When Brands Lose at the AI Decision Stage
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Executive summary This case study examines how widely deployed AI assistants evaluate and resolve consumer purchase decisions in a trust-sensitive category. It documents a consistent pattern in which a well-known mass-market brand is excluded, displaced, or omitted at the final decision stage, despite strong brand recognition and product efficacy. The key finding is not reduced visibility, but loss of decision eligibility. AI systems repeatedly remove the brand from consideration once authority, safety, and trust heuristics are applied. The commercial consequence is direct demand redirection that cannot be recovered through downstream marketing, search optimisation, or media spend.
Author: de Rosen, Tim
Language: English
Topic: AI in Service Interactions
Subfield: Artificial Intelligence
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7127412920
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: