Generative AI is already transforming how consumers discover and purchase products online in Brazil. This is revealed by the groundbreaking research “The Future of Search: how Generative AI is redefining the path to the consumer”, developed by Cadastra, anda global company that solves growth challenges, in partnership with Similarweb, a global digital competitive intelligence platform. The study analyzed the use of AI platforms in Brazil between January 2023 and August 2025, focusing on their influence on e-commerce and digital marketing.
According to the research, ChatGPT dominates 99% of the Brazilian Generative AI market, recording 310.67 million visits in August 2025 — an increase of 124,58% in one year. The Perplexity, the second-place contender, also showed significant growth of 131,03%, reaching 2.01 million visits in the period. With these numbers, Brazil consolidates its position as the third country with the highest global traffic volume in AI tools, behind only the United States and India.
For Adilson Batista, CIO of Cadastra, states that the advancement of AI marks a structural shift in how brands connect with their audiences. “Artificial Intelligence has the potential to transform journeys into adaptive systems, capable of deciding, learning, and creating content in real-time.”
Generative AI ushers in GEO, the new era of digital search
The study points to the emergence of GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), a new discipline that complements traditional SEO by prioritizing the visibility of content referenced as a source by Large Language Models (LLMs), not just its ranking on search engines. This transformation requires brands to reformulate their content strategies to be identified and cited by artificial intelligences.
Between January 2023 and August 2025, ChatGPT generated over 6.1 million referral visits to the top 10 Brazilian e-commerce sites, establishing itself as a new channel for discovery and conversion. Google, meanwhile, remains relevant but has shown a slight contraction in visit volume, as users begin to alternate and complement searches between both platforms.
“Increasing conversion through the use of AI is essential to transform attention into profitability and consolidate brand presence in the digital environment,"states says Tiago Dada, SEO and CRO Manager at Cadastra.
Longer searches, shorter journey
Consumer behavior has also changed: the questions asked in AI tools are five times longer than in traditional SEO (average of 23 words per query), and sessions last more than 7 minutes. Furthermore, ChatGPT has begun offering instant checkout features (“Instant Checkout”), allowing users to finalize transactions without leaving the platform.
In the United States, 41% of consumers already prefer generative searches for online shopping, and this pattern is expected to repeat itself in Brazil in the coming months. In this new scenario, traditional performance metrics — such as click-through rate (CTR) — lose strength, giving way to the referral rate (referrals) and mention density, which indicate how often a brand is cited in AI responses.
The user base of the platforms is predominantly young: 60% of ChatGPT users are between 18 and 34 years old, 54.9% are predominantly male. Now the Perplexity has a similar profile, with more technical usage and concentrated among men (56.8%). The overlap between platforms is low: only 1.04% of ChatGPT users also use Perplexity, which reinforces OpenAI's dominance in the market.
Highlighted Sectors
The analysis by Cadastra and Similarweb shows how different segments are being impacted by Generative AI:
- Beauty: connected audience attentive to ESG practices, seeking a balance between physical and digital stores.
- Pharma: 70% of visits via AI are concentrated in the three largest e-commerce sites in the sector, focusing on price comparison.
- Fashion: emphasis on resale marketplaces and sustainable consumption, led by platforms such as Enjoei.
- Travel: daily use of AI in transportation, accommodation, and route planning apps.
For For Tiago Dada, the role of content gains even more weight in this context. “Content is no longer just a supplement. When it is well-positioned and designed to answer consumer questions, it drives sales naturally, without relying exclusively on paid media.”
The study recommends that companies adopt a vision of a “content supply chain”, with continuous and integrated processes of creation, review, and measurement — something that, according to Adilson Batista, is decisive for those who wish to compete in the AI environment. “To succeed in GEO, structure a ‘content supply chain’, treating creation, approval, and distribution as an integrated factory, based on defined concepts, clear rules, and constant measurement.”
Methodology
The research utilized the Similarweb database, which combines multiple sources—including direct measurement, contributor networks, public data, and partnerships—to estimate digital traffic and behavior. The study analyzed data from January 2023 to August 2025, covering 600 websites (100 in each sector: AI Chatbots, E-commerce, Travel, Fashion, Beauty, and Pharma) and over 12,000 monitored keywords.
Data were collected across desktop, mobile web, and application platforms, encompassing metrics for audience, engagement, paid and organic search, social, display, and referrals. After collection, the information underwent cleaning, matching, processing, and merging procedures, to eliminate duplicates and standardize sources.
In the modeling phase, Machine Learning methods and predictive calibration were applied to adjust traffic estimates and market share. This modeling ensures consistency across different periods and industries, enabling historical comparisons and trend identification in both the Brazilian and global digital landscapes.
