChatGPT and have recruited Paid Marketing Platform Engineers.  We’ve seen this movie before.   

Final Word

The Golden Quarter has always been a battle for attention. This year, that battle isn’t just on Google, Meta & TikTok – it’s happening inside AI conversations. 

Advertisers and businesses now need to make decisions around how much effort, attention, and budget they apply to increasing their ChatGPT visibility (and ultimately sales from the platform). At Wolfgang, we’ll continue to track how this trend unfolds over the coming months and years.