Comscore Report Shows Marketers How AI Is Affecting Consumer Behavior

According to the buzz, artificial intelligence is taking over the world. It’s attracting billions in financing, worming its way into business processes and displacing human workers in offices and Ubers. 

Some say AI will make the economy more efficient, others say it's an overhyped bubble being pushed by tech billionaires and would-be tech trillionaires.

AI is also having an impact on consumer behavior that marketers need to understand in order to succeed in this new environment.

Comscore has been tracking AI usage since October 2023. “As one of the original pioneers of digital measurement, we’ve seen many waves of innovation, but the pace that we’re seeing with AI today is unlike anything in the modern digital ecosystem,” said Comscore chief commercial officer Steve Bagdasarian Monday during an online presentation of the report.

Comscore senior VP, Custom IQ, Smriti Sharma said that “what the report makes clear is that AI is no longer optional. It is becoming a foundational layer across advertising content and analytics and customer experience.”

Comscore is able to gauge AI usage because its system detects when users are engaged with AI-created summaries rather than original source content during internet searches. It can also tell when consumers are just glancing at headlines and when they’re digging deep into content, as well as how many times they refine their prompts and queries to get the answers they want. 

What Comscore found is that already “AI is reshaping how people search, discover and decide,” Sharma said. 

On desktops, reach for AI assistants has accelerated past 30%, and on mobile devices it tops 20%. If the current trajectory holds, desktop reach could hit 40% by year end, with mobile approaching 30%. Desktop is still the primary access point, but "mobile is catching up fast as assistants introduce mobile first capabilities like voice input, camera tools, hands-free modes and deeper device integration,” she said. “AI assistants are shifting from novelty to everyday infrastructure embedded across platforms and used continuously.”

In the AI assistant marketplace, Comscore found that all of the major players are growing, but ChatGPT is the clear leader across devices–almost the default tool.

Its top rivals are Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini. Copilot is stronger on desktops, while Gemini use is greater on mobile devices. Consumers are also experimenting with additional, more specialized AI assistants.

One interesting detail: the usage of AI detection and AI education tend to dip during the summer when academic demand drops. Usage of AI detection products is up 84% year-over-year, driven by the rise of cheaper software capable of creating deep fakes and the need for users to verify if what they’re seeing is real or not.

The Comscore report says that the 25- to 34-year-old age group is leading the adoption of AI tools. About a third of this group uses AI at work, while over 40% use it in their personal life. The users in that demo group employ a variety of AI tools for different tasks.

There has been concern on Wall Street and elsewhere about the impact AI is having on search.

Comscore found that search volume remains strong, up 6% in 3Q year-over-year, but on Google, an AI overview shows up in nearly one of three searches. Those AI overviews appear most frequently across categories including entertainment and sports.

The bottom line is that brands need to optimize for AI driven search. Marketers will get a lot of data to deal with as they dive into this because “AI can integrate signals from many sources to build a unified view. Behaviors can be analyzed in real time. Journeys can be optimized, continuously adapting as customer engage. The feedback loop is faster, more granular, more personalized,” Sharma said. “That is the reason why we need to establish the customer journey even more now.”

In the report, Comscore looked at how AI was affecting online hotel booking. It found that the share of AI influenced bookers have surged two times to over 60% in the last two years.

People looking to book hotels are using a broader range of AI platforms. In August 2023, 6.4% of desktop bookers engaged with AI. Of those 88% used ChatGPT and 12% used Google Gemini. In August 2025, AI was used by 25.7% of bookers. Of those 67% used ChatGPT, 10% used Gemini, 9% used Anthropic’s Claude, 7% used Perplexity, 1% used Copilot and there was 6% for “other.”

“What's striking is how quickly value brands like Best Western and Choice are catching up. So AI is becoming more widespread across all price points and in some ways, it's leveling the playing field. Smaller or value brands are now appearing in personalized AI recommendations right alongside the global chains,” Sharma said.

Comscore said that the pace of change driven by AI adoption is going to accelerate, Bagdasarian said. 

“Reliable, consistent, independent measurement will be essential in ensuring that investments are aligned on how and where consumers are discovering, engaging and making those decisions,” he said.

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Cadent said it acquired VuePlanner, which does planning, optimization and measurement for ads that run on YouTube, the biggest TV streaming platform.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“With VuePlanner, Cadent is the only platform that enables advertisers to activate YouTube’s premium creator inventory alongside linear and CTV. Now, for the first time, advertisers can take a Total Video approach to engaging any audience across any format.” said Nick Troiano, CEO of Cadent, a Novacap portfolio company.

VuePlanner is led by co-founder John Cobb, who is joining Cadent as executive VP of Cadent VuePlanner. All VuePlanner employees will be integrated into Cadent’s operations, the companies said.

“YouTube has become a premium destination for curated video, creating powerful new ways for brands to reach and engage audiences across every screen,” said Cobb. “In a multiscreen world, meeting viewers where they watch is critical. Now, Cadent enables advertisers to seamlessly activate YouTube within a broader Total Video strategy.” 

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NBCUniversal said it has nearly sold out its commercial inventory for Telemundo’s coverage of the 2026 World Cup, making some of the biggest ad deals in Spanish-language TV history.

With about 90% of inventory spoken for at this point, NBCU said it has see double the spending it got from advertisers for the 2022 World Cup. 

Some of the marketers making the biggest commitment to the World Cup include  Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Bank of America, The Coca Cola Company, Diageo, McDonald’s, Toyota, Volkswagen of America and parent company Comcast’s Xfinity brand.

“The growth of soccer in the United States coupled with the domestic nature of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and rising demand for both live sports and Spanish language content has proved to be the winning formula for our company, as NBCUniversal sits in its strongest position ever this far out from a FIFA World Cup tournament,” said Peter Lazarus, executive VP, NBC Sports & Olympics, Advertising and partnerships.   “The upcoming competition in Spanish-Language on Telemundo and Peacock, will captivate a highly engaged and passionate audience that our partners are eager to connect with, and we are excited to deliver both brands and fans a world-class experience this summer.”

During the World Cup, every match will also stream live on Peacock and the Telemundo app.

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In yet another measure of the strength of football on TV, Nielsen reports that ad-supported TV viewing hit a peak in September, reaching 74.7% of all TV usage, Nielsen reported. Football games have commercials in them, especially for food, as you might have noticed.

For the full third-quarter, ad-supported viewing accounted for 72.9% of overall TV viewing.

Streaming captured 46.4% of ad-supported viewing, with cable getting 27.2% and broadcast grabbing 26.4%.

When looking at adults 18 and over, the ad-supported share of viewing rises to 75.1%. In that demo, streamings share of ad-supported viewing is 42.4%, with cable’s share at 29.2% and broadcast at 28.4%.

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DirecTV and LG Electronics announced the launch of the DirecTV app on LG Smart TVs from 2021 and newer, running on webOS 6.0 or higher. 

“We’re committed to making DirecTV available on the devices consumers already use, and connected LG Smart TVs are an important part of that vision,” said Vikash Sharma, head of product at DirecTV. “Making DirecTV available as a native app on LG TVs gives customers more choice and flexibility in how they enjoy our full lineup—across MyFree DirecTV, Genre and Signature Packs, and TV Everywhere for satellite—through a more customized and personalized experience.”