Shopify AI Search Drives Traffic and Sales, Not Replacing Google

Shopify's second-quarter earnings call revealed that AI search is significantly boosting its business, contrary to its impact on online publishing. President Harley Finkelstein stated that AI serves as a complement to traditional search, particularly benefiting smaller merchants. The company credited its earnings beat and revenue surge partly to AI-driven traffic, which tripled year-over-year in Q2. Traditional search remains a major traffic source, growing 1.3x over two years and holding a third of storefront sessions. Revenue rose 36% to $3.6 billion, beating forecasts, with gross operating profit up 31% to $1.71 billion. Finkelstein explained that AI agents use richer structured data to match products with buyer intent, unlike keyword-based search engines. For example, an AI assistant can understand complex queries like finding a car seat for three across a sedan. AI-referred sessions often land directly on product pages, compressing shopping journeys, and 75% of AI-attributed purchases occurred outside top categories. Shopify also highlighted its trusted checkout experience and partnerships with AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Manus, Replit, Vercel, and Lovable.