The shopping journey is moving into AI interfaces, but consumers still want something distinctly human behind the recommendation. New research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) suggests creator content could become an important signal layer for AI-assisted commerce, with 56% of surveyed consumers saying they prefer AI shopping recommendations that incorporate creator perspectives.
The finding matters for advertisers, agencies and AI platforms because product discovery is increasingly moving beyond traditional search and retailer websites. The challenge is no longer simply getting a product in front of a consumer. It is making sure the information used by AI systems is considered credible enough to influence a purchase.
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IAB’s global study, conducted with Attest among 2,200 consumers across the U.S., U.K., Australia, Mexico and India, found that 72% of respondents who had recently used AI for shopping research use general-purpose AI assistants for shopping-related decisions. Eighty percent said they are comfortable relying on AI recommendations.
But the research points to an important qualification: consumers want AI recommendations to contain human experience.
Some 65% said they feel more confident in AI-generated recommendations when those recommendations are informed by credible creator reviews. Among Gen Z and Millennials, roughly 65% prefer AI recommendations incorporating creator perspectives, compared with 53% of Gen X and 34% of Boomers.
For the advertising ecosystem, that creates a potentially important shift.
Creator marketing has traditionally operated as a media channel in its own right. Brands pay creators to produce sponsored content, build awareness or influence consideration. IAB estimates U.S. creator advertising reached $37 billion in 2025 and projects it will reach $44 billion in 2026.
The new research raises a different possibility: creator content could increasingly function as input data for AI-mediated product discovery.
That does not mean AI assistants are already ranking creator reviews as a standardized advertising signal. Instead, the consumer research indicates that creators may provide a form of social proof that becomes more valuable as AI systems increasingly mediate product comparisons.
This could change how advertisers think about creator investments.
Traditional campaign measurement focuses on impressions, engagement, conversions and attributable sales. In an AI-assisted shopping environment, brands may also need to understand whether creator content is discoverable, credible and useful enough to influence the information consumers encounter through AI systems.
That creates opportunities—and complications—for platforms.
The study found that consumers trust everyday consumers most, at 52%, followed by professional reviewers at 43% and subject-matter experts at 37%. Credibility, consistency, expertise and independence or sponsorship transparency were among the strongest factors influencing trust.
Popularity alone, in other words, is not necessarily the signal consumers want an AI system to prioritize.
That has implications for creator selection, content quality and advertising disclosure. Brands may increasingly need creator partnerships that demonstrate genuine product expertise rather than simply large follower counts. Agencies could also have to evaluate creator content based on its usefulness as information, not only its campaign reach.
The development fits a broader transformation in advertising infrastructure. IAB’s 2026 Outlook found that five of marketers’ six leading focus areas were AI-related, as advertisers move from experimentation toward AI-supported campaign execution.
Platforms such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft are competing to shape how consumers discover information, products and services through increasingly intelligent interfaces. Meanwhile, social and creator ecosystems are generating vast quantities of product-related content.
The strategic question is how those two worlds connect.
If AI shopping assistants increasingly use creator-generated information to help consumers evaluate products, creator media could evolve from a campaign channel into a discovery and recommendation signal. That would make content quality, attribution, transparency and creator verification more important to the advertising technology stack.
For brands and agencies, the immediate takeaway is not to abandon conventional media buying. It is to recognize that the definition of advertising influence is expanding. A creator review may reach a consumer directly today while also becoming part of the information environment through which an AI system helps someone make a purchase tomorrow.
Market Landscape
Creator advertising is moving deeper into the mainstream media ecosystem. IAB reports that U.S. creator advertising grew from $13.9 billion in 2021 to $29.5 billion in 2024 before reaching a projected $37 billion in 2025. The organization expects $44 billion in 2026.
At the same time, AI is becoming another layer in product discovery. IAB’s separate AI-commerce research found that AI is reshaping how shoppers research, compare and validate products, creating new opportunities for brands to influence high-intent moments.
The emerging intersection is therefore not simply creator marketing + AI. It is the potential convergence of creator media, commerce data, recommendation systems and advertising measurement.
The unresolved issue is measurement. Advertisers will need ways to determine whether creator content influences AI-mediated discovery and whether that influence can be connected to business outcomes without compromising creator independence or consumer trust.
Top Insights
- IAB finds 56% of consumers prefer creator-informed AI shopping recommendations, creating a potential new signal layer for advertisers and commerce platforms.
- Creator advertising reached a projected $37 billion in 2025, showing why creator content is becoming strategically important beyond traditional social campaigns.
- Younger consumers lead demand for creator-informed AI, with Gen Z and Millennials showing stronger preferences than older demographic groups.
- Credibility, expertise and sponsorship transparency matter more than audience size, challenging brands to rethink how they evaluate creators for AI-era commerce.
- AI shopping could connect creator media with product discovery, raising new questions around attribution, content quality, verification and advertising measurement.
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