When a shopper asks an AI assistant to plan affordable dinners or find high-protein snacks, will your product make the shortlist?
For Canadian CPG brands, that question is becoming more relevant. AI shopping tools are creating another route to product discovery, one where shoppers can describe what they need and receive suggestions before browsing individual products.
This has an important implication: brands will increasingly need to understand how their products appear in AI-generated recommendations, alongside their visibility in traditional search results.
AI is moving closer to the grocery cart
In September, Retail Insider reported that Instacart launched Clementine in Canada and the United States. The assistant can help shoppers build carts from conversations, recipes and uploaded lists, while considering preferences, past purchases and store inventory. It can also highlight promotions and lower-cost alternatives. According to Instacart, its technology draws on more than 10 million daily inventory signals. Source: Retail Insider
From searching for a product to describing a need
Consider the difference between searching for “pasta sauce” and asking:
“Help me make a quick dinner for four, with more protein, for under $25.”
The second request gives an assistant several conditions to work with. A product might be relevant because of its nutrition, price, preparation time or availability at the selected store.
This creates a new visibility challenge. A brand can have a strong search presence and potentially not appear in the recommendations shoppers receive for relevant needs.
The question expands from “Can shoppers find us?” to “When shoppers ask for help, does the assistant suggest us, and does that suggestion lead to a purchase?”
What brands should start measuring
Brands should approach AI recommendations as a shopper experience to investigate, rather than assume there is one universal ranking to improve.
A practical starting point is to test questions that reflect real shopping occasions:
Accurate product information deserves attention
These scenarios also give brands a reason to review their digital product information.
Are pack sizes, ingredients, nutrition details and preparation instructions accurate? Are supported product attributes easy to find? Do retailer listings reflect current packaging and pricing?
Clear information helps shoppers assess a recommendation. Reviewing it is a practical step brands can take now, without assuming that any particular wording will guarantee an AI recommendation.
It also helps uncover a different problem: an assistant may suggest your product but describe it incorrectly. Visibility and accuracy need to be measured together.
The recommendation still needs to reach the shelf
An AI-generated cart is only part of the shopping journey. The product still needs to be available when an order is picked or a shopper visits the store.
That makes the connection between digital availability and physical shelf conditions especially important. If a listing shows a product as available but it cannot be found, the shopper may accept a substitute, or leave without buying.
Put your brand’s AI visibility on the agenda
We can help brands understand what shoppers encounter through retail audits, mystery shopping and shopper research. Comparing digital observations with store-level checks can help identify where the experience breaks down. Research can also explore whether shoppers notice, trust and act on AI recommendations.
Want to understand how shoppers discover your products, and what happens when they try to buy them? Contact us to discuss shopper research and retail audits that can help you turn those questions into actionable insights.