Brands are facing a new frontier in consumer discovery: the AI conversation. According to a new study by research-led communications agency We are Talker, 70% of U.S. adults who have used AI for personal purposes in the past three months discovered a brand, product, or service for the first time through an AI interaction. Nearly two-thirds (64%) went on to buy or use something from a brand that AI first introduced to them. At the same time, 68% said information from AI had caused them to rule out a brand or product they were considering. This dynamic, which We are Talker calls The Invisible Shortlist, means that brands are being added to or removed from a shopper's consideration set before the consumer ever visits a brand website.
The implications are significant for marketers. "The shortlist is increasingly being shaped before a consumer ever reaches a brand's website," said Tim Haslam, CEO of We are Talker. "AI isn't just helping people find information. It is starting to influence which brands get considered, which get rejected and ultimately which get chosen." Haslam added that visibility alone is no longer sufficient. "Brands need credible, attributable evidence that helps AI understand why they deserve to be considered and recommended," he said. The study also found that among respondents open to using AI in purchase decisions, 73% considered AI recommendations influential, compared with 81% for search results and 79% for customer reviews. While AI trails traditional sources, its influence is substantial and growing, especially for first-time brand discovery.
We are Talker's research forms part of its broader work on AI-era brand authority and its Talker Pulse™ program, which monitors how major AI platforms answer commercial questions, which sources they rely on, and whether brands appear in recommendations. The agency's approach combines original research, primary-source publishing, and earned media with monitoring of how AI systems interpret and cite that evidence. "The brands that build authority early in the customer journey can win customers they may never previously have reached," Haslam said. "The ones that do not may never even know they were excluded from the decision."
The full study, which surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults between September 21 and 30, 2026, is available at https://wearetalker.com/the-invisible-shortlist-ai-brand-discovery-study-2026/, with a citation record at https://talkerresearch.com/the-invisible-shortlist/ and methodology details at https://talkerresearch.com/methodology/. For brands, the message is clear: the battle for consideration is increasingly happening inside AI conversations, and those that fail to establish credible authority risk being invisible on the shortlist that matters most.
