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Business-Tech – NZ Firms Face $300m Cost as Surging AI Use Reshapes Consumer Search – Study

October 13, 2026

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Business-Tech – NZ Firms Face $300m Cost as Surging AI Use Reshapes Consumer Search – Study

Source: Sprocket Digital

13 October 2026

New Zealand is underprepared for what could be the largest shift in online consumer behaviour since Google became the dominant gateway to the internet, with Kiwi businesses potentially needing to invest more than $300 million over the next five years to remain visible to consumers, according to a digital marketing expert.

The warning follows new research showing AI is already changing how Kiwi consumers find and assess products. A survey of 1,000 consumers who had used AI while shopping found 44% had reduced their use of conventional search engines, while 64% were using AI to compare products and prices and 62% to research planned purchases.¹

Jono Swanston, Sprocket Digital GM, says the rapid adoption of AI search is set to outpace the ability of New Zealand businesses to adapt, potentially leaving local firms less visible than better-prepared international competitors.

Swanston says their research suggests New Zealand businesses could collectively need to invest hundreds of millions of dollars adapting websites, editorial content, and digital strategies to remain competitive as consumers increasingly use platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude to research products and services.

Swanston says the transition is fundamentally changing the way businesses need to think about online visibility.

“Historically, someone might go to Google and search for something very simple such as ’emergency plumber Auckland’. In contrast, AI search is prompt-oriented, so that same person might describe exactly what type of plumber they need, where they are, what type of property they have and what problem they are trying to solve.

“That means businesses need enough relevant information online for an AI platform to understand not simply what they do, but where their expertise lies and when they should be recommended over a competitor.

“The concern for New Zealand is that consumers are moving in this direction faster than many businesses are preparing for it,” he says.

Swanston says the consequences could extend beyond the loss of website traffic, with AI increasingly determining which businesses make it onto a consumer’s initial shortlist.

Instead of presenting consumers with pages of links, generative AI can analyse information from multiple sources and provide a concise recommendation or comparison within its answer.

For New Zealand exporters and e-commerce businesses, Swanston says this could expose them to significantly greater international competition.

“Geography provides less protection when AI is comparing businesses globally. New Zealand companies are already competing online with very large international marketplaces and businesses with much greater resources. If those overseas companies are better understood and more visible to AI platforms, local businesses could simply be left out of the answer.

“That has the potential to translate into a significant loss of revenue for New Zealand businesses and more consumer spending moving offshore,” he says.

Swanston says the shift is also changing what businesses need from their websites.

“Most existing sites will not need to be completely rebuilt, but may require technical changes to make information easier for AI systems to access, along with substantially richer content designed around the questions customers are now asking.

“You can retrofit an existing website. There are technical components in the backend, but a major part of it is the quality and structure of the content.

“The old approach of putting a particular keyword in the right places and trying to rank number one is no longer enough.

“Businesses need to answer a much broader range of questions and make it very clear what they do, who they do it for, where they operate and what makes them relevant to a particular customer need,” he says.

Swanston says companies will also increasingly need to consider what is being said about them on websites they do not control.

International analysis of more than 25 million links cited by ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini across 17 industries found 84% of AI citations came from earned media, with journalism alone accounting for 27% of cited sources. Paid and advertorial content represented just 0.3%.²

Swanston says the trend could provide an unexpected boost to the strategic importance of news media as AI search grows.

“Businesses have always been able to make claims about themselves on their own websites, but an independent source saying something about that business provides another level of validation.

“News coverage can give AI systems context about what an organisation is known for, which industry it operates in, who its experts are and whether its claims are supported by independent sources.

“That means the value of a credible media article may increasingly extend well beyond the people who read it when it is first published,” he says.

The research found journalism citations were spread across more than 20,000 different media outlets rather than being concentrated solely among a handful of major international publishers.

Industry trend questions were also found to generate more than twice as many journalism citations as how-to questions, suggesting specialist and topical reporting may have particular value when AI platforms answer more complex queries.³

Swanston says this could increase the influence of national, regional and specialist trade media as consumers increasingly rely on AI to research industries, companies and products.

“AI needs information it can trust and put into context. Good journalism is usually clearly attributed, dated, focused on a particular subject and based on independent reporting or expert sources.

“Those are valuable signals when an AI platform is trying to work out what information it should use to answer somebody’s question.

“For media, there could be an opportunity here. A story may increasingly influence not only the direct audience of that publication but also the answers generated by AI platforms later,” he says.

Swanston says there is, however, a potential downside for publishers as AI accelerates what the digital marketing sector describes as the “zero-click economy”.

AI platforms and Google’s AI-generated search results can provide consumers with information directly, potentially reducing the need to click through to the original source.

“We’re moving into an environment where information can be taken from a website and incorporated into an answer without necessarily generating the website visit that would historically have followed.

“So news media could become more influential as an information source while at the same time having to work out how to capture the commercial value of that influence,” he says.

Swanston says another challenge for New Zealand will be finding enough skilled people to help businesses make the transition.

While generative engine optimisation (GEO) remains closely linked to traditional search engine optimisation skills, he says the technology is developing so rapidly that much of the specialist capability will need to be developed within agencies and businesses.

“If demand accelerated dramatically, I don’t think there would be enough experienced people sitting in the market waiting to be hired.

“We would need to bring graduates and other talented people in earlier and train them into these skills.

“The challenge is that the technology changes so quickly. You can design a course around what is happening today and parts of it may already have changed by the time that programme is delivered,” he says.

Swanston says businesses can begin assessing their own position by asking AI platforms the same questions prospective customers might use.

“If you are an accountant, tourism operator, manufacturer or retailer, ask ChatGPT or another platform the questions your customers are likely to ask and look at which businesses are being recommended.

“Then ask yourself whether you appear, whether the description of your business is accurate and why your competitors are appearing ahead of you.

“That is probably the simplest indication of whether you have a visibility problem,” he says.

Swanston says the next stage of AI adoption could make the issue even more significant.

PwC research found 31% of New Zealand consumers surveyed were already comfortable allowing an AI agent to complete purchases on their behalf.⁴

Swanston says this points towards a future in which businesses may compete not only to be found by consumers but also to be selected by AI systems acting for them.

“Today the question is whether ChatGPT recommends your product or your business. The next phase is potentially an AI agent comparing the options, making the selection and completing the transaction for the customer.

“At that point, being invisible to AI could mean being excluded from the purchasing process altogether.

“This is why New Zealand businesses need to treat AI search as more than another SEO update. It is a structural change in how consumers find, compare and ultimately choose who they buy from,” he says.

Endnotes

MIL OSI