Three signals from my last few weeks watching the AI search shift in e-commerce:

1. Google is gradually shifting search from keyword matching to AI-driven answers. AI Overviews baseline now, AI Mode expanding this summer. Old "10 blue links" becoming the exception.

2. User behavior backs it: longer dwell time on AI-driven results, lower bounce rate, even vague queries returning relevant outcomes. Modern shoppers describe problems ("something for back pain at the office"), not SKUs.

3. Same shift visible on WooCommerce / Shopify stores adopting semantic search: visitors finding products with vague queries, conversions improving, cart abandonment dropping on search-driven sessions.

Old keyword search worked when users knew exactly what they wanted. That assumption is breaking down.

If you're building anything in e-commerce, AI search, or product discovery, this trend is worth watching. Semantic search is no longer experimental, it's becoming baseline expectation.

What signals are you seeing in your niche?