SEMrush Reveals Organic Search Dominates Holiday Retail Traffic Amid Rising AI Influence

SEMrush Holdings Inc. has released a comprehensive analysis of the 2025 holiday shopping season, drawing on traffic data from 19 of the world’s largest retailers. The report highlights that while the overall shopping rhythm—early research, deal-focused surges, and deadline-driven purchases—remained familiar, significant shifts occurred beneath the surface. Organic search continues to be the dominant driver of high-intent retail discovery, particularly around key shopping inquiries such as deals, shipping cutoffs, and product availability. However, the study also reveals a growing role for AI referrals, especially during periods characterized by shopper indecision, such as gift ideation and product comparisons, rather than major promotional events. The analysis found that across the 70-day period, retailers generated 5.87 billion total visits, with 1.055 billion from organic search and 8.87 million from AI referrals. Notably, AI’s share of total traffic peaked on less obvious shopping days, indicating consumers are increasingly leveraging AI for decision support rather than just transactional needs. SEMrush emphasizes that success in this new environment requires brands to optimize for both organic and AI-driven discovery, using tools like Semrush One and Semrush AIO to manage and measure performance across both channels. Disclaimer: This news brief was created by Public Technologies (PUBT) using generative artificial intelligence. While PUBT strives to provide accurate and timely information, this AI-generated content is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or legal advice. SEMrush Holdings Inc. published the original content used to generate this news brief on January 21, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. © Copyright 2026 - Public Technologies (PUBT) Original Document: here