Google’s AI Mode Is Ripping Shoppers Off With Vastly Higher Prices, Study Claims
TL;DR
A study compared product prices shown in Google AI Mode with those in traditional search results. On average, prices in AI Mode were 21.6 percent higher for the same product. The authors read this as a sign that the AI answer surfaces different merchants and offers than the classic result list. Google has not confirmed the methodology of the study so far.
Nauti's Take
The study gives shoppers a concrete opportunity to check the price gap themselves instead of trusting the AI answer blindly. The risk sits in convenience: anyone who only reads the summary never sees the comparison price.
For shops, the practical step is keeping feed data and availability clean enough for their offers to appear in the AI answer at all.
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