Behind the Research: Brand Building in the AI Age

The consumer journey looks nothing like it did a few years ago. AI search tools have made discovery faster, collapsing what once took hours of research into a single prompt. But what hasn’t changed is what people do when it’s time for decision-making. Consumers spend time online with trusted sources, building the confidence to commit. In fact, research from The Trade Desk Intelligence and PA Consulting shows 95% of consumers double-check AI-generated search results, often validating information on the open internet.¹  

“As AI compresses steps and shifts what we typically consider as a linear path to discovery, we’ve seen a whole new web,” says The Trade Desk’s Catie Birmingham, a lead researcher on the study. “Consumers are putting in their initial inquiry, refining a list through the help of their choice of AI search engine, and bouncing back and forth between the open internet and AI to validate, verify, and check,” she says.

Our latest report, Brand Building in the AI Age, unpacks this shift in consumer behavior and presents a new brand opportunity for marketers: As discovery becomes faster and more filtered, people rely more heavily on familiarity and trust when evaluating purchase decisions. The study points to the open internet as the place where those decisions are confirmed and where brand building is most impactful.

For a deeper dive into the research, download the report and learn how applying these insights can help marketers stand out in the moments that matter most. 

Unless otherwise specified, all results reflect the proprietary research conducted by PA Consulting and The Trade Desk Intelligence. This information is provided solely for background and is not a representation or guarantee of any future performance. 

Source: 
1. The Trade Desk Intelligence and PA Consulting, Brand Building in the AI Era, U.S. and the U.K., January – March 2026.