AI SEO Statistics: Online Retailer (2026-07 edition)

Reading the 45 answers model by model shows how differently the three assistants treat the same online retailer questions. On the most consequential behavior — whether to send the buyer to a professional at all — the rate ranged from 73.3% (ChatGPT) down to 46.7% (Claude), a 27-point gap on an identical question set.

Across the 15 online retailer answers it produced, ChatGPT recommended hiring a professional in 73.3% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 20% of the time. It named a specific provider in 26.7% of answers (about 1.7 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 26.7% of the time. ChatGPT asked a clarifying question before answering in 20% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 13.3%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 6.7%, averaging 741 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 6.7%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 20%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 6.7%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 26.7% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 0%.

Across the 15 online retailer answers it produced, Claude recommended hiring a professional in 46.7% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 20% of the time. It named a specific provider in 40% of answers (about 1.6 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 40% of the time. Claude asked a clarifying question before answering in 66.7% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 13.3%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 0%, averaging 323 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 6.7%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 13.3%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 6.7%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 46.7% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 6.7%.

Across the 15 online retailer answers it produced, Gemini recommended hiring a professional in 46.7% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 6.7% of the time. It named a specific provider in 33.3% of answers (about 1.3 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 26.7% of the time. Gemini asked a clarifying question before answering in 0% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 20%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 0%, averaging 256 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 0%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 6.7%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 6.7%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 46.7% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 0%.

Taken together, ChatGPT is the assistant most likely to route an online retailer buyer to a professional (73.3%) and Claude the least (46.7%). ChatGPT produced the longest answers, at 741 words on average. Specific providers were named most often by Claude (40%) — even there, roughly one answer in 3 carried a name.

On other behaviors the three models move almost in lockstep — the points of near-consensus for online retailer, where all three landed within a few points of each other:

• Mentions local proximity: 6.7% across all three models.
• Tells the buyer to check reviews: 0%–6.7% across all three (a 7-point spread).
• Tells the buyer to verify credentials: 0%–6.7% across all three (a 7-point spread).
• Warns about red flags or scams: 13.3%–20% across all three (a 7-point spread).

Measured question by question, the three assistants coded a response the same way most consistently on "mentions local proximity" (identical coding in 100% of questions) and least consistently on "asks a clarifying question" (26.7%).

Beyond whether to hire, the rubric codes how carefully each assistant protects the online retailer buyer once a decision is made. Telling the buyer to check reviews or ratings appeared in 4.5% of answers on average. Verifying credentials or certifications appeared in 2.2%. Warning about red flags or scams appeared in 15.5%.

On structuring the decision, a selection-criteria checklist showed up in 40% of answers on average and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 2.2%. The single least-reproduced protective signal for online retailer is "tells the buyer to verify credentials" at 2.2% on average — the clearest opening for content that supplies it, since the models are not yet reliably surfacing that guidance on their own.

The 15 questions behind every percentage on this page were drawn from real online retailer (ecommerce / online retail; buyer hiring decisions for this specific service) buyer journeys. Each was put to all 3 models once, with identical wording, so the rates above describe how the assistants handled this exact online retailer question set — not a general prior or a hand-picked subset. The full list is shown earlier on this page; the coded percentages are what those specific questions produced.