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Observatory · Sector

How AI engines recommend retail and fashion brands

For retail and fashion buying questions, ChatGPT cites a source in only 73.1% of its answers, its lowest rate in any sector, and rankings make up 40.3% of the sources it does cite. Data: 33,429 answers, July 12 to October 11, 2026.

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Updated

33,429

answers analysed

78%

ai overview displayed

34%

rankings among sources

6.2

sources per answer

Types of sources cited : Retail and fashion
Other sites64%Rankings and comparisons34%YouTube1%Forums (Reddit, Quora)1%
Share of rankings among cited sources, by engine (Retail and fashion)
ChatGPT40%Perplexity28%Google AI Overviews24%
Searches where Google displays an AI Overview, by sector
Coaching and advisory92%Marketing agencies89%B2B software and tech88%Finance and wealth management83%Retail and fashion78%Events and corporate retreats77%Health, beauty and fitness76%Real estate67%Travel and leisure54%

Retail and fashion (stores, e-commerce, apparel, accessories) totals 33,429 answers from ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity. Across engines, brand sites, media and blogs make up 63.7% of cited sources and rankings and comparisons 33.7%. YouTube (1.4%) and forums (1.1%) follow.

ChatGPT often answers from its own knowledge here: it cites a source in 73.1% of answers and 3.1 sources per answer, its lowest levels in any sector. When it cites, rankings make up 40.3% of its sources, the highest ChatGPT share of the nine sectors.

Google AI Overviews appears on 78.2% of retail searches and brings in YouTube (6.8%) and forums (3.3%). Perplexity cites rankings for 27.9% of its sources. Answers are the shortest of the nine sectors, with a median of 219 words.

For a retail brand, "best of" lists and brand awareness drive ChatGPT; video and community content help on Google AI Overviews.

Method

406,626 AI answers collected every day from July 12, 2026 to October 11, 2026 on over 1,700 purchase-intent questions tracked by Archipel (mostly in French, plus the United States and the Netherlands). ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot: Profound data. Claude and Gemini: Peec AI data. Sources are classified automatically from their address and title. Figures are aggregated: no brand or client is published. Free to reuse with a link to this page.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How often does ChatGPT cite sources for retail and fashion?
ChatGPT cites a source in 73.1% of its answers to retail and fashion buying questions, its lowest rate in any sector, with 3.1 sources per answer.
Which sources do AI engines cite for retail and fashion?
For retail and fashion, AI engines cite brand sites, media and blogs for 63.7% of sources and rankings and comparisons for 33.7%, based on 33,429 answers.
Does Google AI Overviews cite YouTube for fashion searches?
Yes, YouTube makes up 6.8% of the sources Google AI Overviews cites on retail and fashion buying searches, and forums 3.3%.
How often does Google AI Overviews appear on retail searches?
Google AI Overviews appears on 78.2% of retail and fashion buying searches tracked by Archipel between July 12 and October 11, 2026.

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