Brands may be losing or winning customers inside conversations they never see. A new study from We are Talker, conducted by Talker Research among 2,000 U.S. adults who had used AI for a personal purpose in the previous three months, found that 70% had discovered a brand, product or service for the first time through AI. Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 64%, went on to buy or use something from a brand AI first introduced to them, while 68% said information from AI had caused them to rule out a brand or product they were considering.
We are Talker calls this phenomenon The Invisible Shortlist: the brands AI adds to, or removes from, a shopper's consideration while a purchase decision is still open. The implication is significant for marketers, because the moment of inclusion or exclusion now often happens before a consumer visits a brand's own website, where most traditional visibility efforts are concentrated.
"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 said visibility alone is no longer sufficient, arguing that brands need credible, attributable evidence that helps AI understand why they deserve to be considered and recommended.
The findings carry weight because AI recommendations already rank among the most influential inputs in purchase decisions. 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. That places AI close to established channels in persuasive power, even as its role in the journey remains largely invisible to the brands affected.
The research forms part of We are Talker's work around AI-era brand authority and its Talker Pulse program, which examines 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 full study is available through the Invisible Shortlist report, and the citation record is published alongside it.
For brands, the practical consequence is a shift in what visibility means. Understanding search rankings may no longer be enough; companies increasingly need to know how they are represented inside AI-generated answers and recommendations, and whether the evidence AI draws on supports their case. "The brands that build authority early in the customer journey can win customers they may never previously have reached," Haslam added. "The ones that do not may never even know they were excluded from the decision."
Talker Research surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults who had used an AI tool or assistant for a personal, non-work purpose within the previous three months. The online survey was conducted for We are Talker between September 21 and 30, 2026, and results are self-reported.
