Has anyone looked into how products appear in AI shopping recommendations?

I recently analyzed a small dataset of Shopify products to see how often they appear in AI shopping recommendations (like when people ask AI assistants for product suggestions).

A few interesting findings came out of it:

1. Only a small group of products repeatedly appear in AI answers
   Across multiple shopping prompts, only a handful of products were recommended consistently.

2. Many products never appear at all
   Even products from established Shopify brands sometimes didn’t show up in AI-generated recommendations.

3. Traditional SEO doesn’t guarantee AI visibility
   Some products that rank well in Google search results were still missing from AI responses.

4. Product data quality seems to matter more than keywords
   Products with clearer descriptions, structured data, and stronger brand mentions were more likely to appear.

The dataset tested product recommendations across multiple AI assistants using prompts like:

• “best carry-on luggage under $200”
• “best minimalist wallets”
• “best ergonomic office chairs for home office”

The pattern suggests that AI product discovery works differently from traditional search.

AI assistants seem to rely more on structured product information, reviews, and trusted sources across the web rather than just keyword rankings. (Sixthshop)

Curious if anyone here has seen their Shopify products appear when asking AI assistants for recommendations?

Feels like we might be entering a new phase of ecommerce discovery where optimizing for AI answers becomes as important as SEO.