# AI-Referenced Product Searches on Google in Germany — January 2025 to March 2026

> 2.41% of product-intent Google Search sessions in Germany referenced an AI tool by March 2026 +60% vs. January 2025

**Period:** Jan 2025 – Mar 2026  
**Market:** DE  
**Data status:** final  
**Data as of:** 2026-07-01T14:02:48.081369+00:00  
**Sample size:** n = 14,293  
**Source:** [https://www.datapods.app/en/insights/digital/search-queries/ai-product-search-sessions-google-germany-2025-2026](https://www.datapods.app/en/insights/digital/search-queries/ai-product-search-sessions-google-germany-2025-2026)

## Segments

- **Years:** 2025–2026
- **Platform:** search

## Summary

AI tool references appeared in **2.41%** of product-intent Google Search sessions among German users in March 2026, up from **1.51%** in January 2025 — a 60% relative rise in just 15 months, with the steepest acceleration arriving in February–March 2026.

## Why the curve bent sharply in early 2026

The acceleration coincides with a wave of AI product-search launches reaching German users. OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT Shopping to Germany from April 2025, offering ad-free, conversational product discovery directly inside the chat interface. Google simultaneously embedded Gemini-powered AI Overviews into an increasing share of product-related queries, making AI responses unavoidable even for users who never opened a standalone chatbot. Perplexity, too, continued to build a foothold among younger, research-oriented consumers. As these surfaces became mainstream, more searchers began naming AI tools explicitly inside Google itself — whether to navigate to them or to compare their suggestions. The 2.4% figure captures only sessions where a named AI tool appeared in a Google query; actual AI-influenced product research is almost certainly higher, as explored in the [self-reported vs. behavioural gap chart](slug:ai-shopping-survey-vs-search-behaviour-germany-2026).

## Chart

Line chart showing the monthly share of product-intent Google Search sessions containing at least one AI tool reference (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini AI, Copilot) among German users, from January 2025 to March 2026. The share rises from 1.51% in January 2025 to 2.41% in March 2026, with a visible acceleration in early 2026.

## Methodology

The metric tracks the monthly share of product-intent Google Search sessions — among German online users observed between January 2025 and March 2026 — that contained at least one query explicitly naming an AI tool (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini AI, or Microsoft Copilot). Navigational and product-discovery uses of these names are both captured; sessions naming only standalone terms too generic to reliably identify the AI tools (such as bare 'Gemini' or bare 'Copilot') were excluded to avoid false matches with product names.

## Citation

Datapods (2026-07-01). *AI-Referenced Product Searches on Google in Germany — January 2025 to March 2026*. Datapods Insights. https://www.datapods.app/en/insights/digital/search-queries/ai-product-search-sessions-google-germany-2025-2026

## About Datapods

Datapods is a behavioral consumer-data platform. The Insights library publishes free, citable statistics derived from a panel of 25,000+ opted-in participants in Germany: observed real behavior (transactions, browsing, media), not surveys. All data is processed within the EU and is GDPR-compliant.

For brand-specific cuts, competitor benchmarks, and granular audience filters across 12,000+ tracked brands, see [https://www.datapods.app/en](https://www.datapods.app/en).