Artificial intelligence is reshaping how shoppers find products, and Shopify is reaping the benefits. The e-commerce platform reported that AI-driven traffic and orders to its merchants' stores tripled year-over-year in the second quarter, while traditional search continues to grow. This stands in stark contrast to online publishing, where AI summaries have cut click-through rates and advertising revenue. Main Developments Shopify's president, Harley Finkelstein, told analysts on the company's second-quarter earnings call that AI has become a complement to search, not a substitute. He emphasized that search remains one of the largest sources of buyer traffic to merchants and is still growing. Traditional search sessions are up 1.3 times over the past two years, holding roughly a third of all storefront sessions. The company's financial results were strong, with revenue rising 36% to $3.6 billion from a year earlier, beating Wall Street's forecast of $3.4 billion. Gross operating profit climbed 31% to $1.71 billion, also ahead of analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. Shopify credited the earnings beat and soaring revenue, at least partly, to AI search. Read also: Why Hark's browser agent could beat GPT-5.5 at real tasks Finkelstein explained why AI search works differently from traditional engines. While search engines rank by popularity against a handful of keywords, AI agents make multiple calls into Shopify's catalog, using richer structured data to match products with a buyer's specific intent. For example, a query for the best car seat that fits three across a sedan leads an agent to consider dimensions, vehicle type, and the need for three seats simultaneously. This multidimensional search capability is resulting in better conversions for merchants. Half of all AI-referred sessions land directly on a product description page, which is 2.5 times more than traditional search. Additionally, 75% of AI-attributed purchases in Q2 occurred outside the top 100 categories, a segment Shopify calls its sweet spot. Background The e-commerce landscape has been evolving with the rise of AI assistants. Shopify has positioned itself to benefit by building connectors to AI tools and agents, including Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Manus, Replit, and Vercel, as well as vibe-coding platforms like Lovable. This allows merchants to build on Shopify however they choose, integrating AI into their operations. The contrast with online publishing is stark. AI summaries in search results have led to a measurable drop in click-through rates, reducing traffic and advertising revenues. Shopify, however, sees AI as a boon, compressing buyer shopping journeys and driving more direct product page visits. Why It Matters For merchants, especially the smaller ones that make up the majority of Shopify's customer base, AI search levels the playing field. It allows them to be discovered based on product attributes and intent, not just popularity or keyword rankings. This could shift how e-commerce marketing budgets are allocated, with AI optimization becoming as important as traditional SEO. Shopify's trusted checkout experience also positions it to benefit as AI plays a larger role in transactions. If AI agents increasingly handle purchases, a reliable and seamless checkout process becomes a competitive advantage. What's Next Shopify is likely to continue expanding its AI integrations and improving its structured data capabilities. As AI agents become more sophisticated, the company may see further growth in AI-referred traffic and sales. Merchants will need to adapt by ensuring their product data is rich and structured to be easily matched by AI agents. Open questions remain about how AI will evolve in e-commerce and whether traditional search will continue to hold its share. Shopify's results suggest that AI and search can coexist, but the balance could shift as AI adoption grows.