AI Search Favors Big Chains, Lightspeed-Backed Study Finds

When ChatGPT named retailers in its own web searches, 97% were large or mid-sized chains. Small and local retailers accounted for just 1-4%. That is the central finding of new research from Vaer AI, conducted in partnership with Lightspeed Commerce, which analyzed 460,000 AI-generated shopping responses across ChatGPT and Google's AI products.

The study, discussed by Lightspeed Commerce's CEO in a commentary piece published on Fortune.com on October 2, 2026, suggests AI search is tilting the field toward bigger merchants from the very start of the shopping journey.

Visibility is not the problem. Recommendation is.

The data reveals a striking asymmetry. Large and small retailers each accounted for roughly 38% of the sources AI cited when generating answers. But when it came to actual recommendations, big chains received 52% of top spots, versus just 20% for smaller businesses.

The CEO pointed to a concrete example: a shopper looking to buy office supplies in New York. Three of the six sources ChatGPT cited were small local retailers, but its first recommendation was Staples. "AI didn't overlook these businesses because it couldn't find them. It found them and recommended Staples anyway," the CEO wrote.

The gap widens as shoppers approach a purchase decision. According to the study, smaller retailers' share of top recommendations fell from around 30% for general browsing to just 10% for specific branded products. Larger retailers' share rose over the same range, from roughly 40% to 60%.

A disconnect with consumer preference

The bias runs against what consumers say they want. Recent research from Lightspeed found that half of surveyed consumers would be more likely to shop locally if AI made nearby independent retailers easier to discover. When asked what AI should prioritize in recommendations, 33% of consumers said small or local businesses, compared with just 13% who favored large brands.

"This shows a clear disconnect between what consumers want and what AI is giving them," the CEO wrote. "A shopper may truly want to support the independent bookstore or boutique down the street, but they can't choose a business they never knew existed."

One word changes the algorithm's behavior

The study also identified a simple lever for consumers. Adding the word "independent" to a shopping prompt more than doubled the share of small and local retailers AI recommended. It also changed where AI looked for information: the share of retailer sources coming from large national chains fell from around 44% to as low as 9%.

"One word. That's all it took to dramatically change which businesses AI recommended," the CEO wrote.

The implication for consumers is direct: be specific about what you value in a prompt. But the CEO argued the burden should not rest on shoppers alone. "Why should consumers have to know the right words to give independent retailers a fighting chance?" the piece asked, before turning the question toward the platforms themselves. If size, familiarity, or a larger digital footprint consistently push national chains to the top, the result could be a shopping experience where the biggest businesses become the default, regardless of consumer intent.

The stakes for independent retail

For independent retailers, the finding threatens to unwind decades of investment. These businesses built their online presence, learned to compete in search results, and found ways to reach customers without the marketing budgets of national chains. Under AI-mediated search, they can do everything right and still lose out when the model decides which businesses to recommend.

The CEO framed the concern in structural terms: the issue is not simply that AI might steer shoppers toward bigger retailers, but that AI could increasingly determine which businesses get the chance to compete at all.

The piece closes with a call for AI shopping tools to expand choice rather than narrow it. "The future of retail should be one where AI makes it easier for great businesses to compete, not one where fewer businesses get the chance," the CEO wrote.

As AI takes on a larger role in product discovery and purchasing, the study suggests the competitive question for retailers of every size will shift from ranking in search results to being recommended by models at all.